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Elevation gain in hiking

An essential concept to assess the difficulty of a trail and prepare your trip well.

Elevation change refers to the variation in altitude between the start and end of a trail — a measure of how much you climb (or descend) during a hike. It is usually expressed in metres.

Real example: Imlil → Toubkal summit
Imlil, in the High Atlas, is the classic starting point for treks to Toubkal — the highest summit in North Africa.
Start 1 740 m Imlil
Finish 4 167 m Toubkal summit
Elevation change +2 427 m
Why does elevation gain matter?

Estimating difficulty

The greater the elevation gain (the climbs), the more physically demanding the hike. Climbing 1,000 m of elevation is much harder than walking on flat ground.

Planning your time

A steep climb slows you down compared with flat ground. Knowing the elevation gain helps you estimate how much time to allow.

Finding your way on the trail

Understanding a route's elevation profile — when the climbs and descents come — helps you anticipate your progress.

The different types of elevation change

Elevation gain is the measure of the change in altitude when you climb: the total sum of the climbs made during the hike. The higher it is, the steeper and more physically demanding the climb.

Example: start at 500 m altitude, summit at 1,000 m → 500 m of accumulated elevation gain.

Elevation loss is the measure of the change in altitude when you descend: the total sum of the descents. It can be just as demanding as elevation gain, especially for knees and joints.

Example: start at 1,000 m altitude, finish at 500 m → 500 m of accumulated elevation loss.

Net elevation change (or overall) is the difference in altitude between the start and finish of a route.

Net elevation change = Finish altitude − Start altitude

  • Positive: you finish higher than you started — significant climbs.
  • Negative: you finish lower than you started — significant descents.
  • Zero: no notable difference in altitude between start and finish (rare in the mountains).
Elevation profile of a route
Example: a trail alternating climbs and descents between 1,000 m and 1,600 m altitude.
0 m 0 m 0 m 0 m 1000 m Start 1500 m 1200 m 1600 m 1100 m
Elevation gain (climb) Elevation loss (descent)

Cumulative elevation change adds up all the gains and losses along the route. It is the most complete indicator of the real difficulty of a route that climbs and descends several times.

Example (see the elevation profile above): a route starts at 1,000 m, climbs to 1,500 m, descends to 1,200 m, climbs again to 1,600 m, then descends to 1,100 m before finishing at 1,300 m.
  • 1st climb: 1500 − 1000500 m
  • 1st descent: 1500 − 1200300 m
  • 2nd climb: 1600 − 1200400 m
  • 2nd descent: 1600 − 1100500 m
  • Total cumulative elevation change1700 m
Calculate your elevation change
Enter the start and finish for the net elevation change — add the summit to also get the cumulative change (D+ and D−).
Enter at least the start and finish to see the result.
In short

Understanding the different types of elevation change helps you assess how complex a route is, plan your time and prepare your outdoor adventure. Each type brings its own challenge — demanding climbs, technical descents or constant variations. To find the difficulty level that matches a given elevation change, see our page Hiking levels.

Hiking levels See trips in Morocco
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