Day Hiking Trails: Limit elevation gains for younger children

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Limit elevation gains for younger children

Limit elevation gains to 500 feet for elementary school
children who are day hiking. Photo courtesy
North Cascades NPS.

For teenagers, peakbagging or hiking to a mountain’s summit, can be fun. The younger the child, though, and you’ll want to avoid switchbacks and large elevation gains.

Simply put, the younger the flatter. A single high knoll can wear out a three-year-old kid who otherwise could handle a mile of flat ground.

If the child is walking, limit elevation gains to 500 feet for older elementary school children and to even less for preschoolers.

Related article:
g Check weather report before heading out on day hike

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

Meet the Author

My name is Rob Bignell. I'm a long-time hiker, journalist and editor. My son Kieran and I have been hiking together for the past decade. Before Kieran, I taught middle school students in New Mexico and Wisconsin, served as an infantryman in the Army National Guard, and worked in newspapers. I've won several journalism awards, from editorial writing to sports reporting. In 2001, The Prescott Journal, which I served as managing editor of, was named Wisconsin’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year. Currently I own and operate an online editing business, Inventing Reality Editing Service. After spending several years in Southern California, my son and I now live in Wisconsin on the scenic Red Cedar River.