Our Grading System

How we grade our walks

A simple colour system, the same idea as ski runs — so you know what a day on the trail will actually ask of you before you book.

What the grades are based on

Good walking in Mallorca is rarely flat, so we don't grade purely on distance. Every route is weighed up on five things:

  1. How steep the climbs and descents are.
  2. How long you'll actually be walking — in walking time, not counting any stops you want to make.
  3. What the ground is like underfoot — boulders, loose scree, stony paths.
  4. How much energy and stamina the day asks of you.
  5. Any extra challenges — light scrambling up hillsides, walking along cliff tops, and the like.

The four grades

Green Easy

Manageable for anyone in reasonable shape — but please note that good walks here are rarely flat. The route may be steep in places, with some hard, tricky surfaces underfoot. These are generally not long days: usually no more than around 3 hours of walking.

Blue Moderate

Some steep hills and difficult walking surfaces, and possibly other challenges along the way. Walking times are generally around 4 hours or more.

Red Challenging

Steep climbs and difficult terrain. Walking times are usually 5 hours or more — though a few are shorter and still earn this grade, because their difficulty, or a particular passage, makes up for the distance. You need to be fit and to have some walking experience for these.

Black Difficult

Our longest, most demanding days. These should only be attempted by walkers who are fit, energetic and experienced, and comfortable with a sustained effort over rough ground.

On the walk cards you'll see the difficulty written as Easy, Moderate, Challenging or Difficult — that's the same scale, in words. You can filter our walks by level on the All our walks page.

Not sure which is right for you?

If you're between grades, or coming back to walking after a while, just tell us how you like to walk and roughly what you've done before. We'll point you to the routes that will suit you — and on a private walk we can usually adjust the day to the group.

Ask us which walk suits you