As your children begin to explore more and more of your garden, backyard and local parks, you might be asking yourself, is it time to try out a short, day hike with your children?
Hiking with your children might seem daunting, if not terrifying, for some parents. A few questions might pop into your head like:
- “Are my kids going to whine or cry the whole way?”
- “What happens if someone gets hurt or wanders off?”
- “What if their first hike is so traumatizing they never want to hike ever again?”
While your concerns may be valid, the team at DaddilLfe feels differently. Day hiking with your children is not only a great way to expand your child’s understanding of their local environment but also a great way to bond with the entire family- while getting exercise in the process!
So we’ve put together this comprehensive introductory guide with tips and tricks for day hiking with your children.
Table Of Contents
1. How to pick a trail to hike with your children?
One of the most important aspects of organizing a hike with your children is picking the right trail.
Pick the wrong trail with the wrong features and your children might become uncomfortable or cranky- making everyone’s afternoon less enjoyable.
A hiking trail with the proper distance, timeframe, and scenery can make all the difference. When picking a trail for day hiking with your children, it’s important to consider the difficulty, location, and commute.
Trail difficulty
Picking a difficult or long trail is not the best route to go. For one, it almost guarantees that your family will be hiking at different paces throughout the hike. There’s also a good chance that members of the family, especially young children, will not be able to hike the entire trail and will rely on you or your partner to carry them the rest of the way.
We recommend that you pick a hiking trail that is no more than seven kilometers in length point-to-point with less than 250 meters in total elevation change.
While our recommendations can fluctuate based on age, a shorter and flatter trail is a great place to start for children who are not used to hiking.
Location of the hiking trail
The overall location of the hiking trail is important too. Since your children are probably not used to exploring outside of your immediate neighborhood, city, and environment, you need to pick a location that is extra special.
Simply point, choose a hiking trail with plenty of things to “wow” your children with.
Commute to the trailhead
While road trips have their time and place, they are a different type of trip that requires a different “strategy” when bringing your children.
When picking a trail for day hiking, the key to keeping your children happy and engaged is to minimize the commute time to the trailhead. The longer the commute, the more likely your children are going to become bored or restless.
We recommend keeping the door-to-door commute time to the trailhead under 45 minutes.
2. Creating a hiking schedule
In order to keep everyone content throughout the day, we recommend putting together a schedule. This includes setting (loose) times for:
Getting up in the morning
Leaving your home
Starting the hike from the trailhead
Turning around and hiking back to the car
Post-hike treat
By putting together a schedule for the aforementioned events, you’ll budget the appropriate time needed and are more likely to have a successful hike with your children.
That being said, by implementing a rough schedule, be careful not to feel rushed or push your family to meet the tentative deadlines. Day hiking with your children is supposed to be an engaging and exciting experience not a hike during a boot camp!
Having a schedule with an appropriate amount of time also ensures that you’ll make it to the main feature of the hike. There’s nothing worse than having to tell your little boy or little girl:
“There’s not enough time to see the waterfall or play in the creek. Maybe next time.”
Other things to consider
3. What to pack for a hike with your children
Now that you’ve picked out your trail, it’s time to pack your bag! Here’s a breakdown of what you should pack for a day hike with your children:
1. Food to pack
2. Clothing to wear/pack
3. Luxury items to pack
4. The key essentials
4. Best hiking spots for kids
Now that you’ve got the hiking bug- where exactly are you going to go?
While this is a loaded question and the factors we’ve covered in this post can impact your decision, here are our favorite places to hike with your children in both the UK and the US:
Our favorite trails to hike in the UK
1. Sugar Loaf Trail in Brecon Beacons National Park
- 5.5 KM round trip
- An easy stroll up one of Wales’ most famous hills
- Beautiful views of the hillsides and wildflowers
- Best hiked in the Summer
2. Mam Tor Walk in the Peak District
- 4.5 KM round trip
- A flat hike on Mam Tor hill
- An easy stroll up one of Wales’ most famous hills
- Beautiful views of the hillsides, pastures, and neighboring mountains
- Best hiked in the Spring or early Fall
3. Llwybr Watkin and Gerddi Rhandir Circular Walk in the Snowdonia National Park
- 4 KM round trip
- A hilly hike from the Afon Glasyln and Llyn Dinas lake up that ends at a waterfall
- Beautiful views of the hills, rivers and lakes to the south
- Best hiked in the Summer
4. Dinas Island Walk in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
- 5 KM round trip
- A hike around a peninsula (not an island despite the name of the trail) with views of the Irish Sea and hillsides of nearby Dinas Cross
- Best hiked in the Spring
Our favorite trails to hike in the USA
1. Rim Trail in Grand Canyon National Park
- As long as you want!
- The whole Rim Trail point-to-point is over 20KM
- A paved, easy trail that hugs the edge of the Grand Canyon
- Best hiked in the Fall
2. Emerald Lake Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park
- 5 KM round trip
- Mostly uphill climb to a lake nestled in a valley between towering mountains and pine trees
- Best hiked in the Spring
3. Mystic Falls Trail in Yellowstone National Park
- 4 KM round trip
- Mostly flat hike to a huge waterfall nestled in the forests of Yellowstone
- Best hiked in the Summer or Fall
5. Conclusion
We can recommend family-friendly day hikes until our fingers go numb but ultimately it’s your decision!
When choosing a trail to hike, consider all of the factors that we brought up including your tentative schedule, time of year, and your children’s capabilities for hiking.
Day hiking with your children can be one of the best bonding experiences you can have or one of the most stressful days depending on how the planning goes. But you can avoid the potential stress and crying spells with a little preparation.
By picking a trail that is easy to hike and awe-inspiring, creating a schedule for the day, and packing the right things, your chances of success improve dramatically.
Because at the end of the day, hiking with your children and entire family is meant to create long lasting memories. Hopefully your children will catch the “hiking bug” after a great day out on the trail!
1 comment
Awesome post man! As a dad with four kids I’m always on the hunt for new fun activities. I blog about my dad journey with tips and tricks on http://www.curiousbillgentlebull.com and it’s indeed a great community to be a part of. Keep up the good work.