Digital fitness platform Strava has announced a wide range of new and updated hiking features designed to support its growing international community. The updates span route planning, navigation, and social sharing, aiming to assist trail walkers across every stage of the outdoor experience.
According to the company, hiking is becoming increasingly social. The platform’s internal data revealed a 5.8x increase in hiking clubs globally during the 2025 season. Building on this, the newly introduced tools feature a broad set of options available to all members at no cost, alongside an expanded suite of advanced navigation and customisation tools exclusive to subscribers.
Data from Strava highlighted distinct preferences regarding how the UK community approaches the sport. Grouped hiking is a major driver of distance, with the average UK group hike lasting 79% longer, covering 61% more distance, and containing 2.6x more downtime than a solo excursion.
Seasonality also plays a role, as UK hikes are 10% longer on average during summer months in comparison to winter. Furthermore, Saturday stands out as the most popular day of the week for users to log a hiking activity.
The brand also revealed its top UK segments for tracking records, highlighting a growing interest in key national routes from the Peak District to the mountains of Wales. The top recorded locations include the Llanberis path bottom section to the road and the A4086 Climb in Eryri National Park. These are followed by the ‘All the way down’ segment and the ‘To the top’ route in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, alongside the 497m ‘Go Vegan!’ segment in High Peak.
To assist with route discovery and mapping, Strava will introduce map style improvements later this summer. These updates will allow walkers to view richer trail surface data and identify clear points of interest, such as trailheads, picnic areas, and campgrounds.
Subscribers will also gain access to Route Discovery, which surfaces popular paths based on a global heatmap of activity data. A specialized Route Builder tool allows users to plan custom hikes with live distance, elevation, and surface feedback. Additionally, a new Route Saves feature allows users to save paths from multiple areas within the application.
For real–time tracking, the company has introduced Off–Route Alerts for subscribers, which notify users when they stray from a planned path. Offline Routes also allow subscribers to download maps for use in areas with low or no cellular connectivity.
The update improves device integration, enabling direct Route Following on Apple Watch alongside automated Smart Watch Route Sync for compatible Garmin, Apple Watch, and Coros devices. During activities, users can access a full–screen Mobile Record Map with a single tap, alongside Live Elevation data to monitor real–time pacing on climbs.
New social features have also been implemented to let users share their trail activities. The 3D Activity Map renders hikes in the user feed as a detailed topographical landscape, whilst a new Activity Replays function allows subscribers to auto–animate their completed routes from start to finish. Walkers can also utilize sticker stats to overlay distance, elevation, and time onto shared content, join hiking–focused clubs, or use the Flyover feature for a cinematic 3D aerial animation of their route.
Most of the new features are available immediately on the platform, which currently supports a community of more than 195 million users across more than 185 countries.
Related posts:
Strava rolls out ‘Instant Workouts’ feature for subscribers worldwide
Latest Zwift updates include: Paris map expansion, virtual gravel environment and integration with users’ outdoor activities
Strava adds physical therapy as dedicated activity type
HyCoach launches free fitness race analytics platform
