How To Backpack With Young Children

You’re invited to WANDER WITH us. Over the coming months you’ll meet several adventurers who will share their knowledge and lived outdoor experiences. We’ve lined up a wonderfully eclectic crew of folks – everyone from an outdoor adventure seeking mama to a solo survivalist. We all experience the outdoors through a unique lens, let’s celebrate that and learn from each other.

Surviving (And Loving!) Those First Backpacking Trips With Little Kids – by Outdoor Adventure Mama & Wanderlust Co-Owner, Brittney Meier

As both an outdoor adventure lover and a mom, my happiest moments are when those two parts of my life intersect. Even before our son was born, the hubs and I were scheming. We wondered, “How do we raise a child who loves the outdoors just as much as we do?”

We didn’t want to take our kiddo on the occasional hike or a once-a-year weekend camping trip. We hoped our little guy would prefer being outside above all else. We hoped he would hike with us to the top of mountains and come with us on overnight backcountry adventures.

Today, our little man is five. Over the years we’ve worked our way up from casual walks in the woods to long distance hikes with challenging terrain. We’ve graduated from camping to backpacking – (caveat: we also still love a good car camping adventure.) This past winter, we even introduced our son to winter camping.

If you’re in the same boat as we were several years ago, dreaming of adventures with your little ones, we know it can be overwhelming to figure out how to make it all come together. So here are our tips for a successful first backpacking trip with young children.

These tips are geared towards children ages 2 – 5, but of course you can start backpacking with your children when they are younger or older. This is just what worked best for our family.

STEP ONE: Start Small.

This first tip might seem obvious, but it’s probably the most important. If you’ve never hiked or car camped with your kiddo, give those a try first before taking them on an overnight, backcountry adventure that will require them to hike 10+ miles.

Here’s what that looked like for our family: when our son was an infant, we hiked lots of miles with him in a child carrier on trails close to our southwestern Michigan home. Once he had good head control, our favorite carrier was the Osprey Poco. He could hike for a couple miles in challenging terrain by the time he was two, and he was early pre-school aged when he went on his first backcountry overnight adventure.

Our first backpacking trip with him was in the Smokey Mountains. It was supposed to be a three-night trip – with a very “doable” route averaging between two to five miles a day. We ended up cutting the trip short by a night due to inclement weather.

(Pro Tip: Do not get caught in scary weather outdoors with your little kiddos if you can at all avoid it. A little rain shower? No big deal. Wind and lighting? That’s a big deal. In addition to safety concerns, you don’t want your child to develop a long-lasting, fearful memory of their first backpacking trip.)

Could our little guy have done a more challenging route for his first backpacking trip? Yep. As a matter of fact, once we set up camp on the second day, we explored some additional hikes & trails near our backcountry site. Would we change a thing about how we planned our first family backpacking route? Nope. Even to this day, we still plan very “doable” routes. We find this keeps him from getting backpacker burnout. This means at the end of a trip, he’s already asking us about our next adventure.

STEP TWO: Adjust Your Expectations.

When it was just my husband and I, we would base our adventures off of things like total mileage, or we’d choose challenging routes that led us to rewarding destinations.  We’ve had to change our approach to backpacking. This might sound cheesy, but it’s no longer about the mileage or the destination. It’s about the journey.

We hike along at our child’s pace. Stopping to throw sticks into a stream is necessary. We’re always prepared to observe whatever salamander, crayfish, snake, or whatnot crosses our path. We take more snack breaks than we ever thought possible. And, oh yeah … when he finds an especially good spot, we even stop to play. That’s right. Our little guy brings along a few tiny trucks in his backpack. A matchbox sized digger, dump truck, and police car come along on almost all our adventures. Our motto is, “If he can carry ‘em … he can bring ‘em.”

Speaking of backpacks. Our little has an older version of the Osprey Moki. He got this pack just before his second birthday. At this point, we still carry most of his gear – as the Moki is rather small. He carries whatever toys he brings along, water in a hydration bladder, a few articles of his clothing, and a tiny stuffed animal. Although his current pack has served him well, he’s excited about graduating to a larger pack soon.

While it was a challenge for my husband and I to approach our adventures from a slower pace, it’s been so worth it. Our kiddo enjoys our adventures, and we have seen him gaining in lots of areas over the years. We work hard to strike a balance between what’s fun and comfortable for him, and challenging him to hike faster, for longer distances, and tackle harder routes.

STEP THREE: Plan For Their Sense of Adventure (Not Yours).

When my husband and I obtain backcountry permits, our selection criteria looks a bit different than it once did. For example, our little guy loves streams and rivers. So, we find ourselves looking for routes with backcountry sites near water.

(PRO TIP: If you’re planning your very first backpacking adventure with your young child, might I suggest finding a backcountry spot no more than one to three miles from the trailhead? There is peace of mind in knowing that on the off chance that your adventure is a disaster … your car is only an hour’s hike away. Don’t worry, your family will gain the confidence for bigger adventures in no time.)

Planning for your child’s sense of adventure will also impact your gear choices. For example, you might prefer to backpack with a lightweight hammock system for sleep and shelter, or in my case an ultralight tent. But we’ve found our child feels safest and most confident sleeping in the same tent with both my husband and me. So, we purchased a lightweight three-person tent for our family’s adventures.  

Speaking of gear, remember that your young child is not going to carry the majority of theirs. My husband and I do our best to divide up the weight between our packs. However, it is a noticeable increase (I’m talking pounds here) when compared to our days of couples backpacking trips. Just a little something to keep in mind, if you’re an ultralight ounce-counter.  

Here are some of the biggest increases we’ve found in weight: First, there is the 3-person tent. Additionally, most children’s sleeping bags (even if they are mummy style) are synthetic. Not to mention any children’s clothing and additional food that will need to brought along. Plus, at least in our family, our kiddo’s pillow makes all the difference in the world to a good night’s sleep in the tent. So, we gladly pick up the extra weight to bring along a medium-sized compressible pillow.

STEP FOUR: Get Them Involved.

On every backpacking trip we take, we try to teach our little guy a new skill. He’s learned everything from where to pitch our tent and set up camp following Leave No Trace principles, to how to filter water.

(Another Pro Tip: Water filtration is one of the most fun camp chores for kiddos. Our little guy loves heading down to the river or stream with me to collect and then filter our water. His favorite filtration device is our Grayl purifier because it’s super easy for him to use.)

We even begun involving our little guy in the prep work of planning and packing for our adventures. When my husband and I are packing our packs, he’s packing his little pack right alongside us. We make a big deal about choosing the trucks he’s going to bring along on our adventure and which articles of his clothing are going to go into his pack. He even loves helping my husband load up the car with all of our packs and gear.

And, one final thought: While I hope these tips will give you a solid foundation, nothing is ever guaranteed. Not all kids enjoy being outdoors. Even more so, every family moves at their own pace. I know some families who started backpacking with their children when they were infants. And, other families who didn’t start their family adventures until their children were adolescents.

Don’t stress yourself out trying to keep pace with other outdoor families. Just do what works for you and your kiddos. Keep in mind what’s most important. Every adventure you spend with your children outdoors (even if it doesn’t go as planned and is perhaps a little bit disastrous) is still a memory. And that is ALWAYS worth it.