Top 10 reasons why early morning hikes are better with kids

Getting an early start to a long day of hiking

1) Starting early on the trail allows you to take more breaks. When hiking with children, it is important to be realistic on the length of time that it will take to complete the trail. Many rating and reviews of trails are done by avid hikers and their time will be much shorter than with children. Starting the trail early serves a few purposes. One you will need to take more breaks which increases the trail time.

2) Starting early on the trail avoids the heat. Early afternoon in the summer months is often the hottest time of the day. Starting early allows you to get a good portion of the trail done before it gets too hot, which can help decrease fatigue due to the heat.

3) Starting early on the trail avoids traffic on the trails. More popular trails tend to get busy as the day goes on, so starting early allows you to beat the traffic and enjoy the destination with less people.

4) Starting early on the trail increases your chances of finding a parking spot at the trailhead. As the trails get busier, it becomes more difficult to find parking, especially on trails that get crowded during the day. As they say the early bird catches the worm or in some cases a parking spot.

5) Starting early on the trail increases your chances to see wild life. As the trail becomes more travelled, the wild life tends to go deeper into the woods away from the trail.

6) Starting early on the trail decreases the chance of being the last one on the trail. When you are hiking with kids, its good to know that other hikers will be coming along should you ever get into a situation where you need help. If you are stuck on a ridge and you are the last group on the trail for that day, it may be a while before you can get help.

7) Starting early on the trail means that you get out quicker to do other activities. Even if kids love hiking, they probably want to do other activities as well on their vacations. Getting off the trail early allows you to fill in your day with additional activities or the kids, or just getting an ice cream before the store closes!

8) Starting early on the trail reduces your chances of having to hike in the dark. On full day hikes, you will want to take the necessary breaks to eat, drink and relax so that the journey is not too taxing for the kids (and you!). But coming off the trail in the dark can create problems, especially if there is a curfew in place.

9) Starting early on the trail makes you plan for the hike the day before. Knowing that you need to get up early in the morning, you will need to make sure all of the packs are ready to go, the hiking clothes are out and ready to slip on and that all of the food and supplies have been accounted for. If you way until the morning to do this, it will take up valuable time of sunlight and eat into your hiking daylight hours.

10) Starting early on the trail is fun because feels like an adventure. Kids seem to only get up early for special occasions (e.g. Santa) and so getting up early when its still dark or just getting light outside makes the hiking day feel extra special...even if they don't feel that way when you first wake them up!