The short answer is yes, within reason. Moss will take gentle, occasional footfall and can make a soft, quiet path or a walkable green surface, but it is not turf and will not shrug off a kickabout or a wheelbarrow run. How much treading it stands depends on the moss, the ground beneath it, and how wet it is underfoot at the time.
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How moss copes with being trodden on
Moss has no deep roots to be torn and no woody stems to snap, so a light tread mostly presses it flat, and a springy cushion lifts again once the weight has gone. What it dislikes is shear: the twisting scuff of a heel that turns, or anything dragged or wheeled across it, which rips the shoots from their hold and grinds them against the ground. Straight downward pressure it forgives readily; sideways scraping it does not. That is why a moss path walked plainly along, at an easy pace and always in the same direction, holds up far better than a patch that people pivot and shuffle on.
Which mosses take a footpath best
Underfoot, mosses are not all equal. The toughest are the low, dense, wiry carpeters of lawns and track edges, and gardeners in Japan have leaned on a handful of these for centuries, as the Japanese moss gardens tradition shows. Springy turf-moss (Rhytidiadelphus squarrosus), the very moss most people are trying to kill in their lawns, is among the more tread-hardy, and the flat, mat-forming Hypnum mosses that coat old paths and fallen logs cope well too. The plump, showy cushion mosses that look so tempting, bun moss and its kind, are the worst pick for a route: they bruise, stay flattened and are slow to spring back. As a rough rule, a moss you find growing wild on a path or a bank where feet and hooves already pass will handle yours.
The ground matters as much as the moss
Half the battle is what lies underneath. On soft, wet ground a foot drives the moss down into the mud and squeezes the life out of it, whereas on firm stony or sandy ground the same tread presses it against something solid and does far less harm. Good drainage and a compacted base are what let a moss surface carry any traffic at all, which is precisely why moss between stone setts or over a gravelly path wears so well. If you mean to walk a mossy area regularly, the surest help is a run of stepping stones or flat pavers set flush with the surface. Feet land on the stone, the moss between is barely touched, and it knits right up to the edges. Space them for a natural stride and the path both works and looks the part.
When to keep off
Moss is at its most fragile when it is sodden or frozen. Waterlogged moss tears loose easily and grips the ground least just after heavy rain, so a path trodden hard while soaking will shed clumps and thin. Frost is worse: the frozen shoots turn brittle and a footstep shatters them, leaving brown prints that take weeks to fill in. During a hot, dry spell moss goes crisp and dormant, and though it is brittle then as well, dry treading does less lasting harm than wet or frozen treading. Stay off a moss path for a day or two after heavy rain and on hard frosty mornings, and it will last for years.
Living with a moss path
Set your expectations and a moss walk is a quietly lovely thing. It is somewhere for slow, occasional, appreciative walking, not a thoroughfare for wheeling the bins down daily. Sweep it clear of fallen leaves, which smother moss faster than any amount of gentle footfall ever could. A faint track will form along the most-used line; let it, because a lightly worn path through moss looks entirely right. Should a stretch thin out, lift a little moss from a fuller patch nearby and press it into the gap in autumn, so it knits before winter. For establishing the surface in the first place, the moss lawn guide and the notes on moss as ground cover between paving are the natural companions to this one.