Hiking With Kids: Advice From a Creature With Eight Tentacles
Octo-foot’s Guide to Easy Family Hikes, Big Adventures & Keeping the Little Humans Moving
Greetings, humans!
Octo-foot here—official Spokes Creature of Make Peace With Life™, part Bigfoot, part octopus, full-time believer that everybody needs to get their butt outside once in a while.
Today we're talking about hiking with children.
Now, you might think I have an unfair advantage. I have two Bigfoot legs and eight tentacles. If I get tired, I've got options.
But I've learned something important watching human families hike:
The best family hike isn't necessarily the longest hike. It's the hike your kids actually enjoy.
The National Park Service makes a similar point: hiking with children can help them build a lifelong relationship with nature, but adults need to prepare for their needs and make the experience fun.
So grab the little humans. Uncle Octo-foot has some advice.
Rule #1: Stop Caring About the Finish Line
Adults are weird.
You see a three-mile trail and immediately think:
“WE MUST COMPLETE THREE MILES.”
A six-year-old sees the same trail and thinks:
“LOOK AT THAT STICK!”
Guess who's probably enjoying nature more?
Let children investigate rocks, trees, bugs, flowers and strange noises. Let them stop. Let them ask questions. Let them become fascinated by something you would normally walk past.
You're not training for Everest.
You're creating a memory.
Rule #2: Snacks Are Hiking Currency
Want children to keep moving?
Bring snacks.
Then bring backup snacks.
The National Park Service recommends carrying essentials including water, food, sunscreen, appropriate clothing and footwear, a map and first-aid supplies when hiking with children.
Octo-foot's unofficial addition:
Never underestimate the motivational power of trail mix.
There is very little a child won't walk another quarter-mile for when gummy bears are involved.
Rule #3: Choose the Trail for Your Child—not Instagram
A beautiful five-mile hike with steep climbs might sound fantastic.
Until you're 1.7 miles in and your child announces:
“MY LEGS DON'T WORK ANYMORE.”
The National Park Service recommends researching the hike beforehand and choosing something that isn't too challenging, because you may eventually find yourself carrying your child.
Start short.
Finish while they're still having fun.
Leave them wanting another hike, not a new family.
Rule #4: Turn the Hike Into an Adventure
Don't just walk.
Become explorers.
Look for animal tracks. Count waterfalls. Find the strangest tree. Search for interesting rocks. Let the kids take photographs. Try Junior Ranger activities at national parks.
You can even search for Bigfoot.
Just don't get disappointed if you don't find one.
We're extremely busy.
Octo-foot's Easy Family-Hike Picks
Here are a few places I'd put high on the family adventure list. Trail conditions can change, so always check the National Park Service's current conditions before heading out.
Sunset Point to Sunrise Point — Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. This may be one of America's great introductions to national-park hiking. The paved portion of Bryce's Rim Trail is about one mile round trip, relatively flat, stroller accessible, and provides huge views over the Bryce Amphitheater and its bizarre hoodoos.
Translation for children:
The rocks look like another planet.
Translation for adults:
You get spectacular scenery without hearing, “How much farther?” 763 times.
Mossy Cave Trail — Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Another easy Bryce option, this short trail leads through colorful rock scenery toward Water Canyon and a sheltered overhang called Mossy Cave. The Park Service estimates roughly 30–60 minutes for the hike.
Water + rocks + cave-like destination?
That's considerably easier to sell to children than:
“We're going for a healthy walk.”
Never call it a healthy walk.
Call it an expedition.
Twin Firs Trail — Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. At only about 0.4 miles, this little loop takes families among old-growth trees and averages around 20 minutes.
That's perfect for younger children—or parents discovering whether their kids actually like hiking before committing to something considerably larger.
Myrtle Falls — Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Here's another beauty: about one mile round trip with roughly 100 feet of elevation gain. The route is paved and can accommodate strollers; you're rewarded with gorgeous mountain scenery and Myrtle Falls.
Waterfalls are basically nature's cheat code for getting children excited about hiking.
Trail of Shadows — Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. At approximately 0.7 miles, this loop combines nature with some of the early history of the Longmire Springs Resort area.
Trees + history + exploring = Octo-foot approved.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee/North Carolina. The Smokies specifically maintain recommendations for kid-friendly hikes and encourage parents to slow down and experience nature from a child's perspective rather than simply accumulating miles.
One important current note: the famous Laurel Falls Trail is closed for rehabilitation as of September 2026, so don't build your family trip around that particular hike right now. The Park Service lists alternatives while the work continues.
Don't Forget the Metaphysical Part
Now you knew Octo-foot wasn't going to get through an entire article without getting metaphysical.
Children experience nature differently than adults.
Adults walk through a forest thinking about:
Work.
Bills.
Schedules.
Emails.
Tomorrow.
Yesterday.
Whether we remembered to lock the car.
Kids see a weird mushroom and suddenly nothing else in the Universe matters.
There's a lesson there.
Nature pulls us toward the present moment.
Listen to the wind.
Feel the ground beneath your feet.
Hear the birds.
Notice the temperature change beneath the trees.
Stand beside a waterfall and feel its power.
Look at a mountain and realize how tiny your problems can suddenly seem.
You don't need to explain any of that to your children as a spiritual practice.
Just let them experience it.
Maybe one of the greatest gifts we can give children is helping them develop a relationship with nature before the world becomes quite so noisy.
Octo-foot's Final Hiking Rule
Take pictures.
But put the phone away too.
Reach the overlook and actually look at it.
Sit beside the stream.
Eat your snacks.
Laugh when somebody steps in mud.
Turn around early if everyone's exhausted.
Nobody receives a trophy because the family suffered all the way to the trail marker.
A successful family hike isn't measured in miles.
It's measured in memories.
Years from now, your children probably won't remember whether you hiked 1.2 miles or 4.7 miles.
But they might remember the waterfall.
The enormous tree.
The squirrel that stole somebody's snack.
The ridiculous family selfie.
The feeling of standing together somewhere beautiful.
And perhaps—if you're extremely fortunate—
a suspiciously handsome Bigfoot-octopus creature watching from behind a tree.
Get outside.
Explore together.
Let the kids get dirty.
Fill everyone's Energy Pool.
And remember...
You don't have to conquer the mountain to Make Peace With Life™. Sometimes you just need to walk far enough to remember how amazing the world really is.
— Octo-foot™
Spokes Creature, Make Peace With Life™
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