Hiking, Gen Z, and Mental Health: Is There a Connection?
There is a growing interest in hiking amongst young people being driven by a desire for stronger real-life connection and a dissatisfaction with online socialising. Could this trend be an encouraging sign of increasing mental-health awareness, in a generation deeply affected by pandemic-era loneliness and chronic screen use?
The media often sees young people as the generation most addicted to the digital world. There are plenty of articles criticising this generation for its screen addiction and alleged lack of real-life social skills, typified by the recent discourse around the ‘Gen Z stare’. While there is truth to this, this coverage overlooks recent trends in the opposite direction, such as the growing popularity of hiking amongst members of Gen Z.
As a 20-year-old myself, I can say that I have noticed this change first-hand, initially dismissing it as a passing fad, but now seeing it as a symbol of changing lifestyles among my generation. I too have jumped on the hiking bandwagon, despite being late to the party! Though I previously had little interest in hiking, I have begun organising excursions with friends and greatly appreciate the freedom and sense of adventure in completing a trail.
As a University student and Inspire the Mind intern, I wanted to write this article to explore the various reasons for this unexpected shift, offering an insight into the mental health of Gen Z (14 to 29-year-olds), and actions many are taking to improve it.
The Loneliness Epidemic
A key push factor for getting outside is the ‘loneliness epidemic’, which describes a widespread increase in social isolation. For Loneliness Awareness Week, Inspire the Mind published several lived-experience articles, including one exploring societal reasons for why loneliness is now so common, and one reflecting on loneliness and self-worth issues caused by social media.
The ‘loneliness epidemic’, despite existing as a term since the early 2000s, has gained further public attention since the COVID lockdowns. Though pandemic-era isolation affected everyone, it’s easy to see how young people were particularly impacted by it, being at an age where forming long-lasting friendships is incredibly important. According to an NHS report from 2024, those aged 16-24 face the highest prevalence of loneliness of any age group in the UK, at 29%. Considering that this information dates from well after the end of the pandemic, it shows the persistence of loneliness among Gen Z.
Social Media and Screen Use
I think the persistence of loneliness in my generation has much to do with excessive use of social media. Based on my personal experience, even after lockdowns ended, I found myself using social media much more to stay in contact with people. I think a key reason for my generation’s high social media use is that we developed a reliance on it during the lockdowns as a primary way to socialise with others, which led people to neglect real-life interaction.
This is supported by evidence too, with 16-24 year olds spending over 7 hours a day looking at screens, more than any other age group. This begs the question, is it just a coincidence that the loneliest generation also has the most screen time?
Given these factors, you can see why hiking has become an appealing hobby for young people. It doesn’t involve looking at screens excessively, apart from maybe planning routes. Additionally, exploring natural sites is the perfect way to disconnect from the constant distraction of our phones. Hiking is also an ideal activity for encouraging real-life connection, since hiking is usually a group or pair activity. It also strengthens friendships and relationships, encouraging conversation to pass the time, and strengthening bonds through overcoming a shared challenge.
Economic Factors
Young people have had less time than their elders to earn and save money. This generation faces unique problems, reaching the age of employment at a time when AI has thrown the job market into a tumultuous state of change. Though experts believe employers will eventually adapt and new jobs will be created, the current period of flux has resulted in a drastic decrease in graduate roles. Add to these factors a cost-of-living crisis, and you can see how this generation is unlikely to have much disposable income to spend on expensive hobbies, instead favouring relatively cheap and rewarding hobbies like hiking.
One activity that Gen-Z is doing noticeably less than other generations is drinking. This is in part due to the expensive nature of nightlife for young people, meaning many (myself included) see a night out as an occasional treat rather than a regular part of the week. It may not even be too much of a stretch to say that less Saturday mornings spent battling a hangover enables people to embark on day trips out of the city. Also, hiking is a healthier source of excitement than nightlife, while still being a great event to look forward to at the end of the week.
Mindset Shifts Among Gen Z
As with every generation, Gen Z has different life priorities and career expectations from its elders. From my experience, I would argue that two key characteristics of this are a higher priority given to physical and mental health, and a desire for exciting and authentic experiences.
On a recent walk along the West Highland Way, my friend Tom told me that, when on a hike, he feels a world away from his academic worries. I think this is a common sentiment among young people, who often feel an excessive pressure to succeed in traditional career goals. Whereas older generations painted a picture of rapid career progression as the main thing to strive for as a young adult, my generation seems to have a greater concern for work-life balance. For example, one study showed that 50% of Gen Z's cite stress and burnout as the main barrier to chasing leadership positions at work. Since the mental (and physical) health benefits of outdoor activities in general are so well documented, it’s no surprise that one of the activities Gen Z are using their leisure time to do is hiking.
Gen Z’s sceptical view of traditional career expectations has led them to put less emphasis on obsessive work for its own sake, instead working to enjoy unique experiences in other fields of life. This includes travelling, particularly involving adventure, which can be seen in activities like volunteering abroad. Other popular experiences include events like festivals, or smaller things like discovering new and unique restaurants. The common thread here that I’ve noticed is that we want experiences to be genuine and authentic. This is perhaps due to the internet, which allowed anyone to make and share content, providing a more personal media environment than the TV monoculture of previous generations’ entertainment. In fact, all of these activities, not least hiking, owe much of their current popularity with young people to social media.
For example, YouTube channels, like the massively popular ‘Outdoor Boys’ (20 million subscribers), harness young people’s demand for authentic, genuine content, providing long, minimally edited but beautiful videos of their wilderness adventures. On Instagram, #hiking has almost 92 million posts, and the internet community around it keeps growing.
Paradoxically, it seems that internet creators are a key reason for the popularisation of hiking among young people, since the medium allows them to authentically show off their own unique, adventurous experiences. In fact, it was noticing this phenomenon that inspired me to write this article.
Final Thoughts
Exploring the reasons for the newfound popularity of this hobby is a good way to understand the issues faced by young people. This includes social media and screen addiction, the decline of other pastimes such as drinking, and a confusing job market. It also speaks to the mindset of Gen Z, showing how these issues have affected their mental health, and the ways they have sought to improve it. This consists of seeking real-life connection and community, even harnessing technology as a way to popularise reconnecting with each other in nature.
