AllTrails: $106M Traffic Value from 3M Monthly Visitors
3.05M
Monthly Visitors
$106M
Traffic Value/yr
89
Domain Rating
75K
Ref. Domains
What happens when 65 million people need to find a hiking trail?
They open AllTrails.
This isn't hyperbole. AllTrails has become so dominant in outdoor navigation that it's essentially the default app for anyone who wants to hike, bike, or run on trails. Before the pandemic, it had 7 million users. Today? Over 65 million registered users, more than 1 million paying subscribers, and Apple's iPhone App of the Year for 2023.
With 3 million monthly organic visitors, $106 million in annual traffic value, and a database of 400,000+ trails across 190 countries, AllTrails has become the Google Maps of the great outdoors.
The Challenge
Before AllTrails, finding a good hiking trail was surprisingly frustrating.
You could Google it, but you'd get random blog posts, outdated park service pages, and conflicting information about difficulty and conditions. You could buy guidebooks, but they were expensive, heavy, and quickly outdated. You could ask friends, but that only worked if you knew outdoorsy people who'd hiked where you wanted to go.
There was no single, comprehensive source for trail information—no "Yelp for trails" with reviews, photos, conditions, and reliable directions.
Russell Cook founded AllTrails in 2010 to solve this problem. In 2015, Jade Van Doren took over as CEO and drove the company to profitability by 2017, orchestrating acquisitions of Trails.com, iFootpath, and GPSies that expanded the database and eliminated competitors.
Directory Overview
| Website | alltrails.com |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Russell Cook |
| Niche | Trail discovery, offline maps, GPS navigation |
| Business Model | Freemium subscriptions ($35.99/yr) + advertising |
| Users | 65+ million registered, 1M+ paying subscribers |
Key Metrics (Ahrefs, January 2026)
Monthly Organic Traffic
3,049,561
Top 1% of outdoor activity sites
Traffic Value
$106.1M/yr
Would cost this much in Google Ads
Domain Rating
89/100
Elite authority level
Referring Domains
74,994
6.3M total backlinks
Search Performance
Monthly Organic Traffic
3,049,561
Traffic Value
$106,100,000/year
User Growth
Pre-Pandemic (2019)
7M users
Current (2026)
65M+ users
Traffic Sources
What The Numbers Tell Us
The pandemic was rocket fuel: AllTrails grew from 7M to 65M users in six years. When gyms closed and international travel stopped, millions discovered hiking. AllTrails was perfectly positioned—a free app that helped people find outdoor activities near home.
Mobile-first matched user behavior: While competitors built websites, AllTrails built an app. Hikers don't research trails on laptops—they use phones at trailheads. This insight drove product decisions.
User-generated content scales infinitely: Every trail has reviews, photos, and recent condition reports from actual hikers. This community content is more trustworthy and more current than anything AllTrails could produce editorially.
Monetization Strategy
Revenue Model
AllTrails pioneered freemium in outdoor recreation, converting 1M+ users to $35.99/year subscriptions.
AllTrails+ Subscriptions ($35.99/yr)
Offline maps, wrong-turn alerts, 3D previews, detailed topo maps. Essential features for serious hikers.
Advertising to Free Users
Non-subscribers see ads between searches. Outdoor enthusiasts are a valuable demographic for gear and travel brands.
Data & Partnerships
Aggregated trail usage data sold to parks, tourism boards, and outdoor brands to understand usage patterns.
Gear Shop
Branded merchandise and outdoor gear adds an e-commerce revenue stream.
Why This Model Works: Offline maps aren't a gimmick—they're essential for hiking in areas without cell service. AllTrails' premium feature directly solves a painful problem that free alternatives can't address. With 65M users and 1M+ subscribers, even a 1.5% conversion rate generates $36M+ in subscription revenue alone.
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Top Ranking Keywords
| Keyword | Volume | Position | Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|
| alltrails | 52,000 | #1 | 48,026 |
| all trails | 41,000 | #1 | 37,693 |
| hiking trails near me | 48,000 | #2 | 9,593 |
| trails near me | 29,000 | #1 | 6,528 |
| walking trails near me | 29,000 | #1 | 5,961 |
SEO Insights
The long-tail goldmine: Millions of ways to search for trails. "Dog-friendly hikes near Denver." "Waterfall trails in Oregon." "Easy trails with stroller access." Each of 400,000+ trail pages captures these hyper-specific searches.
"Near me" domination: AllTrails ranks #1 or #2 for virtually every "[activity] trails near me" variation. These are some of the most valuable searches in Google—high intent, immediate need.
Freshness without effort: Users constantly add reviews, photos, and condition reports. Pages stay fresh without AllTrails lifting a finger—a massive SEO advantage over static competitors.
Competitive Landscape
Key Competitors
| Competitor | Focus | Differentiation |
|---|---|---|
| nps.gov | National park trails | AllTrails covers ALL trails, not just parks |
| hikingproject.com | Hiking database (REI) | Larger database, more reviews, better app |
| komoot.com | Route planning (Europe) | Stronger US presence and brand recognition |
| strava.com | Activity tracking | Discovery-focused vs. tracking-focused |
| traillink.com | Rail-trails | Broader trail types and activities |
Why AllTrails Wins: Strategic acquisitions (Trails.com, iFootpath, GPSies) consolidated the market and eliminated competitors. Apple's 2023 App of the Year award drove massive visibility. And being profitable since 2017 meant they could invest in growth without desperation.
Key Lessons for Directory Builders
1. Build for Mobile, Not Desktop
AllTrails understood that hikers use phones at trailheads, not laptops at desks. Building mobile-first matched actual user behavior and created a better experience at the moment of need.
2. Become Profitable Before Raising Big Money
AllTrails was profitable by 2017, before raising major funding. This gave them leverage in negotiations and proved the business model worked. Revenue validates better than pitch decks.
3. Premium Features Must Solve Real Problems
Offline maps aren't a gimmick—they're essential for hiking without cell service. AllTrails' premium feature directly solves a painful problem that free alternatives can't address.
4. Acquire Your Way to Dominance
AllTrails bought Trails.com, iFootpath, and GPSies. These acquisitions consolidated trail data and user bases, making AllTrails the obvious choice for anyone seeking trails.
5. Position for Macro Trends
The pandemic devastated most businesses. For AllTrails, it was rocket fuel. Position your product to benefit from trends—even unexpected ones like a global shift to outdoor recreation.
6. Brand Searches = Moat
AllTrails' top keywords are branded terms. When people search for your brand name directly, you've won. That's true demand, not borrowed traffic.
Conclusion
Here's what AllTrails taught me: The best directory opportunities hide in activities millions of people already do.
Before AllTrails, finding a hiking trail meant cobbling together information from blogs, outdated park brochures, and word of mouth. It was frustrating, unreliable, and often resulted in showing up to a trail that didn't match expectations.
AllTrails didn't invent hiking. They organized existing information into a searchable, reviewable, navigable format. They built what hikers wished existed.
The result? An app that 65 million people rely on, a business profitable since 2017, and a valuation approaching $1 billion.
For directory builders, the insight is powerful: Look for activities with passionate participants but fragmented information. Hiking existed forever—what didn't exist was a single place to find, evaluate, and navigate trails.
What activities do millions of people do that still lack a definitive resource?
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Sources: Ahrefs (traffic data, January 2026), Permira press releases, TechCrunch, Crunchbase, Apple App Store, company announcements.