You might have already had your Spotify Wrapped, and whatever other year-end wrap-ups your apps can provide (I even got one from my bank, believe it or not), but there’s one more to consider as we brave the first few weeks of a brand new year. AllTrails, which tracks hiking and walking activity, has just unveiled Australia’s favourite hiking trails of 2024 – and New South Wales walked away with the top two spots. Proving once more that we’re a nation of walkers who love the outdoors, here’s where Aussies wandered last year.
The top hiking trail in Australia for this year was the Grand Canyon Track in the Blue Mountains, just a short train ride away from Sydney’s CBD. As a 6km loop trail that’s easily accessible from Blackheath (and on a direct train from Central Station), it’ll take you between 2.5 hours and 4 hours to walk the trail, depending how long you stop to admire the scenery. Expect ancient flora, scenic rainforest vistas, and waterfalls when you hike the Grand Canyon Track, which opened in 1907 and has delighted visitors for over a century now.
Even closer to home was the #2 trail, which was the classic Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. Long beloved by locals and visitors alike, it’s a longer trek at over 12km, but picking and choosing favoured parts of it has proven a popular weekend pursuit for us. With attractions such as the mysterious disappearing beach, Sydney’s only underwater nature trail, and the ever-iconic Icebergs, it’s small wonder that this proved amongst Australia’s favourite hiking trails.
You’ll need to go out of state to hit the remaining hikes, as the Mount Lofty Loop just outside Melbourne came in at #3, the Lesmurdie Falls Loop in Western Australia came fourth, and a stroll around Queensland’s Enoggera Reservoir rounded out the top five. All in all, AllTrails users in Australia clocked up 11 million miles of hiking on the app – which is about the same distance as walking from Perth to Sydney… 3000 times. Maybe start with the Grand Canyon Track, eh?