Five Tips on How to Enjoy Hiking with Toddlers

2020 is the year of our family’s new hobby–hiking! I am not much of a “nature” girl, but I love this new hobby of ours. My husband, an Eagle Scout, loves nature and exploring the outdoors (candidly, I am still petrified of snakes and get nervous every time we go on a hike). The boys have become quite the mini-explorers and love going for rides on our backs while exploring the outdoors.

We live in suburban Atlanta and I never would have imagined how many trails we have within a 10 minute drive of our house–it is truly amazing! When we have zero plans for the weekend, which happens more frequently than not during these pandemic days, we find a trail and go explore.

Lessons we have learned about hiking with littles:

Get a good carrier. We started off hiking, by making our 4 year old walk and carrying our 2 year old in our Ergo on the front. After about 3 hikes, we realized if we want to go on a longer hike and not have our 4 year old complain–we needed to get a backpack carrier. We also figured out how to put our 2 year old in the Ergo on our back which distributes the weight so.much.better. We purchased a used Kelty 1.0 carrier and Drew now carries Reid in the carrier, while I carry Walker on my back in the Ergo (someday, we will get a bigger pack to carry Walker in one too!).
Bring snacks and water. It cannot be a post of suggestions dealing with toddlers without snacks, right?! We joke that the boys take 2 steps and immediately work up an appetite! We carry a variety of snacks with us when we hike to keep the boys fed and honestly, awake (!!). Our personal favorites: Z-bars, apple sauce pouches and fruit snacks. Also, make sure you bring water. We are loving our 40oz waterbottles–they have easy to hold handles and keep our entire family hydrated on our hikes (yes, we share germs over here!).
Bring bags for dirty shoes. Maybe this is just us, but our boys love finding puddles or mud on trails. In order to keep our gear cleanish, we put dirty shoes in plastic bags after the boys jump in mud. Side note: if it is muddy, carry the kids first and let them walk at the end of the hike (prevents dirty/wet/upset kids!). Also, a change of clothes is a great idea too if you have room.
Have patience. Remembering that this is hiking WITH kids will prevent frustration when you want to go faster or farther. We are just thankful that we can get out and explore with our boys, we no longer get annoyed when we have to go slower or have to turn around earlier than expected–the boys are troopers and we love exploring with them no matter the distance or number of stops (which is many!).
ENJOY. I know our family is making lasting memories together on our hikes. We disconnect (with the exception of some photos!) and talk and sing silly songs along our hikes. It is amazing to feel like we are in a completely different place, even though we are only 5 minutes away from home. We are so blessed with the amount of trails we have right out our backdoor–check out the National Park Service website and I am betting there are trails close to you too!

If you have any interest in exploring nature with (or without) little ones, I highly suggest you give it a shot. There are so many variety of trails out there that you can find an awesome trail no matter your level of experience. Hiking is a great activity to do during the on going pandemic, as it is outside in the fresh air, allows you to disconnect from the craziness and reconnect with the things that matter most 🙂