Knowing when not to go is part of responsible hiking
Hiking with kids often gets presented as something you can always make work, given enough enthusiasm or the right plan. I don’t think that holds up, and treating it as true is exactly where families run into trouble. There are days when family hiking simply doesn’t make sense, and recognising that is good judgement, not failure.
The point of this guide is to help you decide when it’s better to postpone, shorten, or abandon a planned hike. Making that conservative call protects safety, protects enjoyment, and does more for a family’s long-term relationship with the outdoors than pushing through a bad day ever will.
Some days are not hiking days
Children’s energy, mood, and resilience shift from day to day, and fatigue, illness, poor sleep, or emotional overload can turn a walk into a struggle quickly. If a child is already tired or unsettled before you’ve even left, hiking is unlikely to improve that, it’s more likely to make it worse. A shorter activity, or postponing altogether, usually leads to a better outcome for everyone.
Conditions matter more with kids
Weather and track conditions that feel manageable to an adult can be uncomfortable or unsafe for a child, because heat, cold, wind, and rain affect kids more quickly and leave them less able to cope with discomfort. If a hike only works under ideal conditions, that’s a sign it may not suit a family group. Changing plans early is almost always easier than managing problems once you’re committed.
Pressure and expectations create poor decisions
Trying to “make it work” because of the travel time already spent, the effort already put in, or what everyone expected, pushes families to keep going when energy is low or conditions are deteriorating, and that’s exactly when the poor decisions happen. Hiking with kids works best when there’s no obligation to reach a destination, because removing that pressure is what makes it easy to turn back early or choose something simpler without anyone feeling like the day was a failure.
Mismatched abilities within the family
Families often bring together children with very different abilities, interests, and tolerance for discomfort, and a hike that suits one child can overwhelm another. Matching the activity to the least capable child on the day is what prevents resentment and stress building up. Sometimes that means splitting activities, rotating choices, or simply waiting until everyone is ready.
There is no rush to progress
Children develop physically and emotionally at their own pace, so a walk that feels too hard this year can feel entirely manageable next year without any extra training or effort. Waiting is often the simplest answer. The outdoors will still be there, and confidence built slowly tends to last longer than confidence forced.
Choosing not to hike protects future enjoyment
None of this is really about any single hike. Stopping early, or choosing not to go at all, helps children associate hiking with positive experiences rather than exhaustion or conflict, and that matters far more than ticking off a particular walk. Long-term enjoyment of hiking is built through consistent, supportive experiences, not by pushing through difficult days.
Have you ever had to change your hiking plans due to unexpected conditions? What did you decide to do instead?
Bang on. A few days ago we were within probably 300m of the ‘secret waterfall’ we’ve been trying to bushwhack our way to, and it was tough going, and getting tougher. After three hours I did a short recce ahead, came back with a reasonable estimation of increased risk if one of us fell, and we shrugged off the disappointment. Then we calculated the risk of returning the way we came versus a total bushwhack through thick steep regrowth to a track – the thick steep regrowth won and that was fun navigation but with a compass and Gaia, and frequent stops to photograph fungi, we got there in the end. Adaptability, flexibility and a chill it’s-all-good attitude keeps the risks down when all you want is a mild adventure minus a helicopter rescue.
Ben Marshall sounds like a solid decision. Disappointing I know, but less disappointing than something going wrong.
Ah, yeah
I was walking along a ridge doing a video and it took about 2 hours to do about 1km.
Once it cleared up and i got to the point i wanted to get to in the first place, being totally exhausted i had to sit and figure out another way of getting out.
I couldn’t go back the way i came.