It's June: Get Outside Now

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It's never too early—or too late—to take a friend on his or her first hike. We recently took our month-old daughter on her first hike, a short walk up a local trail to the ledges over...

Thanks for setting the example of getting the kids out into the woods and hills early. And sunglasses and hat - great! start the protection early!

I'm sure I speak for all Trailspace members is saying congratulations on the new member of the family. It looks like mother and daughter are strong, healthy, and doing very well.

Hey, that's not a TRAILSPACE hat on the little one. Maybe someone should design one for the little people! :)

Thanks, Bill. I usually get a number of how-cute comments on my kids and their sunglasses, but it's just a good habit to start before they can fight you on it.

And f_klock is right! I missed a prime marketing opportunity there. Our four-year-old wears his own Trailspace hat though, so we've already put him to work for us.

During the memorial day weekend, I took my four kids camping at Great Seal State Park in Southern Ohio. My kids range in age from 9 years old to 2 years old. We spent a good portion of the day Friday and Saturday hiking the nearby trails. Everyone had a great time, even my 2-year-old. Camping and hiking have become my kids's two favorite things to do with dad. Now, we just need to get mom involved. :-)

Excellent!

Alicia,

My 9 year-old, my 7 year-old, and I just got back from a 5-mile day hike at Wayne National Forest in SE Ohio.

We had a great time on the trail, and we met up with an older gentleman from Florence, KY who was hiking with his dog, Daisy. The kids loved finishing out the hike along side the dog, and the man and I exchanged trail recommendations.

What a great time we had! Thanks for putting that reminder out there for everyone to take their kids outdoors.

I'm glad you had such a great hike with two of your kids.

One thing I've come to appreciate about hiking with kids is that it can force you to slow down and really take notice of where you are and what you're doing. Last week, while checking out a small body of water, our four-year-old said we were lucky to hear the frogs and see the fish really jumping. He was right.

It's also allowed us to discover different trails and areas that we adults might never have chosen on our own.

So true. I have to remember that when I'm on a trail with my kids, it needs to be fun for them as well as educational. If it were up to me, we'd be on a forced march to our destination: no breaks, no lunch, and no stopping to look at the toad that just hopped in the puddle or to look at that huge fly agaric along the trail.

If I turned our hikes into forced marches, not only would we miss out on these simple pleasures of nature, but we'd also miss the fun times we have hiking together and exploring new trails.