Mount Kinabalu is the world's most in-demand hike!

Sabah's iconic mountain has topped the list of the world's most in-demand hikes, according to outdoor adventure company Explore Worldwide. With an impressive 22,048 Instagram posts per km of trail, Mount Kinabalu far surpasses Peru's Inca Trail and Hawaii's Kalalau Trail, which have 6,723 and 3,684 Instagram posts per km of trail, respectively.

Explore Worldwide highlighted that despite being the highest peak in Borneo, Mount Kinabalu does not require mountaineering equipment. However, hikers need to be fit to tackle its high-altitude terrain.

"It's a short climb, only 8.5 km, but with over 22,000 Instagram post uploads per km of trail, it's the most popular trail in the world according to social media," the company stated.

"Hikers of the trail love to share snaps of the summit's breathtaking sunrise views as well as Mount Kinabalu's lush rain forests lower down the mountain. The climb offers walkers a chance to see local wildlife such as mountain blackbirds or the park's rare pygmy squirrels."

Explore Worldwide compiled a comprehensive list of 132 popular hiking and trekking trails from around the globe. They gathered information on the length of each trail in kilometres and the number of Instagram posts using the trail's hashtag.

To determine the most in-demand trails, they divided the number of posts by the trail length, calculating the number of Instagram posts per km. The data is accurate as of May 2024.

Check out the full list here:

  1. Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia - 22,048
  2. Inca Trail, Peru - 6,723
  3. Kalalau Trail, USA - 3,684
  4. Tongariro Alpine Crossing, New Zealand - 2,585
  5. Salkantay Trek, Peru - 1,265
  6. Everest Base Camp Trek, Nepal - 1,214
  7. Table Mountain Hike, South Africa - 1,189
  8. Routeburn Track, New Zealand - 1,085
  9. West Highland Way, Scotland - 998
  10. The Yorkshire Three Peaks, England - 991
  11. GR20, France - 733
  12. Overland Track, Australia - 638
  13. Berg Lake Trail, Canada - 634
  14. Tour du Mont Blanc, France/Italy/Switzerland - 566
  15. South Downs Way, England - 560
  16. West Coast Trail, Canada - 548
  17. Camino de Santiago - Camino Francés, Spain - 537
  18. Milford Track, New Zealand - 524
  19. The Three Capes Track, Australia - 513
  20. Kepler Track, New Zealand - 476

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