Hiking (per Wikipedia) - v - The word 'hiking' is understood in all english speaking countries, but there are also many colorful country-specific descriptions as well.
In the US & UK, hiking refers to walking outdoors on a trail for the fun of it.
A day-hike implies a single day journey with no overnight camping, and thus a much smaller pack is utilized.
Backpacking usually refers to multi-day hikes with camping (and much larger packs than required by day-hiking).
The UK usually refers to hiking as rambling.
Bushwhacking specifically refers to difficult walking through dense forest, undergrowth, tall grasses, or bushes where progress is "impeded" by the vegetation. Bushwhacking is usually done on little-traveled, overgrown trails or off-trail, and is sometimes referred to as a "shortcut" (I've personally done my fair share of bushwhacking in the Gunnison National Forest when following the native Crested Butte billy-goat-like tour guide. Thank you Debbie S.)
Bushwalking in Australia refers both on- & off-trail hiking.
Tramping in New Zealand refers to overnight and longer trips.
Trekking in the mountainous regions of India, Nepal, the Americas, & the highlands of East Africa usually refers to backpacking.
Thru-Hiking a long-distance trail from end-to-end is also referred to as trekking. Examples of long-distance trails include:
- The Appalachian Trail (AT) is the grandaddy of trails clocking in a whooping 2200+ mi long, but it is offically of undetermined length as its start and end points keep sperading further apart due to trail extensions. Thus, the AT stretches from Canada and Maine in the north to Georgia and Florida in the south.
- The Long Trail (LT) is about 450mi long with side trails. Long Trail Brewery is a wonderful place to rest and replenish carbs while on the LT. It is aptly named and uses "Take a Hike" as thier slogan since the brewery is actually on the LT.
- The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in the West is 2,663 mi long and runs through TWENTY-FIVE National Parks and 7 National Forests as it snakes from Mexico to Canada and ranges from sea level to 13,153' at the Forester Pass.
- Like the LT, the Colorado Trail is 'only' 500 miles long as it traverses the continental divide on its way from Denver to Durango. During that trip it covers nearly 70,000' of vertical (that's almost 13 miles of elevation gain?!)
- And the last but surely not least in the Triple Crown of long distance hiking is Continental Divide Trail (CDT) or the "King of Trails". The CDT runs 3100 Miles along the Continental Divide also from Canada to Mexico. The elevation ranges from 3900' to summiting on Grays Peak at a breath taking 14,270'. This is no mere walk as the thru-hiker needs to contend with frequent lightening and hail storms in summer, along with avalanches, dehydration, mountain lions, and bears. Oh My.
- Well, if your more of and East-West type of person vs the big North-South hikes previously mentioned, you can always strike out on the American Discovery Trail. It covers 5,000 some-odd miles, 14 national parks, and 15 states from Deleware to California.
- A more northernly E-W trail is the North Country Trail. The NCT winds approxiamtely 4,600mi through 3 national parks & 8 national forests from North Dakota to eastern New York State.
Thank again you Wikipedia.