Routing protocols are responsible for discovering and maintaining energy-efficient routes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) to make reliable and efficient communication. The main aim of the routing protocol design is collecting data of the sensor field efficiently. In general, routing in WSNs can be classified into three groups: flat routing, hierarchical routing, and location routing. According to the literature, hierarchical routing has more advantages compared to other types, for example, hierarchical routing reduces the redundant data transmission and balances the load among the sensor nodes in an efficient way. Recently, many intelligent-based hierarchical routing protocols are developed for controlling the consumption power of WSNs. Selecting an appropriate routing protocol for specific applications is an important and difficult task for the designer of WSNs. Therefore, this chapter presents a comprehensive survey of the recently intelligent-based hierarchical routing protocols that are developed based on Particle Swarm Optimization, Ant Colony Optimization, Fuzzy Logic, Genetic Algorithm, and Artificial Immune Algorithm. These protocols will review in detail according to different metrics such as WSN type, node deployment, control manner, network architecture, clustering attributes, protocol operation, path establishment, communication paradigm, energy model, protocol objectives, and applications. Moreover, a comparison between the reviewed protocols is investigated here depending on delay, network size, energy efficiency, and scalability with mentioning the advantages and drawbacks of each protocol.