Numbers ch.13-14.
The bible states that it took the Hebrew people a total of 40 years wandering in the wilderness.
The Israelites entered the wilderness on the 16th of Nisan, 1312 BCE, the day after the Exodus. The spies (Numbers ch.13) were sent on the 29th of Sivan of the second year (Talmud, Taanit 29a). So your answer is that the spies were sent when the Israelites had been in the wilderness for one year and two-and-one-half months. See also:More about the Spies and other complaints
40 years, though technically they weren't called Jews yet. They were Israelites.
The trip could have been done in a month.
According to the Old Testament, the Israelites (the ancestors of today's Jews) wandered the wilderness (often mistranslated as desert) for 40 years. There is currently no archaeological evidence to support the claim that this event actually happened historically (see also the attached Related Link.).
It was a communal sffort and took not more than two or three hours.
It took 40 years for the Israelites to travel from Egypt to Canaan. Had there been no delays, most could have made the trip in 11 days (Deuteronomy 1). The main delay is explained in Numbers ch.13 and 14.
It defies logic how he could have survived for so long in the wilderness with a broken leg and little food.
There was no short cut route for them as God punished an entire generation who disobeyed him and so they had to wander forty long years.Answer:Northeast, along the Mediterranean coast (Exodus ch.13).
Twelve years
They journeyed and encamped in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers ch.14), at the guidance of God (Numbers ch.9).