Honestly people thought we were crazy.īy the time we reached the time to embark on these big hikes they were ready. We hiked on our local trails, they broke in their shoes and I made them carry their backpacks everywhere. They were five, and four (and a 2 year old who got carried up). In the months prior we started to build up the kids resilience. I remember on the hike one kid who was about eight screaming at her dad “why are you trying to kill me, this is horrible!” She was absolutely miserable. If you just throw them into it there will be tears, and whining. The key to being successful at big hikes with children is in the preparation. So I prepped those kids like your would not believe. It is also inadvisable with young children because it is long and hard. It was on my bucket list and didn’t know if I would ever be back. When we decided we were going to visit Southern Utah and hike in Arches National Park I knew I wanted to do the Delicate Arch hike. You will soon find the level and distance that is the sweet spot for your particular kids. Once they have successfully conquered their first official hike then move up to increasingly more difficult hikes. You don’t want to crush their enthusiasm right off the bat with an Iron Man type feat!
In order to gauge exactly how far your kids can walk start them out on something completely manageable. For those of you who are “miles” people, 1 km is 0.6 miles so you could just round it down to a 1/2 mile.Īs with most rules there are plenty of children who will struggle to walk that far and those who will exceed that by a good few miles. So a 10 year old could be expected to walk 10km in one go. There is a general rule that children can usually walk 1 km for every year of their age. Now that you are considering taking your kids hiking you will want to know how far you should be able to expect your children to hike without pushing their limits too far. I have always wondered why my kids can run around a playground for hours or spend the entire afternoon out exploring and climbing trees but suddenly as soon as they have to walk from the car to the store they think I am asking them to walk 50 miles in the snow and ice in bare feet! Tell me I am not alone!
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