Five quotes to get hiking kids thinking

“My most memorable hikes can be classified
as ‘Shortcuts that Backfired.’”

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” ― John Muir

“Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; You have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.” ― Cindy Ross

“Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling, with a heavy pack, is easier than it sounds; you just can't fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance.” ― Jack Kerouac

“My most memorable hikes can be classified as ‘Shortcuts that Backfired.’” ― Edward Abbey

“We don't stop hiking because we grow old - we grow old because we stop hiking.” ― Finis Mitchell

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five quotes to get hiking kids thinking

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“Trees give peace to the souls of men.” - Nora Waln

“Laws change; people die; the land remains.” - Abraham Lincoln

“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” - Shakespeare

“How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains.” - John Muir

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” - Albert Einstein

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars...
and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence
is joyful."

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“But nature is always more subtle, more intricate, more elegant than what we are able to imagine.” – Carl Sagan

“Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with blessings of the Great Mystery.” – Chief Luther Standing Bear

“Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.” – Francis Bacon

“Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance. Look at the flowers – for no reason. It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.” – Osho

“Society speaks and all men listen; mountains speak and wise men listen.” - John Muir

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind
 on your face and the warm sun on your hand.”

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand.” – Buddha

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” – Albert Einstein

“The forces of Nature do all works. But due to delusion of ignorance people assume themselves to be the doer.” – Krishna

“All plants are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.” – Arapaho

“...the beauty of our cousins the trees...” – Carl Sagan

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“Going to the woods is going home.”
Photo courtesy of Fishing Mike_tn/Photoree.

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“Going to the woods is going home.” - John Muir

“Every aspect of Nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our sense of wonder and awe.” – Carl Sagan

“Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” – Albert Einstein

“I do not think the measure of a civilization is how tall its buildings of concrete are but rather how well its people have learned to relate to their environment and fellow man.” – Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe

“In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.” – Aristotle

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher.” 

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“We don’t stop hiking because we grow old - we grow old because we stop hiking.” - Finis Mitchell

“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Great things are done when men and mountains meet.” - William Blake

“The mountain is calling and I must go.” - John Muir

“Come forth into the light of things. Let nature be your teacher.” - William Wordsworth

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“Don’t look back. You're not going that way.”
Photo courtesy of bestfor richard/Photoree

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“When preparing to climb a mountain, pack a light heart!” - Dan May

“Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the beauty of their carvings.”- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

“My restless, roaming spirit would not allow me to remain at home very long.” - Buffalo Bill

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” - John Muir

“Don’t look back. You're not going that way.” - Anonymous

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“It feels good to be lost in the right direction.” 

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits unless I spend four hours a day at least sauntering through the woods...” - Henry David Thoreau

“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” - Anais Nin

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” - John Muir

“It feels good to be lost in the right direction.” - Anonymous

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotes for kids on a day hike

“My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.”

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” - Chinese proverb

“Keep close to Nature’s heart.” - John Muir

“My favorite thing is to go where I've never been.” - Diane Arbus

“Put down the map and get wonderfully lost.” - Anonymous

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotations to toss at kids on a day hike

"There comes...a longing never to travel again except on foot."
Photo courtesy of iphis/Photoree.

One of the great advantages of being out on the trail with your children is the opportunity to bond with them – to jointly share the beauty of nature, to engage in meaningful conversation. The former will take care of itself, but the latter is up to you.

To that end, here are five great quotations about hiking that you might discuss with your children, especially if they are in upper elementary grades or teenagers:

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” - John Muir

“Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling, with a heavy pack, is easier than it sounds; you just can't fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance.” - Jack Kerouac

“...being in nature is all about...feeling free, unbounded, shedding the distractions and barriers of our civilization – not bringing them with us.” - Ryel Kestenbaum

“There comes...a longing never to travel again except on foot.” - Wendell Berry

“Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; you have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.” - Cindy Ross

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Five great quotations about hiking to discuss with kids

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.”
Photo courtesy of gbaku / Photoree. 

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” – John Muir

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go./I travel for travel's sake./The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit.” – Edward Abbey

“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,/Healthy, free, the world before me,/The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.” – Walt Whitman

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” – Henry David Thoreau

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Discuss walking/nature quotations with teens on day hike

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle
 is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply
in the present moment, and feeling truly alive.”

Sometimes our deepest thoughts occur when out on a walk. Getting in touch with nature, pumping oxygen to our brains, and breathing in the clean air all lend themselves to thinking with calm reflection about our purpose and place in the universe.

One good way to bond with teenagers on a hike – and to develop their cognitive skills, as well – is to discuss the meaning of a deep thought, especially one about walking in nature. Here are a few great quotations to help get just such a discussion going.

“It is difficult to smell sagebrush and ponderosa pines, or hear woodpeckers and owls, when you’re traveling 50 mph in a metal box on wheels.” – Adrienne Hall

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment, and feeling truly alive.” – Thich Nhat Hahn

“The man, who goes afoot, prepared to camp anywhere and in any weather, is the most independent fellow on earth.” – Horace Kephart

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” – John Muir

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” – Greek proverb

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.

Fun activity for kids: Great Hiking Quotes

“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer
to the mystery why we climb.” 

Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.

Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is Great Hiking Quotes.

Being out on the trail with teenagers provides an opportunity to engage them in deep discussions about abstract ideas, helping to develop their cognitive and intellectual skills. One way to achieve that is to toss quotations at them then ask them what the author meant by it. Alternately, you might ask them if they agree or disagree with the quotation and to explain why. Always ask them to give specific examples to support their position.

Some nature- and hiking-related quotations great for kindling a discussion include:

“The trail is the thing, not the end of a trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for.” – Louis L’Amour

“My most memorable hikes can be classified as ‘Shortcuts that Backfired.’” – Edward Abbey

“Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” – Greg Child

“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” – Raymond Inmon

“A new thought often seems like a feature of the landscape that was there all along, as though thinking were traveling rather than making.” – Rebecca Solnit

Materials: None needed

Ages: 14-18

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

Three great hiking quotes to discuss with day hiking with kids

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead
where there is no path and leave a trail.”

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are three great quotations I like for the trail:

“Never measure the height of a mountain until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.” – Dag Hammarskjold

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings.” – John Muir

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

Five great hiking quotes to discuss when day hiking with kids

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“The longest journey begins with a single step, not with a turn of the ignition key. That’s the best thing about a walking, the journey itself. It doesn’t much matter whether you get where your going or not. You’ll get there anyway. Every good hike brings you eventually back home. Right were you started.” – Edward Abbey

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Edmund Hillary

“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” – Raymond Inmon

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” – John Muir

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.” – Anonymous

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

Five great hiking quotes to discuss with day hiking with kids

Photo courtesy of iphis/Photoree

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.” – Soren Kierkegaard

“Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.” – Steven Wright

“Thoughts come clearly while one walks.” – Thomas Mann

“A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.” – Paul Dudley White

“The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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

Five great hiking quotes to discuss with day hiking with kids

“You need special shoes for hiking - and a bit of a special
soul as well.”

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You need special shoes for hiking - and a bit of a special soul as well.” – Emme Woodhull-Bäche

“The place where you lose the trail is not necessarily the place where it ends.” – Tom Brown, Jr.

“The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up” – Robert Persin

“In every walk with nature one receives more than he seeks.” – John Muir

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

Five great hiking quotes to discuss with day hiking with kids

"It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the
grain of sand in your shoe."

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“Discoveries are often made by not following instructions, by going off the main road, by trying the untried.” – Frank Tyger

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” – Frank A. Clark

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity...” – John Muir

“Mountain hikes instilled in me a life-long urge to get to the top of any inviting summit or peak.” – Paul D. Boyer

“It isn’t the mountain ahead that wears you out; it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.” – Robert W. Service

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

Five great quotes for hiking with kids

“After a day's walk everything has twice its
usual value.” Photo courtesy of Dawn Hudson.

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir

“Me think that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.” – Henry David Thoreau

“After a day's walk everything has twice its usual value.” – George Macauley Trevelyan

“Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.” – Carrie Latet

“Make your feet your friend.” – J.M. Barrie

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

Great hiking quotes for day hiking with kids

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,
for going out, I found, was really going in.”
Photo courtesy of David Niblack, Imagebase.net

The trail offers a great opportunity to teach kids lessons about life. For older children and teens, a good quotation might be the way to impart wisdom or at least a good discussion going. Here are five great quotations I like for the trail:

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” – John Muir

“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” – Raymond Inmon

“I have two doctors, my left leg and my right.” – G.M. Trevelyan

“The best remedy for a short temper is a long walk.” – Jacqueline Schiff

“Not all that wander are lost.” – Author unknown

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