Safety
What to do if you get lost hiking
Getting lost on a hike turns into real trouble when you keep walking after you know you're lost. What to do in the first ten minutes, how rescuers find you with or without a cell signal, and what to set up before you leave so you're quick to find.
Most people who get lost hiking figure out where they are on their own, and nobody ever hears about it. Search and rescue researchers say their own data misses many cases for exactly that reason. The same researchers note that lost hikers tend to keep moving, in ways that carry them farther from where they started.
In early September 2026, New York's forest rangers went looking for a hiker near Marcy Dam in the Adirondacks who had stepped off the trail for a bathroom break, lost it, and walked for an hour before contacting their spouse. The ranger asked them to call 911, because that call gives rescuers coordinates. They turned out to be about half a mile from a ski trail, and were back at the trailhead a little over an hour after the rangers responded.
The fix is the opposite of that hour of walking. Stop moving the moment you realize you're lost, get a call out if you have any signal at all, and then make yourself easy to find where you are. The Forest Service teaches the first part as STOP: stop, think, observe, plan. And on whether to walk out, it says: "If you are not very, very confident in the route, then it's always better to stay put."
What should you do the moment you realize you're lost?
Stop where you are and don't take another step until you have a reason to. Figure out the last place you were sure of and check your map. If you have any signal, call 911 rather than a friend, because the dispatcher gets your location. Then stay put and make yourself easy to see and hear.
- 01
Stop where you are
Stand still, and sit down if you can. The Forest Service calls panic your greatest enemy and says not to move at all until you have a specific reason to take a step. Every step without one carries you farther from your last known point, which is where a search will start.
- 02
Work back to the last place you were sure of
Go over how you got here. When did you last see a blaze or a sign? Did you cross a stream, pass a junction, or step off the trail for a photo or a bathroom break? If that spot is close and you know exactly how to get back to it, walking back is reasonable. Retracing a guess isn't.
- 03
Look before you walk
Get out the map, or open a map app on your phone. If you downloaded the area before you left, it can show where you are without any signal. Look for the next blaze in every direction, and turn around, because the way you came looks different facing back. If you're on a trail at all, the Forest Service says to stay on it.
- 04
Call 911 if you have any signal
Try it even with one bar. More than once, New York's forest rangers and their dispatchers have told a lost hiker who reached them some other way to dial 911, so they could get coordinates from the call. Colorado rescuers say they can plot those coordinates and tell a caller which way to walk to find the trail. The FCC says to call rather than text wherever you can.
Call before the battery runs low. A weak battery makes it harder to hold a signal.
- 05
No signal? Use what you carried
Recent iPhones and Pixel phones can text emergency services by satellite, but only out in the open with a clear view of the sky, since trees and terrain can block it. A satellite messenger or a personal locator beacon does the same job without the phone. Try for a call from higher, open ground, then put the phone in airplane mode so it stops draining the battery hunting for a tower.
- 06
Decide: back to a sure point, or stay
Walk only if you can reach a place you're certain of, or someone on the phone is guiding you. If it's getting dark, you're hurt or you're close to exhausted, the Forest Service says to stay in place. Stay, too, if you're anything less than sure of the way.
- 07
Make yourself easy to find
Blow your whistle in bursts of three, then rest and listen. A whistle carries farther than your voice and takes less energy. Put on your brightest layer and settle near a small clearing, because from a helicopter a person standing among trees in dark clothes is hard to see. And answer your phone, even when you don't know the number.
Should you stay put or try to walk out?
Stay put. Walk out only if you can reach a spot you're certain of, if someone on the phone is directing you, or if staying is dangerous in itself. The Forest Service says anything short of very, very confident means staying, and that nightfall, an injury or exhaustion means staying regardless.
Stay where you are
- It's getting dark, or will be before you could reach the trail
- You're hurt, or tired enough that you're stumbling
- You've reached 911 and rescuers are coming to your coordinates
- Someone has your trip plan and knows when to raise the alarm
- You'd be guessing at the direction, even a little
- The only way on is down a stream or drainage into ground you don't know
Moving can make sense
- The last place you were sure of is close, and you know exactly how to get back to it
- Your phone or GPS shows you on a map, with the trail a short, clear distance away
- A dispatcher or rescuer on the phone is telling you which way to go
- Staying is itself dangerous, because of rising water or avalanche terrain
How do hikers actually get lost?
Usually by leaving the trail for a minute, or by missing the one moment it turned. The same situations come up again and again in rescue reports: a bathroom break, a game trail that looked like the path, a signed junction walked straight past, snow drifting over the tread, or a hike that ran long and finished in the dark.
Colorado's Summit County Rescue Group took 215 calls through the county's 911 center in 2021, and it says a large number came from people who had simply lost the trail. One of its members remembers a mother and three children who followed a deer for half an hour and then had no idea where the path was. Another time, a hiker above treeline asked him how much farther it was to a waterfall, having walked straight past the signed junction for it.
Then there's the hike that runs into the dark. The same rescuers point out that a four-hour hike can take six or eight, that a late start eats into the daylight you'd planned on, and that trails easily disappear at night without a good headlamp. In September 2026, Adirondack rangers walked out a hiker in the Dix Range whose headlamp had died and who was using a phone for both light and navigation.
Search researchers sort what lost people do next into a handful of strategies: following a trail, road or stream, heading cross-country in one direction, climbing for a view, backtracking, wandering, or staying put. A 2022 study modeled 65 US cases in which a lost hiker was found more than a kilometer from where the search began. The model's best fit was mostly cross-country travel in a single direction, the strategy that carries a person farthest.
That's why stopping comes first. The instinct when you're lost is to keep moving, and every hour of walking makes the area a search has to cover bigger.
How do you call for help when there's no cell signal?
Try 911 anyway, from the highest open ground nearby. If nothing connects, a recent phone's satellite SOS, a satellite messenger or a personal locator beacon can reach rescuers from almost anywhere with a clear view of the sky. Without any of those, a whistle, a light and a bright layer only help once searchers are close.
| Way to call for help | Needs cell signal? | What rescuers get | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 911 voice call | Yes | Your voice, plus coordinates the dispatcher gets from the call | You need a bar somewhere, and a low battery makes the signal harder to hold |
| A text to 911 | Yes | Your message, with less information than a call carries | Only accepted in some areas. Elsewhere you get a bounce-back telling you to call |
| Satellite SOS on a recent phone | No | A text conversation with emergency services | Recent models only, and it needs open sky. Trees or terrain can block it |
| Satellite messenger | No | An SOS with your position, and on two-way models a text conversation | Needs an active plan and a view of the sky |
| Personal locator beacon | No | A distress signal with your position, sent to government rescue coordinators | You can't text or cancel, though some newer models confirm the alert got through. It has to be registered with NOAA |
| Whistle, light and bright clothing | No | A sound or a sight to home in on | Only works once searchers are close enough to hear or see you |
From Colorado search and rescue groups on 911 calls, the FCC's guidance on text-to-911, Apple's and Google's support pages for satellite SOS, REI's guide to messengers and beacons, NOAA's search and rescue satellite program for beacons, and Park Service and American Hiking Society guidance on signaling.
How early does it get dark on a fall hike?
- 6:53 pm
- Sunset in New York City on September 22
- 5:53 pm
- Sunset on October 31
- 4:52 pm
- Sunset on November 1, after the clocks go back
- 4:31 pm
- Sunset on December 21, the shortest day
Civil twilight lasts until about 7:20.
An hour earlier than on September 22.
Another hour gone overnight.
Plan any winter hike backward from here.
What if nobody reaches you before dark?
Get ready for the night while you still have light, then stay where you are until morning. Keeping warm comes first, then being heard, and being seen once it's light again. A person who stays in one place is found far more quickly, and searchers work outward from where you were last known to be.
Before dark
Pick your spot and layer up
Choose somewhere out of the wind but next to a small clearing, where you could be seen from a nearby trail or from the air. Put on every layer before you start to shiver. Then get something between you and the ground, such as your pack, a sit pad or a thick pile of dry leaves. Park Service hypothermia advice says to put something under a cold person outdoors, and tonight that person is you.
At dark
Stop, and stay stopped
Once the light goes, don't move. Use the headlamp for what you need to do, then switch it off to save the batteries. Yell or blow the whistle at any noise in the night. Search teams teach children to do that, since, as they put it, an animal will run off and a searcher will find you.
Overnight
Warm, then heard
Eat some of the extra food. Where the rules and the conditions allow one, a fire is both a signal and a heat source, the Park Service notes. Blow three blasts on the whistle now and then. Every so often, take the phone out of airplane mode, check for a signal, and put it back.
First light
Make yourself big
Get your brightest clothing out where it can be seen from above, and stay beside it. Search teams teach children to lie down when a helicopter passes and to make a big X on the ground with branches or rocks, and both work at any age. Keep answering the phone, whatever number is calling.
What should you set up before a hike so you're easy to find?
Leave a trip plan with someone who isn't coming, carry a way to navigate that doesn't need a signal, and pack for a night you didn't plan. The Park Service's ten essentials cover the gear. The trip plan is the part people skip, and it's what sends a search to the right place.
The trip plan you leave behind
- Where you're going: the trailhead, the trail names and the route
- When you'll be back, and the time they should call 911 if they haven't heard from you
- Your car, and exactly where you plan to park it
- Who's with you, and what colors you're all wearing
- What you're carrying, and any medical conditions a rescuer should know about
Your phone, before you lose signal
- Charged to full, with a battery pack in the bag
- The area's map downloaded, so it works with no signalPractice with the app at home, not on the trail.
- Whether it can text emergency services by satellite, and how to start it
- Airplane mode once the signal goes, so it isn't burning battery hunting for towers
In the pack
- A paper map and a compass, and the skill to use them together
- A headlamp and spare batteries
- A whistle, somewhere you can reach it without unpacking
- An extra layer in a bright color, and a rain shell
- An emergency shelter: a space blanket, a tarp or a bivy
- An extra day's food, and water or a way to treat it
- A satellite messenger or a personal locator beacon, if you're going beyond reliable cell coverage
Gear that makes you easier to find
A light for the hour after sunset, a way to reach rescuers without a cell signal, and a GPS that records where you've walked so you can follow your own track back. If you're missing one of them, start there.
Where this matters most
Photo: Ocean Star — CC BY 3.0, cropped
Skills
Winter hiking for beginners in the Northeast
Photo: Tyler A. McNeil — CC0, cropped
Destinations
Top 8 day hikes in the Catskills
Photo: USFWS Mountain Prairie — Public domain
Safety
Hiking in bear country
Questions about getting lost on a hike
What is the STOP method if you get lost?
STOP stands for stop, think, observe and plan, and it's how the Forest Service teaches the first minutes of being lost. Stop moving and stay calm, think back over how you got here, get your bearings with a compass, and only then make a plan. If you aren't very, very confident in the route, stay put.
Should you follow a stream downhill if you're lost?
Only as a last resort. The Forest Service lists following a drainage or stream downhill as a very last resort that could lead to a trail or road, and warns that it is often a difficult path and could be very dangerous. It also tends to take you away from where anyone would start looking. Staying put is the default.
Can 911 find your location from your cell phone?
Usually, if the call goes through. Colorado rescuers say they are generally handed GPS coordinates that 911 dispatchers get automatically from the caller's phone, and New York's rangers have asked lost hikers to call 911 for exactly that reason. A text to 911 carries less information than a call, and it isn't accepted everywhere.
What does three whistle blasts mean?
It's a call for help. The American Hiking Society advises a lost hiker to blow the whistle periodically in bursts of three. A whistle can be heard from farther away than your voice and takes less energy than shouting. Rest between sets and listen for an answer.
Should you answer calls from unknown numbers when you're overdue?
Yes. In October 2021, Lake County's search and rescue team searched Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest peak, into the night and again at daybreak for an overdue hiker who, the team said, ignored its repeated calls because they didn't recognize the number. A team member later conceded nobody knew whether the phone's ringer was switched off. The hiker walked out on their own. If you're late and your phone rings, it may be the people looking for you.
Will you have to pay if you get rescued?
It depends where you are. In New Hampshire, the Fish and Game Department can seek repayment from people it judges to have been negligent, which it says covers roughly two dozen rescues a year. Its voluntary Hike Safe card, $25 a person or $35 a family, means holders aren't liable to repay rescue costs, with exceptions set out in state law.
What should kids do if they get lost?
Hug a tree and stay there. That's the Park Service's advice for children. It's also the idea behind Hug-a-Tree and Survive, a program two of the searchers started after the 1981 search for nine-year-old Jimmy Beveridge in southern California. Give every child a whistle and a bright layer, and tell them searchers will be calling their name and aren't angry, so it's fine to answer.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these. Conditions, fees and rules change — check the official page before you go.
- If You Get Lost — USDA Forest Service · checked September 22, 2026
- Outdoor Emergency Plan — National Park Service · checked September 22, 2026
- Ten Essentials — National Park Service · checked September 22, 2026
- Heat and Cold Related Illness — New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, National Park Service · checked September 22, 2026
- Lost Outdoors — American Hiking Society · checked September 22, 2026
- Forest Rangers — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation · checked September 22, 2026
- DEC Forest Rangers - Week in Review (September 2026) — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation · checked September 22, 2026
- DEC Forest Rangers - Week in Review (September 2025) — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation · checked September 22, 2026
- I've lost the trail...now what? — Colorado Search and Rescue Association · checked September 22, 2026
- Improve your cell phone reception in the backcountry — Colorado Search and Rescue Association · checked September 22, 2026
- An agent-based model reveals lost person behavior based on data from wilderness search and rescue — Scientific Reports (Hashimoto, Heintzman, Koester and Abaid, 2022) · checked September 22, 2026
- Text to 911: What You Need to Know — Federal Communications Commission · checked September 22, 2026
- Use Emergency SOS via satellite on your iPhone — Apple Support · checked September 22, 2026
- Get emergency help through satellite with your Pixel phone — Google Pixel Help · checked September 22, 2026
- NOAA satellites helped rescue 300 people in 2025 — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration · checked September 22, 2026
- Frequently Asked Questions — NOAA Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) · checked September 22, 2026
- How to Choose Between a PLB and a Satellite Messenger — REI Co-op Expert Advice · checked September 22, 2026
- Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day — U.S. Naval Observatory · checked September 22, 2026
- Rescuers Searched Mount Elbert For Overdue Hiker Who Didn't Answer Phone Calls — CBS Colorado (Associated Press) · checked September 22, 2026
- Search and Rescue Funding — New Hampshire Fish and Game Department · checked September 22, 2026
- Hiking Safety — New Hampshire Fish and Game Department · checked September 22, 2026
- Hug A Tree — West Valley Search and Rescue · checked September 22, 2026
More from Basecamp
Photo: Cullen328 — CC BY 3.0, cropped
Safety
Altitude sickness on a hike, and the descent that cures it
Three illnesses wait for you above about 8,000 feet, and two of them can put a healthy hiker on the ground inside a day. What thin air is doing to you, how to tell an ordinary altitude headache from the two that end the trip, and why a thousand feet of descent beats anything in your pack.
Photo: Grand Canyon National Park — Public domain
Safety
Hiking in the heat
Three things put hikers down on a hot day, and two of them look alike while needing opposite treatment. The fixes are mostly a start time and a turnaround time. Here's the plan, and how to tell the three apart if it goes wrong.
Photo: Famartin — CC BY-SA 4.0
Destinations
The Appalachian Trail, explained
2,197.9 miles of continuous marked footpath from Georgia to Maine, free to walk and open year-round. What the corridor actually crosses, the three honest ways to hike it, and the places along it that ask for a permit or a fee.