Day Hiking Trails: Game for drive to hike: Guess the Distance

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Game for drive to hike: Guess the Distance

How far away is the red cliff?

Once you’ve got your children excited about the hike, you next have to get them to the trailhead, probably in a motor vehicle. Sometimes those drives to a national forest, nature preserve or state park can be long. You can keep kids’ spirits up by playing games on the drive there.

One tried and true possibility is Guess the Distance.

Have one child select an object in the distance – for example, a mountain, a large truck stop sign, or a barn. Each child then estimates how far away the object is. Upon reaching the object, the driver announces the distance. The child who was the closest wins.

Materials: None

Ages: 7 and up

Learn about more than a hundred other hiking diversions for kids in Hikes with Tykes: Games and Activities.

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.