Hiking level of a 3 year old boy?

My boy is 3-1/2 years old, and like every Father, I'm thinking my boy is "above average" when it comes to anything athletic. But I don't want to punish him on a hard hike.

I'm thinking of taking him up Taylor Canyon in Ogden (top of 27th street). We went last year but he spent a lot of time in my backpack.

This spring we went down to Goblin Valley and hiked up to Wild Horse Window. He did OK for the most part but his little legs got worn out a bit and he spent some time on shoulders.

What's a decent hiking distance for a 3 year old? I'm sure I'll just have to take him up and have him build up to it, but if I take my 1 year old girl in my backpack, am I going to be in trouble when my 3 year old gets tired? Sure we can always take breaks though.

All kids are different... even the mood they are in will really effect how they hike. Here are a couple of suggestions that usually help kids hike better.

1. Take your time, and when the kid wants to look at something or climb on a rock let them. They will be ready to move along in a few minutes.

2. Get your kid a hiking stick. I've found a hiking stick adds at least 1 extra mile. When my kids were little I went down to the hardware store and bought a 5/8" wooden dowel, drilled a hole in the top and put a leather loop through it and taped up a handle. Then I gave it to the kids to color and decorate as they wished. Those hiking sticks went places I never would have guessed a little kid could hike.

3. Having other kids about the same age along really increases the hiking. Kids are easy targets for peer pressure and don't want to look whimpy in front of other kids. The hike also turns into more play for the kids.

Good luck.

Good ideas, thanks. I think I might be in a hurry most of the time so he can get to the "rewarding part" faster, but I need to realize it's in the journey as well.

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Originally Posted by Sombeech

I think I might be in a hurry most of the time so he can get to the "rewarding part"

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Big Mistake! I used to do the same thing.... but I found letting the kids do their thing like skipping rocks or chasing butterflies makes the trip more enjoyable for them. What I discovered was the rewarding part for me and the rewarding part for them was usually not the same thing....

And FWIW: By the time my kids were 5 they were doing some very impressive routes like the full Quandary, Burro Wash from the top, Leprechaun Canyon, LWH/Bell loop, lots of Anasazi ruins..... at 3 1/2 is was still mostly short hikes and roadside stuff....

Next question.... why does your signature show up and mine does not?

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Next question.... why does your signature show up and mine does not?

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Funny question, I've been looking into that all day. I just barely made my signature a few days ago so I've been watching to see if it posts. Sometimes I have to manually check the "show signature" box before posting, and if I forget, I edit my post and check it. I'm looking into the permanent solution though, not sure what happened.
EDIT: OK, I found it... it was on this new Quick Reply setting, the "show your signature" was unchecked by default. It should be checked now.

So.... I was hoping for better weather this weekend up north since we won't be able to make it down to the Zion Family Event, I wanted to at least take them hiking but it looks like gloomy weather. Maybe I'll take the boy anyways.

My dad had me climbing Timp every year from age 4. I don't remember being carried too often, either...guy was hard core.

But when I took my 7-year old up Timp, I ended up packing him down. Which wasn't too hard...he only weighed about 60 lbs. and I just put him above my pack on my shoulders. So I suppose you could throw him on your shoulders if you were front packing the little girl.

I've been taking my kids on long hikes since they were born. :nod:

Totally agree with iceaxe on the "let them pick the pace"; makes a huge difference. Being interested in everything they want to explore while en route helps keep them engaged and encouraged to find the next bug, rock, hiking stick, mud hole, further down the trail. My son loved it if we told stories as we hiked, or sang songs or acted out some fantasy thing (looking for clues for aliens). I must have told the plot to every Twilight Zone and Outer Limits episode there is!

Keeping them engaged is a great idea. I think it's why I ended up loving the mountains and deserts...my dad made it a point to educate me about my surroundings and encouraged questions. Everything was a new adventure.

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What's a decent hiking distance for a 3 year old?

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It's different for each kid. It also depends on practice, which is probably the #1 factor. Here's an article I wrote if you are interested:

http://www.summitpost.org/article/19...-children.html

Anyway, at age 3, (with practice) my son did 22 miles in two days (one 12 mile day and one 10 mile day). The trip report is below:

http://www.summitpost.org/trip-repor...ew-record.html

Here is the rest of his hiking/climbing album at age 3:

http://www.summitpost.org/album/2862...bum-age-3.html

Since all kids are different, it is worth mentioning that our daughter at age 3 wasn't nearly as fast. She could only do 6-7 miles at age 3 (8-9 miles by age 4), which was much less than her brother. She waited until 5 to start doing 11 mile days.

Anyway, here is an album with many hiking photos of here at age 0-4:

http://www.summitpost.org/album/2547...ing-album.html

Both children had lots of practice by age 3, which helps a lot.

If the three year olds don't have much practice, the only way to find out how far they can walk is to try it out. If they are having a good time, they may surprise you.

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2. Get your kid a hiking stick. I've found a hiking stick adds at least 1 extra mile.

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At age 3, walking sticks had an opposite effect on us (but did help more when they got older). See the photos in the trip report below (I'll haved to edit the page so the photos are bigger). For our kids at least, at age three they would play more with the walking stick than actually use it for walking (not that that's a bad thing). As said, every kid is different.

http://www.summitpost.org/trip%20rep...mountains.html

What you don't want to do is make it a bad experience and discourage him from hiking. He has to have a good time at least much of the hike or you'll lose a hiking partner early in life.

My 3 year old made it up the whole Emerald pools trail this past weekend. She was getting tired toward the top so we let her rest a little and she was fine. I agree that they go farther when they choose the pace. My other girls did ding and dang at 5 & 7 without a problem. Kids are usually more active than us so they usually do pretty well.

Someone once wrote:

Imagine what we will see if we travel at the pace of a three year old?

Maybe go to an old place you've been to over and over and try it.
You may see it completely different and from that close to the ground, too.

With my boys its pretty much all up to the trail we choose to hike. If we hike a wide wash or old dirt road there is always more meandering and the hike always take a lot longer then a slot canyon or narrow single track.

In March we hiked the Wild Horse Window and my 3yo did the entire hike but he took his time on the rolling slick rock. Next we hiked LWHC where I carried him on my shoulders until the slot then was off to the races. My 3yo lead our group of 8 people to the end of the slot and back running almost the entire time, as soon as we made it back to the wide wash it was "sandbox" time.

long story short.. if it gets sandy and wide I toss him on my shoulders until I get to the goods

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Originally Posted by Rented mule

Someone once wrote:

Imagine what we will see if we travel at the pace of a three year old?

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To scorn all strife, and to view all life
With the curious eyes of a child
From the plangent sea to the prairie
From the slum to the heart of the wild
From the red-rimmed star to the speck of sand
From the vast to the greatly small;
For I know that the whole for the good is planned
And I want to see it all.

(Robert Service, The Rolling Stone)


And that is THE last time I'll quote poetry to y'all. :haha:

My 8 month old did 15 miles in 3 days this past week. Of course she was carried the while time...