Hiking as a Family: Kids’ Boots, Realistic Distances and Keeping It Fun

The goal is not to complete the route. The goal is that they want to come again.

Updated 1 August 2026 · Written by Will Tory · Field-tested by the iHikeFar test team

Family hiking fails for one reason more than any other: the adults bring an adult objective. A summit, a loop, a distance. Children do not care about any of those things, and a child who has been marched to a viewpoint they did not ask for will remember exactly that. The families who hike happily for years share one habit — they measure the day by whether everyone wanted to keep going, not by whether they finished the plan.

That said, plenty of practical details make the difference between a good day and a difficult one. Here is what our team, most of whom hike with children, actually does.

Realistic distances and how to plan a family route

A rough guide: toddlers who walk will cover 1 to 2 km with many stops; four to six year olds manage 3 to 5 km; seven to nine year olds can enjoy 6 to 8 km; and from about ten upwards, children can often out-walk their parents given the motivation. Elevation matters more than distance, and so does the interest of the terrain — a 3 km walk with a stream, a bridge and rocks to climb feels shorter than a 2 km path across a field.

Build the route around features rather than distance. A destination that means something to a child — a waterfall, a castle, a lake to throw stones into, a bench where the chocolate happens — does more for morale than any encouragement. Plan a turnaround point you are happy to use, and treat reaching it early as a success rather than a failure.

Footwear: do children need hiking boots?

For easy trails, sturdy trainers with decent grip are fine and often more comfortable. Kids’ hiking boots earn their place on rough, wet or rocky ground, where ankle protection and waterproofing genuinely help. Because children’s feet grow fast, buy at the value end and check fit every few months — a thumb’s width of space is the same rule as for adults. Waterproof kids’ hiking shoes are a good compromise for wet grass and mud on shorter walks.

Carriers, packs and what children should carry

A framed child carrier works well from around six months, once a baby has solid head control, up to roughly 20 kg. Look for good adult suspension, a sun hood and a stirrup for older babies. Once children walk, give them a small pack of their own carrying no more than 10 per cent of their body weight — their snack, their water, their jacket. Ownership of the pack changes their relationship with the walk more than any lecture about self-reliance.

Snacks, games and the momentum problem

Snacks are infrastructure, not treats. Feed children before they get grumpy rather than in response to it, and carry more than seems reasonable. For momentum, the classics work: scavenger hunts, counting games, letting a child navigate with the map, giving them the whistle and the responsibility for stopping the group, and naming features along the way. Stopping frequently is not a failure of planning; it is how children walk.

Building hikers rather than completing routes

Children who grow up hiking generally do so because it was fun, not because it was good for them. Let them set the pace, follow their interest when they want to look at a beetle for ten minutes, and resist the urge to narrate the health benefits. The long game is that hiking becomes something they associate with pleasure and family, and that association carries them into adulthood.

Involve them in the planning. Let a child choose between two routes, mark the map, carry the compass, or decide where lunch happens. Agency transforms a walk from something being done to them into something they are part of. Older children can plan a whole day out with supervision, which teaches route planning, timing and judgement far more effectively than being told about it.

Safety needs a family-specific approach. Teach children to stop and stay put if they get separated, put a whistle on every child, agree what to do at junctions, and dress them in bright colours. Sun protection matters more for children than adults, and so does hydration, since children dehydrate faster and notice it later.

When the weather turns

Children get cold and wet much faster than adults, and they rarely mention it until they are miserable. Carry more layers than you would for yourself, keep a full change of clothes in the car, and set a lower threshold for turning back. A short walk that ends warm and happy is worth far more than a long one that ends in tears at the car park.