Being a mom of 3, the thought to go hiking with them used to be daunting. It seemed impossible! Yet here I live in colorful Colorado surrounded by trails of all kinds. There is literally a trail 0.5 mile from my house! I love to explore and see all the beauties this state has to offer, and being a mom of 3 kids all 3 years old and younger was not about to stop me. If anything I wanted it to motivate me! So almost every other day I pack up my little troop and we do the impossible…..we hike!

Why even try to hike with a toddler?

I want to introduce you to my 3 little explorers; Alyria (3 years old), Bryler (22 months), and Dalyk (1 month). Alyria is an absolutely fearless little girl that loves to try anything and everything. By fearless, I mean ABSOLUTELY fearless. She is the kid that climbs the highest climbing walls, jumps off the bridges without hesitation at trampoline parks, runs into the deep water even though she can’t swim. She will do anything!

Bryler is my collector and runner. We cannot go anywhere without him picking up rocks or sticks and he will carry them around forever! If there is a straight path than he is booking it down the path! He loves to run, but is so clumsy that he always has scrapped knees. Bryler is fearless as well, but unlike his sister who dives into every adventure; he is a thinker and thinks before the dive.

Dalyk loves sleeping in the harness that is strapped to my chest. Thank heavens for baby harnesses, am I right? He is such a good and easy baby!

These 3 kiddos are the main reason we go hiking. Its true that I love to explore and see new things, but watching these 3 explore and love the great outdoors is the absolute best sight of all. No mountain or waterfall can compare to watching Bryler haul a rock up a mountain with his dirty face, or Alyria so proud of herself for bring me a boutique of dandelions. Watching their love for wildlife and the beauty of this life grow is an incredible thing to see. Trust me, if you want to see an amazing sight, take your toddlers/kids hiking.

Things that are essential to hike with a toddler:

  • Water- bring more than enough!! Trust me those little kiddos are small, but on a hike they will drink a ton! Carrying a bunch of water bottles is absolutely no fun at all so I highly recommend you invest in a camel pack. Just a small back pack with a bladder inside to carry water. Super easy to drink out of too!
  • Snacks- not gonna lie bribery with snacks is the best way to get a toddler to hike. I don’t blame them I will do almost anything for food too! Our favorite hiking snacks are the applesauce squeeze packs and fruit leather! Then at the end of the hike they usually get a dumdum sucker!
  • Hiking backpack– I never go on a hike without one! Sometimes toddlers will hike the entire hike and sometimes they will only hike for 5 minutes! Always have one just in case. They are nice too, due to having pockets to carry snacks, diapers, and wipes. Also having a shaded carrier protects your toddler from getting burned in the sun. This particular carrier comes with a diaper changing pad, which is super convenient. If you are hiking with a toddler and a baby, then bring a baby front harness as well. Carry one on your back and one on your front!
  • Sunscreen– hiking involves being outdoors. Outdoors equals sun. Bring sunscreen! Even if it doesn’t seem sunny, you can still get burned. I love the spray sunscreen for many reasons. For one it is quick and easy to put on an impatient and squirming toddler. Also it smells good, doesn’t leave your skin greasy and oily, doesn’t make your skin white or your hands slimy.
  • Diapers and Wipes– unless you want to carry a poopy toddler a mile back to the car, you might want to bring a back up! Also wipes are great for wiping up dirty hands before snacks and if your potty trained toddler needs to take a potty break in the woods. Bring some small doggie bags for the trash.
  • Bug spray– again being outdoors means bugs! I personally don’t enjoy getting eatin alive by little bloodsuckers. Off brand seems to be the best smelling and still strong enough spray. Also the spray cans are easier for coating squirming toddlers over the squirt bottles.
  • Hats– sunscreen really makes a difference in whether or not your kiddos will get sunburned. Problem is trying to protect the top of their head from getting burned. Either make their hair super greasy, by spraying a whole can of sunscreen in their hair, or invest in a cap!
  • Hiking shoes– toddlers are clumsy and adventurous. They will rarely stay on the path, but instead climb rocks and trees causing them to slip and fall. Hiking shoes will make a world of difference in how their little feet handle the trails.

So let’s get down to it, how in the world do you hike with a toddler?

Slow down and be patient

When you are planning to go on your hike and you read the average time is about 1 hour, plan for 2. You are walking with a little human being called a toddler. Toddlers are either too fast or too slow! For one they have little legs and so their stride is significantly smaller than an adults. They have to work twice as hard to walk the same length you do. So slow down. They are working very hard to do the same thing you are.

Also be patient cause a toddler is a toddler. They are curious, adventurous, excited, dramatic, and they are everywhere! They are distracted by everything! On our last hike my son wanted to carry the biggest rock on the trail. He was constantly dropping rocks and picking up new ones. My daughter was pretending to be Spiderman and crawling on the ground while flipping occasionally. My son wanted to play peek-a-boo in the trees. My daughter wanted to climb the trees. My son wanted to draw on the rocks with rocks. Then there is the constant up and down of wanting to be carried then wanting to walk.

Toddlers are anywhere and everywhere, so if you want to hike with a toddler, be patient and slow down!

Know your max and remember you have to go back

I have learned that 2.5-3 miles is the max I can do with my toddlers as long as I have my husband there. When it is just me and the kids I can to maybe 2 miles. If you have one kid bring a hiking carrier backpack, and you can probably go pretty far. Now add the second kid. Still bring the hiking carrier backpack for one and have a baby front harness for the other.

Now if you are crazy like me and have a third one, while the others are still toddlers, you gotta get a little creative. I keep my baby in the baby carrier on my chest, bring the hiking carrier backpack for one toddler, while the third walks. They take turns being in the hiking carrier backpack. Occasionally I will hold the third in my arms if I push them a little too far. No matter how many small kiddos you have though, always bring a hiking carrier backpack!

YOU NEED TO LEARN YOUR LIMITS THOUGH! If I have my husband we can go a little farther, but not much. So I know I have to pick hikes in my mileage range, or I needed to know when to turn around. In that situation where you need to turn around, remember you need to hike back and not just there. Our max is 3 miles so I need to remember to turn around at a 1.5 miles or I am going to have to figure out how to juggle 3 kids to my car while exhausted. So know how far you can go, and remember that you also have to go back so don’t go too far.

Make it a game

The fear of hiking with kids is that they will stop or complain the entire way. If you want to avoid this than make it fun for your kids. Making something fun is essential to anything that has to do with a toddler. You want them to potty train, you make it fun. You want to get through grocery shopping, you make it fun. Lets say you want them to make it through a hike, you make it fun!

My favorite game with my toddlers is to find something on our hike, in particular a deer or a lizard. My daughter spends the rest of the hike looking for the lizard, calling out for the lizard, or making up stories as to where the lizard is. My son loves rocks and sticks and so we all play a game to see who can find the biggest one. Make it fun and make it a game. As long as you keep them laughing and smiling, they will love to hike and they will keep hiking. If you want to hike with a toddler it has to be fun!

Help them

Go into your hike with the knowledge that you will most likely be practically carrying your toddler most of the hike. Hence the reason the hiking carrier backpack and baby harness come in handy. Even when my 22 month old son is walking on his own, I am constantly picking him up from tripping over rocks. Throughout our hikes I am pushing my daughter over huge boulders, holding my kiddos hands when we get too close to an edge, and helping them crawl over fallen trees.

Your toddlers will need your help, so constantly give them a hand. If they don’t get help, they won’t enjoy it, and you can kiss hiking goodbye.

Take breaks

You may not need a break, but your little ones are working twice as hard to keep up with you. A way for us to hike so far with our toddlers is that we give them a point to make it to, and if they can make it to that point they get a break and a snack. So for instance I will tell them if they make it to the top of the hill they get a break or when we find the next shaded spot. This also gives them something to look forward to and is exciting.

On our break, my toddlers get to sit, drink water, and eat a reward (a fruit snack, a sucker, or some kind of treat). When we get to a break spot it doesn’t mean they actually sit and take a break, usually they just play around in the dirt or climb a giant rock, but it is a fun stop for them to keep motivated to keep going.

Let them touch stuff and climb rocks, let them explore

You are on an adventure, so let them be adventurous. Let them explore and play. My toddlers are absolutely fearless, but this is because I let them experience things. I let my daughter climb trees and rocks instead of freaking out that she is doing something dangerous.

Obviously I don’t let her get too high or on something really dangerous, but I let her figure things out on her own. When parents are scared of everything and tell kids not to do stuff, then the kids are scared and won’t try anything. Don’t instill fear in your kids, let them explore and have adventures. They will have so much fun on hikes if you let them jump on rocks, climb trees, smell flowers, and whatever fun thing they can think of. If you are going to hike with a toddler, than let them be a toddler; let them explore!

Be aware of wildlife and threats of trails.

Before every going on a hike there are a couple things you need to be aware of. One of the number one things you need to know to keep your toddler safe is what wildlife is in the area. A simple way to find out is to look up wildlife alerts in your area. Also the parks and recreation websites for the area you are hiking will have warnings and alerts. Know the snakes, bugs, predators, and even the prey of the area.

For instance in the area I live in the number top wildlife I need to be aware of are Moose (which can be very dangerous) and mountain lions. We often travel to Grand Junction, Colorado as well and our biggest threats there are rattlesnakes and cactus. Know the dangers of the trails before you go so that you can best prepare for them. If you want to hike with a toddler, you need to learn how to keep them safe.

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