A LITTLE HELP FOR YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE

A little paper.
A lot of possibility.

Plan before you go. Write along the way. Keep the feeling when you get home.

Watercolor HN camp mug with heart-shaped steam

A good day starts here.

01 / BEFORE YOU GO

Give your day a little direction.

Heading out for a morning walk or a full day on the trail? Hike Plan helps you put the essentials in one place.

Choose your trail. Add the park, trail name, date and who’s coming along.
Sketch out the day. Note your trailhead, distance, elevation, start time, turnaround time and expected return. Use miles/feet or kilometers/meters.
Pack for your day. Work through the starter checklist and add the food, water, layers and extra items your route needs.
Leave a copy. Add an at-home contact, check-in time and backup plan. Share a printed copy with someone you trust before you go.

A little example: fill in the trail details the night before, then check the weather and official park alerts again in the morning.

Make my Hike Plan →

My hike

HN backpack on a sample blank journal page

A page. A pen. A trail.

02 / FOR PEN-AND-PAPER DAYS

Take a little journal outside.

Prefer to keep your phone tucked away? Download a blank Hike Notes journal and write at your own pace.

Print your four pages. Choose compact A6 or roomy A5, then US Letter or A4 paper for trimming. Choose journal-size paper if your printer supports your chosen size.
Start with the introduction. Fill in the park, trail, date, company and what you’re looking forward to.
Notice the trail. Jot down the distance, weather and route details. Save room for the bird you spotted or that unexpected view.
Finish when you’re ready. Over a snack or back at home, add your favorite moment, how the hike felt and a note for next time.

You don’t have to fill every line. A few words can bring a whole day back.

Get the blank pages →

Watercolor songbird perched on a branch with an HN tag

Your little piece
of the trail

03 / THE LITTLE THINGS WORTH KEEPING

Leave room for a real memory.

Page three has a deliberately empty box. It’s yours to fill with a real stamp, a little drawing or a photo.

For a stamp: keep the box blank when printing. Use a stamp where one is available and permitted, then let the ink dry before closing your journal.
For a sketch: draw a leaf, a bird, the view or a small detail you want to remember. A simple doodle is enough.
For a photo: add a small print after the hike, or upload a JPG, PNG or WebP in the online editor before downloading your PDF.

No stamp on this trip? Leave the box open for a memory of your own. Collect moments and drawings; leave natural objects where they belong.

Add a little discovery →

Looking backYour story, saved by you.

Watercolor HN hiking boot beside a journal editor illustration

04 / AFTER THE BOOTS COME OFF

Turn your notes into a keepsake.

Use the online editor before or after a hike. You can type up your paper notes, add a photo and download a clean copy.

Open Hike Notes. Work through the four tabs: the beginning, the trail, discoveries and the memory.
Choose whether to remember it. “Remember this journal on this device” keeps the current journal in this browser. Leave it off on a shared device.
Download your PDF. Choose a print format and continue past the optional Instagram invitation. Following @Hike.Notes is never required.
Keep an editable backup. Use “Export backup” to save your entries, then “Import backup” in the same journal type when you want to continue.

The PDF is your printable keepsake; the backup is your editable copy. Entries stay in your browser and aren’t stored in a HikeNotes account. Export a backup before clearing your browser or starting a new journal.

Write my trail story →

05 / PRINT, TRIM & KEEP

From printer to little keepsake.

One small step at a time. You’ll finish with two pieces of paper, printed on both sides: four journal pages for one hike.

Grab these first: your PDF, plain printer paper, scissors or a paper trimmer, a hole punch and a binder that matches your journal size.

A compact A6 journal next to a larger A5 journal

Choose your journal. Then your paper.

On the download page, make these two separate choices:

Journal size: A6 for a small booklet, or A5 for bigger pages and more writing room.
Printer paper: choose the paper actually in your printer. Usually US Letter in the USA. Choose A4 only if that is what you use.

Regular printer paper is fine! You’ll cut it down to your journal size later.

A6: 4.13 × 5.83 in (105 × 148 mm). A5: 5.83 × 8.27 in (148 × 210 mm).

Choose my download →

A friendly printer printing a page marked 100 percent, actual size

Open the PDF. Match these settings.

Open your downloaded PDF and choose Print. Find your journal size below. These settings are for US Letter or A4 paper.

A6 · small journal

Paper direction: Landscape (wide)
Scale / size: 100% / Actual size
Double-sided: On · flip on SHORT edge
Sheets needed: 1 sheet per hike

A5 · larger journal

Paper direction: Portrait (tall)
Scale / size: 100% / Actual size
Double-sided: On · flip on LONG edge
Sheets needed: 2 sheets per hike

Choose one page per sheet in the print window. The PDF already has the right layout. Leave “Booklet,” “Multiple pages per sheet” and “Fit to page” off.

Here’s what comes out of your printer.

The big numbers below are journal page numbers. All pages should be upright when you look at each side.

A6: one large sheet → two small journal leaves

Front of the sheet

1Front of leaf 1

3Front of leaf 2

Turn sideways
around the short edge

Back of that same sheet

4Back of leaf 2

2Back of leaf 1

The reversed order on the back is intentional. After trimming, page 2 sits behind page 1, and page 4 behind page 3.

A5: two large sheets → two larger journal leaves

Sheet 1 · front and back

↔

Sheet 2 · front and back

↔

One centered A5 page on each side. Turn each tall sheet sideways around its long edge. The blank border is trimmed away.

Pages 1 and 2 both upright, with a check mark

Try one set before printing more.

Print one complete journal on ordinary paper first: one sheet for A6, two for A5.

Turn the sheet sideways, like turning a book page. Is the back upright too?
Can you see the small cut marks around each journal page?
Is everything printed at 100%, with no shrinking or stretching?

Back upside down? Check the short-edge / long-edge setting above. Change it and test again before cutting.

Scissors beside a page: cut straight between the corner marks and keep the center

Cut between the little corner marks.

Lay the sheet flat. Find the short printed marks just outside each journal page. Use a ruler to line up matching marks, then cut straight between them.

A6: trim around both small pages. Remove the outer border and the narrow strip between the pages.
A5: trim the blank border off each sheet.

The dashed line in the drawing shows the cut. Your PDF has small corner marks instead of a full dashed rectangle. No folding needed.

When you’re done, you should have two separate leaves: 1/2 and 3/4.

A journal page in a ring binder, with holes in the wider left margin and reading order 1 to 4

Punch, file, and head outside.

Place page 1 facing you, with page 3 behind it. Both tops point up.
Use your binder or an existing insert to mark the hole positions. Punch in the wider left margin, away from the writing.
Put both leaves in a matching A6 or A5 binder. Turn through the pages: 1 → 2 → 3 → 4.

That’s your first hike ready. Add another four-page set for the next adventure.

No double-sided printing option?

Your printer may call it “duplex” or “print on both sides.” If it has neither, print manually, one side at a time. First mark the top corner of a scrap sheet and make a test print to learn which way your printer feeds paper. Follow your printer’s instructions when putting a printed sheet back in.

A6: print PDF page 1. Put that same sheet back in, then print PDF page 2 on its blank side.
A5: print PDF page 1, reinsert that sheet and print PDF page 2 on the back. Repeat with PDF pages 3 and 4 on a second sheet.

These are the page numbers in your PDF viewer. Keep the same paper direction and 100% scale for both sides. Check that both sides are upright before trimming.

Already have A6 or A5 paper?

Choose your journal size, then select “Journal-size paper · individual pages”. Load matching A6 or A5 paper if your printer supports it. Print portrait, at 100% / actual size, double-sided, with long-edge flipping. Use one PDF page per sheet side. No trimming needed. Check your printer’s supported paper sizes and duplex options first.

Why don’t my pages line up perfectly?

A small front-to-back shift can happen on home printers. First check that both sides used the same paper size, 100% scale and orientation. Align the paper guides in the printer tray. If the shift would cut into your writing, try another test before trimming.

Can I move my journal to another device?

Yes. Export a backup, transfer that file to your other device and import it into the matching Hike Notes or Hike Plan editor. Local browser storage does not sync automatically. Keep your backup private if it contains personal details or photos.

Share a little of your adventure.

Photograph your booklet, a favorite journal page or your growing collection. Post it on Instagram, tag @Hike.Notes and include #HikeNotes. Keep contact details and other private information out of the photo. Sharing and following are always optional.

Ready for your next little adventure?

Find your free pages ↗

HikeNotes helps you plan and remember. Always check current conditions, closures and permits with the park before leaving, and carry suitable navigation and equipment.

A little paper.
A lot of possibility.

Give your day a little direction.

Take a little journal outside.

Leave room for a real memory.

Turn your notes into a keepsake.