Walking across America from New York to Los Angeles in a straight line would take about 33 days if you never stopped. That is 3,936 km, or 2,446 miles, at a steady 5 km an hour, with no sleep and no lunch breaks.
Walk a sensible eight hours a day and it takes about three months. Follow real roads, take rest days, and the people who actually do it usually need five to six months.
Here is how the maths works, what it looks like in steps and shoes, and how long a few other famous walks would take, including one to the Moon.
The quick maths
Every answer here starts with two numbers: how far, and how fast. We use the straight-line distance and a walking speed of 5 km an hour, which is a brisk but comfortable pace for most adults.
These are the same assumptions our distance between cities tool uses, so you can check any of the numbers below for yourself.
Nonstop: about 33 days
3,936 km divided by 5 km an hour is 787 hours of walking. That is 32.8 days, day and night, without a single nap.
Nobody should try this. But it is a useful way to feel how big the country is: a whole month of feet moving, just to get from one coast to the other.
At eight hours a day: about three months
Spread the same 787 hours over eight-hour days and you get 98 days. That is a little over three months, assuming you walk every single day.
On real roads: about four months of walking
Of course there is no straight path across America. Driving routes between the two cities run about 4,490 km, or 2,790 miles.
At eight hours a day that is about 112 days. Add rest days, bad weather, sore feet and the odd detour for pie, and five to six months is a realistic total.
What real people actually take
People walk across America every year, often for charity. Most take somewhere between four and six months, walking around 25 to 30 km a day with regular rest days.
Runners are a different story. In 2016 Pete Kostelnick ran from San Francisco to New York in 42 days and 6 hours, which works out at more than 110 km a day.
And Forrest Gump, of course, kept going for over three years. He also crossed the country several times, so we are counting that as a different event.
What it costs your body
At about 75 cm a stride, the straight line is roughly 5.2 million steps. The road route is closer to 6 million.
A good pair of walking shoes lasts somewhere around 500 to 800 km. So a coast-to-coast walker goes through six to nine pairs, and probably a great many blister plasters.
Walking burns roughly 250 to 300 calories an hour. Eight hours a day means an extra 2,000 calories or more, every day, for months. You would get very, very good at eating.
If you are actually tempted
Start in spring. Leave too early and the mountains are still snowy; leave too late and you cross the south-western deserts in summer heat.
Most walkers aim for 25 to 30 km a day and take a rest day every week or so. That pace is slower than our maths, but it is the pace bodies can keep up for months.
Plan where you will sleep and refill water before you set off. Long stretches of the West have no town for a day or more on foot, which is why many walkers have a friend or family member following in a car.
If you would rather skip the roads altogether, the American Discovery Trail links the coasts on paths and back roads. It is closer to 6,800 miles with all its loops, so add a year.
Other far walks, using the same maths
Once you have the formula, everything becomes a walk. Here are a few, all as the crow flies at 5 km an hour.
- Across Texas, El Paso to Beaumont: 1,193 km. About 10 days nonstop, or a month at eight hours a day.
- The length of Britain, Land’s End to John o’Groats: 968 km. About 8 days nonstop. On the winding walking routes, most people take two to three months.
- Across Australia, Perth to Sydney: 3,290 km. About 27 days nonstop, or 82 days at eight hours a day, mostly through some very empty country.
- Corner to corner of the US, Seattle to Miami: 4,396 km. About 37 days nonstop, or 110 days at eight hours a day.
- London to Paris: 344 km. About 3 days nonstop, plus a 33 km swim across the Channel, which the maths politely ignores.
Walks that get a bit silly
Around the world
The Earth is 40,075 km around the equator. Walking it nonstop would take 334 days, not quite a year.
At eight hours a day it is about 1,000 days, or two years and nine months. That is 53 million steps, assuming you can walk on water for most of it.
Real life is slower again. Dave Kunst, the first person verified to have walked around the world, set off in 1970 and got home more than four years later.
To the Moon
The Moon is about 384,400 km away. If there were a footpath, walking it nonstop would take nearly 9 years.
At eight hours a day you would need more than 26 years. Bring a podcast. Bring several thousand podcasts.
For a snail, and for a shout
A garden snail at full speed manages about 48 metres an hour. It would cross from New York to Los Angeles in roughly 9 years, and would need an awful lot of lettuce on the way.
A shout, if sound could carry that far, would make the trip in a little over 3 hours. Light does it in about a hundredth of a second.
When the distance is between two people
Numbers like 3,936 km are hard to feel. “Three months of walking” or “five million steps” lands differently, especially when the distance is between you and someone you miss.
That is what the distance tool is for. Put in your city and theirs, and it shows the distance, the time difference, and a dozen ways of picturing it. You can download the picture for free.
Each end can become a proper city map poster too, one for each of you. Our long-distance star map guide has more ideas for couples and families who live apart.
And if you have ever wondered why the route between two far cities looks bent on a map, see why flight paths look curved.
FAQ
How long would it take to walk across America?
From New York to Los Angeles in a straight line, about 33 days without stopping, or about three months walking eight hours a day. On real roads, with rest days, most people take five to six months.
How many miles is it across America?
New York to Los Angeles is about 2,446 miles in a straight line and about 2,790 miles by road. Seattle to Miami, corner to corner, is about 2,730 miles in a straight line.
How many steps is it to walk across America?
About 5.2 million steps in a straight line from New York to Los Angeles, at 75 cm a stride. Following roads, it is closer to 6 million.
Can you walk across America in a month?
Not really. Even walking nonstop on a straight line, which no road follows, takes about 33 days. Record-setting runners covering more than 110 km a day still needed six weeks.
How long would it take to walk around the world?
The equator is 40,075 km, so about 334 days walking nonstop at 5 km an hour, or roughly two years and nine months at eight hours a day. The oceans are a separate problem.
How long would it take to walk between two cities?
Put both cities into the free distance tool. It shows the walking time nonstop and at eight hours a day, plus cycling, driving and a few sillier comparisons.
