About Live Free or Hike

Who's behind it

Live Free or Hike is built and run by Oliver Mason. It answers the question every hiker asks the night before: should I go tomorrow, and when should I start? Instead of one forecast for a whole town, each hike gets its own call, for your start time, your pace and the gear you're bringing.

How the ratings work

Each hike is mapped trail by trail from OpenStreetMap, with its climb, steep pitches, bare rock and tree cover. The site takes the National Weather Service's hourly forecast for the hike's high point, adds recent rain, and walks you up and down the route hour by hour: wind and cold where you're above the trees, wet rock where it's steep, daylight left when you're on the way down.

The result is one of four calls, Favorable, Caution, Serious or Not recommended, with the reasons behind it and a Plan B nearby. It's a planning aid, not a guarantee: conditions on the mountain can change in minutes, so check the morning you go and turn back when the mountain tells you to.

Built with input from rescuers

Search and rescue officers gave input on the "Leave my plan with someone" feature, so the message you send has what searchers ask for first: the trails in the order you'll walk them, a map link to the trailhead, when to expect you back and when to call 911.

What it is and isn't

• It's independent. No agency or organization reviews or endorses the site, and the data sources are credited on every hike's page.
• It's free, with no accounts, no advertising trackers and no cookies. See Terms, safety and privacy.
• Food picks lean toward family-owned places near the trailhead. Some places are marked "Local partner": they support the site, and we only partner with places we'd send you to anyway.

For inns, outfitters and guides

Businesses can show today's ratings for the hikes near them on their own website with the free conditions widget, which links back here. Local partners are featured in the food picks for their area.