How to safely explore a cave with children

When exploring caves with children,
first find those with approved, marked
trails, such as at Carlsbad Caverns.
Photo couresy Carlsbad Caverns NPS.

Avoid encounters with wild animals,
mine shafts, collapsing cavern roofs

Ah, the allure of a dark cavern, full of secret passages and maybe even pirate treasure – what child wouldn’t want to explore a cave that you come across as day hiking?

For all their fun and excitement, though, caves can be dangerous places. Fortunately, some of them can be explored…but only with great caution.

If you have a little spelunker in your cave, quench their thirst for adventure by hiking approved, marked trails through caves. This always is your safest bet, as the trails have been designed for safety and park rangers familiar with the cave probably are close by.

Never enter a cave that is boarded or marked with warning signs to not enter. There’s good reason for the boards and signs. Often the caves have mining shafts in them or suffer frequent roof collapses.

Having said this, there are some shallow caves along hiking trails that are marked safe for entry. If going in them, however, follow these basic rules:
g An adult always comes with – A child never should be allowed to explore a cave alone. Buddy up and as the adult watch for potential dangers.
g Always carry a light – You must see where you are going so you don’t fall or stumble into a wild animal. A large flashlight with fresh batteries will do. Have each person in the party carry a flashlight.
g Avoid occupied caves – Bears, mountain lions, poisonous snakes, and bats all makes caves their home. If you hear or see signs of habitation, such as footprints, stay out.
g Never make turns that you won’t remember – With limited lighting, you easily can get lost in a cave if its passageways branch. Oftentimes you won’t see a passage the first time through and so will become disoriented.
g Don’t get into what you can’t get out of – Don’t squeeze down holes or through small openings into another section of the passage. You may not be able to climb out or get back through through the hole.
g Keep to clean cave floors – Don’t hang out in areas with feces or urine from small animals. These likely were left by rats, mice or squirrels and can carry diseases such as hantavirus.
g Watch for instability – Freshly fallen rocks or water flowing through a cave likely means the cave lacks structural stability. Leave immediately before a cave-in occurs.

Find out about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Packing checklist for day hiking with kids

Illustration courtesy of By GitHub (github.com/
github/octicons) via Wikimedia Commons

As the following items are placed in your fanny pack or backpack, cross them off (some items may be connected to your belt or backpack, carried around your neck on a lanyard, or worn). You may wish to add items to the list:
g Camera w/ extra batteries
g Candle
g Canteens filled w/ water
g Carabiners
g Compass
g Diapers (if applicable)
g First-aid kit
g Flashlight w/ extra batteries
g GPS (if applicable)
g Insect repellent
g Lip balm
g Maps
g Matches
g Mobile phone
g Multi-purpose tool
g Picnic lunch ingredients (if picnic is planned)
g Prescription medications (if applicable)
g Rain gear (poncho or jacket w/ trousers)
g Re-sealable plastic bags
g Rope
g Safety whistle
g Snacks
g Space blanket
g Sunscreen
g Tarpaulin (if backpack is used)
g Toilet paper
g Toilet trowel
g Wet wipes
g Wristwatch

If an unweaned infant or toddler is with you:
g Bottle w/ nipple
g Milk or formula
g Pacifier

If children are carrying daypacks, place in them:
g Jacket (for rain or wind)
g Maps (duplicates of yours)
g Safety whistle
g Snack

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

Carry a flashlight on day hike into wilds

Always carry a flashlight on a day hike into wilderness areas when with kids. If lost and forced to stay the night in the wilds, a flashlight can come in handy. There’s no need to carry anything bulky, though. Micro flashlights with xenon bulbs have a battery life of about eight hours and are more than adequate. Make sure the flashlight is waterproof.

Related articles:
g Carry handy carbiners on next day hike with kids
g Do I need to carry rope on a day hike?

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

Selecting right camera for hike with kids

Hiking can foster an appreciation of photography.

Take plenty of pictures on your hike with children. You later can look at them with your children and talk about what you saw. They can be used to make a scrapbook or posted on social networks like Facebook. Teenagers might even want to create a blog about their hikes.

Go for durability and lightness in a camera. That probably means taking a digital camera, which has the ad-vantage of no film or extra lenses to carry. It doesn’t have to be a simple point-and-shoot. Find one that also can take videos, and you’re set.

Make sure you get a waterproof camera case that can strap to your belt, and wear it on the side of your hip. Don’t forget spare batteries.

Having said all of this, if photography is a hobby of yours and you don’t mind lugging around equipment that can come with a single lens reflex camera, a hike certainly is a great place to find fantastic vistas and scenery for pictures. Bring along the equipment with young kids, children, however, and you might truly find your hands full.

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

GPS: When to use, when not to use on hike

By using satellites, the global positioning system can find your spot on the Earth to within 10 feet. With a GPS device, you can preprogram the trailhead location and mark key turns and landmarks as well as the hike’s end point. This mobile map is a powerful technological tool that almost certainly ensures you won’t get lost – so long as you’ve correctly programmed the information. GPS also can calculate travel time and act as a compass, a barometer and altimeter, making such devices virtually obsolete on a hike.

In remote areas, however, reception is spotty at best for GPS, rendering your mobile map worthless. A GPS device also runs on batteries, and there’s always a chance they will go dead. Or you may drop your device, breaking it in the process. Their screens are small, and sometimes you need a large paper map to get a good sense of the natural landmarks around you.

So which should you use, paper map or GPS? Simply put, GPS isn’t enough. I recommend carrying both paper maps and GPS. Being a technogeek, I like to mainly use GPS, but there have been a number of times I was glad to have my paper topo map with me. Regardless, I do all of my planning on paper maps and then program it into my GPS device.

When buying a GPS device, the tradeoff almost always is between being lightweight and the number of functions it can perform. If you want to program in map routes and have a compass/altimeter/barometer, you’ll need a heavier (or at least more expensive) model.

Familiarize yourself with the GPS device and practice using it, perhaps at a local playground, before heading into the wilds. The unit won’t do you much good on the trail if you don’t know how to use it. Finally, make sure you get a waterproof case for it.

Of course, to keep hiking inexpensive, you can dispense with GPS altogether. Paper maps and compass cost virtually nothing and do the same thing.

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

Carry a wristwatch on a day hike with kids

A watch not only tells time but can serve as a makeshift compass.

A wristwatch may seem redundant in the age of mobile phones, but if your phone goes dead or is lost, a watch lets you know what time it is.

This can be valuable in helping you gauge how far you’ve traveled. For example, if you know your brood covers about half a mile every half hour, and only 15 minutes have passed, then you’ve probably traveled a quarter mile. If you’re lost, you’ll need to know how soon you should think about going into emergency mode and staying the night in the wilds.

Wear a watch with hands, not a digital one. While digital watches come with all kinds of gizmos, like a barometer, altimeter and compass, most of them require a battery, and batteries have a way of going dead just when you need them most.

In case your GPS dies or you lose your compass, a wristwatch with hands also can be used to tell direction. Simply point the watch’s hour hand toward the sun. Now imagine a line between the hour hand and the 12 on your watch; that line is true south. If you’re currently on daylight savings time (in the United States, this is from the second Sunday of March to the day before the first Sunday of November, except Hawaii and the non-Navajo sections of Arizona), you’ll need to pretend the hour hand is one hour earlier than it appears on your watch (so if the hour hand is on 11, pretend it’s on 10). If cloudy, simply line up the hour hand with the brightest part of the sky.

Finally, make sure your watch is waterproof or water resistant. You don’t want it to stop working during the rain or in case you accidentally take it into the water.

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