Travel Times in Middle-earth 

Designed for Tolkien fan-fiction authors but widely used in RPGs and by historic, western and fantasy authors. 

Please use the ‘find’ function in your browser window to search for the departure/destination combination. If it is not listed individually, it may be found as a leg of a longer journey.

The minimum times are loosely based on a horse traveling 12-15 mph, with rest breaks dropping the average to approximately 10mph. The times are decreased (average speed increased) for easy routes such as level roads, and increased (average speed decreased) for cross-country travel, multiple river crossing or difficult terrain such as hills or mountainous regions. I’ve also tried to consider that an urgent rider may push hard to ride 100 or more miles in one day, if that was the entire length of the trip. It would not be possible to maintain that pace over several hundred miles and I reduced the average speed (increased travel time) for the longer distances. It may be possible to shave some time off of these minimum times riding a Meara or Elf-horse, depending on the skill and stamina of the rider. 

The average times are calculated, loosely, on 20-30 miles per day, (depending on terrain) with a rest day every 4-6 days. Sitting on a walking horse for hours and hours at a time is agonizing. It is much easier to trot and canter 25 or 50 miles than to walk/jog 15. -for the horse as well as the rider (speaking of a fit horse) A horse can walk about 3mph so that gives you about ten mile legs at the walk between breakfast and lunch and lunch and supper. Notice those are average times, not maximum times.

There are instances in canon of trips much slower than what we have listed. For example, Bilbo and the dwarfs traveled only an average of about 10 miles per day on ponies, where Frodo & Co averaged 17.5mpd on foot over the same distance from the Shire to Rivendell. Another example would be Boromir's trip to Rivendell. It can be assumed that Boromir did not travel in a direct route once he left Tharbad and perhaps wandered somewhat before then. Rivendell was said to be a hidden place and it is probable that Boromir spent time looking for it as he traveled up the Bruinen.

A point to remember with wagons is that they make about half the mileage in a day that horses and riders can make. Riders can vary their pace from walk, trot to canter, but wagons ... go one speed. Especially on a long journey. Also, among the American pioneers it was common for wagon trains to make a rather long lunch stop of two or three hours, to allow the animals pulling the wagon a chance to step out of their traces and relax, eat, drink, etc. So, for wagons .... 15 miles per day is probably maximum. Less if the road is hilly, rocky or muddy. A layover day every 4-5 days is very good. If the terrain is especially hard, or if the roads get boggy, two days rest would be well. On arduous trails over several weeks' travel, a horse can pull down and lose weight and condition, so husbanding them over a long journey is important. Those layover days allow them to relax, physically and mentally, and really eat their fill and not burn it back off right away. On choosing between routes, wagons would take a longer route in order to stay on a road as opposed to attempting a cross-country route.

Note on Hobbit ponies: I don’t believe the average times would be significantly slower, unless they decided to stop and set camp for each meal. The minimum times would depend more on the type of horse or pony (draft, cob or saddle type) rather than the size. This would also depend somewhat on the distance. – being that a larger/taller (longer-legged) horse could outrun a pony over a distance of 20-30 miles, but over the longer distance, the horse would not be moving above a speed that a good riding pony could match for an extended period.

Timelines: This chart was compiled without distinction between the Ages. Please verify the existence of your departure and destination locations, and the routes themselves, from a separate source.