The relative scale and extent of the internal distances of the Book of Mormon lands is an essential verification of any proposed location. And the actual distances within any proposed location on the surface of the earth should match the corresponding travel distances recorded in the Book of Mormon account. It would be difficult to rationalize any proposed location that doesn’t reasonably match this scale.

To determine the extent of the lands traveled, one must convert the number of days travelled to miles. This conversion can be done by applying the following formula:

The unknown variable is the number of miles a person or group would actually travel per day. We can reasonably calculate this rate of travel by first considering the following constraints:

• Travel is rarely in a straight line.
• Travel follows rivers and water sources for water and food for animals.
• Travel will normally occur in daylight hours which will vary throughout the year.
• Traveling in large groups requires additional time setting up tents and resupplying.
• The rate of travel (mph) increases on established routes.

Next, it is helpful to designate the rate of travel for each of the journeys as fast, normal, or slow. To do this we would need to consider the nature of the journey and the conditions under which each group traveled:

This would be the normal rate of speed when one is traveling alone with a known route and destination and with minimal provisions. This would represent the speed of a seasoned hiker, and would yield the following distance per day:

This would be the normal rate of speed when one is traveling in small groups with a general understanding of the travel route and with normal provisions such as food and a tent. This would yield the following distance per day:

This would be the normal rate of speed when one is traveling in large groups such as families and armies with maximum provisions, and often flocks and animals. This slow rate matches the rate of travel of the Mormon pioneers when crossing from the Missouri River to the Rocky Mountains and similar pioneer treks in Alberta moving families and animals as recently as the 1930s. This would yield the following distance per day:

There are five Book of Mormon events that state the number of days it took the Nephites to travel a given route. The length of these five journeys can be converted into a reasonable approximation of the number of miles traveled.

(1) The one and a half-day (and later one-day) journey of a Nephite across the width of the small (narrow) neck of land (Alma 22:32, Hel. 4:7). The exactness of the time period suggests that this is a specific distance. It also suggests that a single person would be traveling at a fast rate with minimal provisions.

(2) The eight-day journey of Alma from the land of Nephi to the land of Helam (Mosiah 23:1, 3-4, 19). The people leaving the land of Nephi were moving their flocks and provisions, thus making their travel much slower. The wilderness terrain would have been rugged and difficult to traverse.

(3) The combined one-day plus 12-day journey of Alma from the land of Helam to the land of Zarahemla (Mosiah 24:20, 24-25). The people traveled one day to the valley of Alma before journeying an additional 12 days to reach the land of Zarahemla. They would have traveled at a slow rate with their flocks and all their provisions.

(4) The one-day journey of the Lamanites and Nephite armies from the hill Amnihu to the valley of Gideon (Alma 2:15, 19-20). The army of Alma was fighting and chasing the army of Amalici as they traveled this short distance. The challenge would suggest a much slower speed.

(5) The three-day journey of Alma from the land of Melek to the land of Ammonihah (Alma 8:6). Alma appeared to be traveling alone and with minimal provisions. We are unable to precisely determine the location for the city of Ammonihah from the brief description in the Book of Mormon. However, the location on our maps represents the scale of a three-day journey in the Land of Zarahemla at a normal rate of speed.