I lived in Alaska for the last 6 years. While there I developed a love of hiking, although I’d always loved the outdoors. No matter where you live, making the most of that location is important. I’ve found that I’m most content in an area that allows me to have outdoor hobbies. Following are some strategies that I’ve used for making the most of our time outdoors:
Alltrails.com
It amazes me sometimes when I find out that people aren’t using this website. They also have a pretty killer paid app for more intense hikes, but I find that the free version is more then sufficient for most hikes that you will do with small children. I personally prefer to look at hikes ahead of time, and if it looks like a challenging hike I will screenshot and print out the topographical map of the area.
Strava App
I enjoyed many hikes before I started tracking them. But I started to record hikes on Strava in 2019, and let me tell you, adding a social aspect to exercise makes it more enjoyable. This app allows you to connect with friends so that you can congratulate them on their last adventure, and so that you can share how much vertical rise you did, or how many miles you hiked last year. I also enjoy seeing how slow (or fast) we travel as a family (2mph turns out to be top speed for us). The longest hike we’ve done as a family was shy of 14 miles. My kids at the time were about 1, 2, and 3 years of age.
Facebook Hiking Groups
So I’ll be honest and say I’ve never really spent much time using these hiking groups, but my wife has made extensive use of them over the years. These are the places where you go to get ideas for your next hike, to find out trail conditions (and whether there are bears closing down a trail!) or whether the mud or snow on the trail makes the hike unenjoyable.
Working Your Connections
Depending on your friend group, there may be a wealth of knowledge in the people who you interact with on a daily basis. It always amazes me, even when people are seemingly not outdoorsy people how they may have a favorite camping spot or hiking spot that you might not hear about otherwise. Tell everyone you are looking for a new place to hike and see what they say. You never know what kind of adventure someone might suggest.
Check the Weather
Lets face it, being outdoors in crummy weather is a miserable experience IF you are unprepared. I’ve done some incredibly long hikes with young children, and I won’t say they were more joyful then usual, but they are pretty resilient if they have rain jackets and good snacks.
SNACKS!!!!
Seriously, S.N.A.C.K.S. This is the difference between the worst 4 hours of your life, and another day hike with your kids. My wife brings along enough food to give us the calories that we need for a strenuous hike. Sometimes she will pack so much that I’ll groan and complain as I put the pack on, although this has lessened of late since each of the kids has their own backpack.
Backpacks
I like to think that our kids are tougher than most, but we decided they were ready to carry their own water and snacks at age 2 years 9 months. We prefer camelbak’s soft sided water bladders with a straw that comes out of the backpack and can be hooked to their front shoulder strap to allow sips on the go. Keeping hydrated is important, and the kids already go slow enough that we don’t want to wait for them to dig a water bottle out of a backpack to take a drink. The backpack doesn’t have to be anything impressive either. We’ve managed to get along with fairly cheap backpacks, and one of them isn’t even designed with small children in mind, but the straps tighten down tight enough to make it work.
Other Tips:
Don’t try to keep the pace that you would normally do if you were hiking on your own. I’ve learned that I need to slow down to enjoy hikes with my family. I find I get more exercise than I think sometimes because I’m carrying kids, as well as extra snacks and water.
Berries on the trail are a huge boon when you are hiking with young children. I’ve always loved foraging, and my kids picked up on that gene in a serious way. The berries don’t have to be terribly sweet either, they are willing to eat even the unripest of berries if they know they are edible. One of the best ways to discover if a berry is edible is to ask people who you see picking what they are picking. People who forage usually love to share what they are doing, and you can gain a wealth of knowledge about berry picking this way.
Check In With People on the Trail
Especially on longer out and back hikes, it can be a good idea to check in with people about trail conditions, animal activity, or just to say hi. It might seem odd to check in with people you meet on the trail at first, but people are rarely 1-2 hours hike from their car in everyday life, (as well as out of cell phone range) and tend to not mind the occasional hello on the trail. Occasionally you’ll even be able to strike up a fun conversation with someone. One time we bumped into an 88 year old on the trail, and he had great stories. Unfortunately he outpaced us eventually. If someone looks haggard, be sure to ask how they are doing or on a hot day if they need water.