18 Tips for Hiking With Kids

Have you ever set off hiking with kids only to turn back half way? Or do your kids moan at the suggestion of a hike but are happy exploring once they get started?

We have experienced this and more many times, but we still persist and look for suitable hiking trails for kids as much as we can. Why? We love to hike and hiking with children is a great opportunity to bond as a family and to enjoy the outdoors with your kids.

So how do you make family hiking fun? With a little planning you can ensure everyone has a great time. Whether you are looking for top tips for hiking with the family or how to get your kids into hiking, or wondering what is the best type of hiking trail for kids, we cover it here in our best hiking tips for kids.

Tips For Hiking With Kids

We have experience hiking with the kids on 4 continents, and in this article we share 18 of our best tips for an enjoyable hike with kids.

1. Find Kid Friendly Hiking Trails

We did a lot of hiking pre-kids. Short trails, full day hikes and multi-day hikes too.

This is all still possible with kids, but you do need to make some changes to accommodate smaller legs and find kid friendly hikes.

We find the best hiking trails for kids are ones with plenty of interesting sights along the way. It could be a creek, kid friendly waterfall hikes, large boulders to scramble over or spectacular views along the way.

Fun hiking trails make family hikes so much easier. The diversions help the kids focus on the fun stuff rather than the walking.

Expert Tip:  When you travel, stop in at the the local tourism center.  They are a great place to find information and maps for family friendly hikes.  The staff are a wealth of knowledge and have great tips for family hikes.

For teens and tweens ready for a challenge, choose trails for kids that will reward them for their persistence. When you reach the summit, celebrate the achievement with them.

Best Hiking Books

If you want to plan ahead when hiking with family, there are many good hiking books available to help you choose family hiking trails.

In the US we found this guide to the National Parks a great resource to help us find the best hikes for kids. It has detailed hiking trail ratings and clearly indicates which are kid friendly trails.Click here to read the reviews and check the price.

In Australia, this guide by Melanie Ball has 60 of the top walks in Australia with in depth detail on trail length, difficulty and time.  Click to find out more.

Lonely Planet also has a great range of hiking books available including: