You want to go hiking with your kids? That’s awesome.As a nature nerd with two daughters (now 14 and 6 years old), I absolutely love hiking with my kids. However, it’s also really important that you choose a hike which your kids can actually handle. Which leads us to the question… How far can kids (really) hike?
Quick Answer:
Starting around age four, kids can generally hike a 1/2 mile per year of age. So, a four year old could hike 2 miles, a five year old 2.5 miles, a six year old 3 miles, and so on. By the age of 10, most kids can physically outhike adults. Peer pressure also helps kids hike further. Tween Scouts regularly do 5 mile hikes and the teens with hiking experience do 10 mile hikes. However, the weather, terrain, experience level, and whether they are carrying a backpack can all affect how far a kid can hike. If you aren’t sure, it’s better to plan a shorter hike or have an exit plan in case they get grumpy.
A More Detailed Math Formula:
- Start with 1/2 mile per age. If your kids are very active and have experience, go with 1 mile per age.
- Is there steep elevation or difficult terrain? Reduce the hike distance (or the hard part of the hike) by 50%
- Are they carrying a pack? Reduce the hike distance by 10%
- Areyoucarrying a heavy pack? Reduce the hike distance by 10% (When you are tired, you’ll be less mentally fit to handle your child’s bad mood or 5,000 breaks to look at leaves, bugs, etc.)
- Is there something cool at the destination that your kids want to see? Increase the distance by 10%. Note I said “your kids.” Just becauseyouare excited about some rock formation or vista, it doesn’t mean your kids will be. My kids are mostly motivated by frogs, newts, and candy.
- Are friends coming? Increase the hike distance by 25% to 50%. Peer pressure does amazing things! 🙂
For example: I want to go camping with my 6 year old and we have to hike into camp. I will be carrying a very heavy pack and she will be carrying a light pack (which I inevitably end up carrying too). There is some incline and tricky terrain. However, my kid is excited that we get to rosat marshmallows when we arrive. We are also hiking with my older daughter and her friend and my 6 year old will be motivated to keep up with them.
- 6 years x 1/2 = 3 miles
- Minus 1.5 miles for tough terrain
- Minus 0.3 miles because she’s carrying a pack
- Minus 0.3 miles because I’m carrying a pack
- Plus 0.3 miles because marshmallows motivate
- Plus 0.75 miles for peer pressure
= My six year old can realistically hike 1.95 miles to 2.7 miles in these conditions.
Remember that Kids Hike SLOWLY
When you factor in breaks, play time and general slowness, little kids probably won’t cover more than 1/4 to 1/2 a mile per hour. School aged kids might be able to go 1 mile per hour, but it will probably take a lot of “hurry up” to reach this pace. I’d play it safe and calculate no more than 0.75 miles per hour. Middle school aged kids, especially on group hikes like with the Scouts, generally cover 1-2 miles per hour.
Make sure you consider this when planning the hike distance. For example, if you calculate that your 5 year old can hike 2 miles, make sure you give yourselves at least 4 hours to finish the hike! You’ll need lots of snacks. Candy is a great motivator 🙂
It once took 5 HOURS to hike 1 mile over steep, tough terrain with my four year old! I didn’t plan on it taking so long and had to stop drinking water so she would have enough.
Don’t Be Overly Ambitious
The fact that you are even wondering if your kids will be able to handle the hike means the answer is probably “no.” Sure,youmightget lucky and your kids will prove to be hardy little hikers. But the hike could end up taking 3x longer than you expected so you run out of snacks and water and are exhausted — both physically and mentally (yes, this has happened to us more than once!). It’s better to choose a shorter, easy hike. Once the kids prove they can do that, then start on some longer hikes.
Personal Note:Please get off Instagram and social media!
I regularly hike with my kids and generally feel awesome about our time together in nature. However, I noticed how terrible felt about my kids’ hiking abilities after being on Instagram. There are simply too many parents posting videos of their kids doing insane hikes.
Even though those videos are often faked or exagerrated, it’s hard for that not to get under your skin. And the videos rarely show the breakdowns the kids (or parents) had along the way. So do what works best for your family instead of trying to reach for lofty, unrealistic goals.
You might also want to read:
- How long does it take to complete a hike?
- How much water to bring on a hike
- Hiking packing list
How Far Kids Can Hike By Age
2-3 Year Olds
It’s unlikely a 2 or 3 year old will hike over 1 mile without being carried at least part of the way. Even if your toddler does hike the entire way, they will probably get distracted (every leaf, rock, stick on the trail is a potential plaything!). So, it can take HOURS to hike a single mile. For that reason, you’ll probably want to use a carrier or stroller for your hike.
Unfortunately, 2 and 3 year olds are heavy. It is hard work to carry them in a hiking carrier. So, unless you are in very good shape, you’ll probably want to keep yoru hikes shorter than 4 four or five miles.
Tips:
- It’s okay to use a harness or a leash for toddlers. It’s a lot easier than holding their hand on a hike for hours. It also allows you to relax and enjoy the view instead of constantly watching to make sure your toddler won’t run off, get lost, or wander off a ledge.
- Actually read the trail reviews. Just because the trail is rated as “easy”, it doesn’t mean that all parts of it will be easy for little kids or stroller-accessible.
- Consider a stroller instead of a carrier. Yes, there are some that can handle rough trails. See my picks for best hiking strollers
My two year old was NOT a good hiker!
4-5 Year Olds
Most 4 and 5 year old kids can physically hike 2-4 miles, but it’s better to keep the hike to a max of 1 or 2 miles. At this age, they are also generally enthusiastic about exploring nature and will come on the hike willingly. However, 4 and 5 year old kids are easily distracted. They will want to stop and gather cool rocks, poke sticks into puddles, catch salamanders… Unless you want to constantly argue with them to hurry up, you’ll need to allow for many unplanned breaks along the way.
Tips:
- Dress your kids wear brightly-colored clothes. This will make it easier to see them if they hike ahead of you.
- Talk about what to do if they get lost. This is crucial since kids at 4 and 5 years old have a tendency to wander off. Read about how to have this talk here.
- Give them whistles. See above!
- Have them carry their own packs. Little kids feel special carrying their own packs, but this is more a safety issue. They should at least have some water, snacks, a jacket, and rain gear in their pack. Yes, it’s likely you might end up carrying this pack for them at some point.
- Stop to snack frequently. Little kids burn fuel very quickly. If you don’t plan many snack breaks — at least every hour – they will crash and burn.
- Candy!If there was ever a time to let your kids have sweets, it’s while burning lots of energy on a hike. M&Ms and other candies are wonderful motivators for hiking.
6-9 Years Old
Children aged 6 to 9 can usually hike 3-5 miles, or even more if they have experience. The problem is that kids at this age can start to lose interest in hiking with their parents. Peer pressure is a particularly great motivator at this age. If you bring a friend along (even if it is one of your friends), your child will probably be more motivated to hike.
Tips:
- Let your kid see the itinerary before setting off. And let them track progress on the map as you hike. It will stave off whining if they can see for themselves how much further there is to go, not to mention hone orienteering skills.
- Plan fewer but longer breaks. Little kids need lots of small breaks. At 6-9 years old, kids will appreciate being able to stop to play at various cool points on the trail.
10+ Years
Kids 10 years and up are generally able to hike 5+ miles with ease. At this age, the problem isn’t so much physical ability but willingness. Don’t be surprised if tweens and teens are reluctant to go on hikes with just mom and dad.
My 10-year old daughter, for example, is tired of my “nature talks” about insects, plant identification, and erosion. It’s a lot harder to convince her to go on a hike with just me, especially when there isn’t a “reward” at the end like a swimming lake. However, she still gets excited about hiking if we can bring a friend of hers along.
Tips:
- Consider letting your kid and a friend hike without you or ahead of you. Of course, this is contingent on your kid actually being able to read a map, follow trail markers, knowing in general how to behave in nature, and being reliable enough to meet up with you at a certain point.
- Get the kids involved in trip planning. They can’t whine if they were the ones who decided on that trail!
How far do your kids hike? Let us know in the comments.
Image credit: “Hiking to blue mountains”(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)byTatters ✾
