The June when Mason was three, we went hiking in Oregon鈥檚 Columbia River Gorge. At one point, Mason stopped in a bright yellow wildflower field, and I photographed him rolling around on the side of the trail. Then I made the mistake of posting that picture on my personal Instagram account.

I immediately found myself at the center of a social media storm.听People argued whether or not it was OK that I had clearly let Mason wander off-trail and into the flowers, against Leave No Trace ethics, and then had the nerve to post about it. I understand that this maybe wasn鈥檛 good modeling on my part as the founder of , especially since the field is a highly trafficked area and we have a lot of followers who could have been inspired to do the same. But it also got me thinking.听When getting outside with kids, it鈥檚 hard to rigorously stick to Leave No Trace all the time. How bad should we feel about that?

Kids in early development are very tactile. Everything goes into the mouth or gets torn up by pudgy baby fingers, and they find nothing more thrilling than squashing, mashing, and breaking up nature, then taking the mess home in their pockets.

I get why we want to teach our children to be highly sensitive to our impact on Mother Earth, but I also see the argument for experiential learning in nature.听At what age should you start teaching environmental impact? And what does that look like to a baby or toddler?听I know we all have varying opinions on this, so all I can do is share my own and听offer Hike It Baby鈥檚听community guidelines to help you figure out the right path.

Know the Landscape Before You Go

Understand the outdoor space you鈥檙e venturing into. If it鈥檚 an incredibly fragile environment where it鈥檚 hard to see the barriers, such as an open desert that might have a lot of you don鈥檛 want to impact, that鈥檚 a hard concept for your little one to understand. In the case of the desert, you could make a game of it:听say that the sides of the trail are hot lava and you have to stay on the trail so you don鈥檛 touch it.

Pack It In, Pack It Out

When I talk about 鈥減ack it in, pack it out鈥� for parents, I ask people to consider taking your diapers and trash home versus leaving it in the park dumpsters. An estimated 3.5 million tons of diapers go into the landfill each year. While you aren鈥檛 improving the statistic by taking your diaper home,听consider that park听services are already heavily understaffed and overburdened, especially with the increase of people using parks. It鈥檚听great to see that so many people with young children are getting out there on trail, but a hike with a handful of families all dumping diapers can really fill a trash can quickly in a morning.

Respect Wildlife

Animal encounters are a natural fascination for kids. Help your children understand how to keep a safe distance from wildlife. Quick movements and loud noises are stressful to animals as well, so encourage a whisper policy when an animal is present. Model it by dropping your voice as soon as a you come upon a deer or a group of birds. The one rule to take extremely seriously is听to never feed animals, no matter how tempting or seemingly tame the animal is.

Leave What You Find

This can be difficult for kids. When your kid discovers a cool rock or finds the perfect hiking stick, it can be really hard for them to leave it behind. With toddlers, a first step can be to limit trail treasures to one item, and talk听to them about the cumulative negative听impact of听picking flowers and leaves. For older kids, you can give your child a camera to take photos of the treasures they find, or have them carry a nature journal to record their discoveries. Print those up at home and help them make a nature diary.

Picture-Perfect Moments

While it鈥檚 so tempting to get that perfect shot in a field of wildflowers, we now try to remember that听little kids look adorable no matter what.听Placing them in that wildflower field trains them from a young age that it鈥檚 OK to stomp on wildlife. That said, on a number of trails I hike, there are trees that kids like to climb. I have seen a substantial听impact on these trees after years of kids climbing, and there鈥檚 no going back and fixing those naturally occurring spots.听Recognize where those highly impacted places are and encourage stopping there versus a more pristine area, especially when hiking with groups.

Goeocaching and Painted Rocks

Geocaching and painted rocks are hot topics in the Leave No Trace world. While they are so cool for little kids to find, they also听alter听the landscape. If you鈥檙e a fan of them, consider placing your own on the trail for the hours you鈥檙e hiking, then听looping back around to pick them up before you leave the area. We recently found our first , and while it was cool to find this treasure chest with things that were 15 years old, I was also disappointed that someone put a marijuana pipe in there for my five-year-old to find. He had no clue what it was, but it was a reminder that it鈥檚 worth thinking twice about what you鈥檙e leaving behind for others to find.

Treat Nature as Your Friend

Encourage kids to be respectful, courteous, and polite when playing outdoors. Turn nature into a living being. Tell them to听view nature as their friend, and help听their friend stay healthy by picking up trash and treading lightly. Talk with them about human actions that disrespect nature, like graffiti, and听why we like to keep nature untouched and pristine.

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When you have a little one, day hikes involving more than an hour in the car won鈥檛 be as appealing as they once were. In fact, 鈥渁dventure鈥� takes on a whole new meaning with a child, especially as you hit toddlerdom鈥攖here鈥檚 always the risk that your toddler will sit down at the trailhead and refuse to budge even an inch.

Since I had Mason, I鈥檝e discovered tons of adventures right in my backyard that I never would have sought out before. It opened up a whole new outdoors for my family, even though we鈥檙e also lucky to live in Portland, Oregon, near amazing natural spaces, something that not all families have access to. Here are a few of our favorite ways to get out without going far.

Look for Hidden Urban Wilderness Areas

Did you know there are seven U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuges located in urban areas across the country? Wildlife refuges take it one step further than a city park and tend to have an incredible diversity of birds, reptiles, and native plant life. They鈥檙e well maintained, but you still feel like you鈥檙e deep in the woods. Even in Delaware, where freeways look like cobwebs laced across the landscape, the boasts 212 acres of protected land. Here, bald eagles soar just off the well-trafficked I-95 linking Baltimore and Philadelphia.

Go for a Paddle

Pre-baby, we would take leisurely multiday raft trips throughout Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. While we鈥檝e managed to get in a few overnighters with Mason, we鈥檝e mostly kept up our water adventures by stand-up paddleboarding and packrafting around town. My favorite raft adventure happened a few summers ago: On a Sunday afternoon, we inflated our two boats on the shore of the Willamette River in downtown Portland. Then we paddled through the middle of the city while cars rushed above and past us on the I-5. The whole journey was unhurried and took a few hours. Mason was in awe of traveling under the bridges we normally drive over. Back at the beach, we rolled up the rafts and walked through downtown to our car. Look for bodies of water in your city, and find out how and where you can access them with your child to view things from a different perspective.

Take Public Transportation 国产吃瓜黑料s

In Portland, we have the . I took this self-guided trail, tram, trolley, train, and walking adventure with a small group of parents when Mason was about two years old. The hike and transportation basically has you circumnavigating the entire downtown, with a 2.5-mile climb up through (soft or carrier required). It was a totally new way to see the city that I never considered pre-baby. Most cities have public transportation that can land you in a park or other green space, and there鈥檚 no downside to leaving the car at home and introducing your child to public transportation early.

See What鈥檚 Growing Around You

Community gardens are an incredible place to experience nature, no matter how big or small. One of my favorite urban hikes in Portland over the past few years has been walking from the award-winning, all-abilities to a little alley garden a few blocks away that Mason and I nicknamed 鈥�.鈥� I never saw anyone working in it, but it always seemed to be growing tasty vegetables and had a bit of a wild feel, like fairies or gnomes worked there at night. The garden was no more than 4,000 square feet, but we could spend hours playing there. In one corner was a cool shelter made from car bench seats and a metal sculpture, and someone had left a little loose gravel with a handful of dump trucks and toy cars to play with. It was a perfect stop on summer evening strolls when bedtime wasn鈥檛 happening.

Seek Out Natural Play

Nature play areas are popping up all over the country right now and are the current building trend on trails and in city parks. These human-made play areas don鈥檛 have the usual brightly colored plastic play structures, but instead mimic nature with stacks of logs, tree stumps to climb, ropes to swing from, and sand pits with hand-cranked water wheels to make waterfalls and massive mud puddles. Last summer, while on the Hike It Baby book launch tour with Subaru, Mason and I visited just such a park in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called the . There, we met the Hike It Baby branch of Ann Arbor, and the kids spent two hours hauling logs from one spot to another to build a full-on kid fort log cabin. You could tell they weren鈥檛 missing the traditional swing set one bit.

Clean It Up

Do a trail cleanup with your little one on your back. A few years ago, a group of Hike It Baby moms got together to pull ivy with the Forest Park Conservancy. Adding a baby to the mix actually made the day more fun, and we loved the reactions we got from people hiking past us who were in awe of our mama crew working away. My guess is that some of them ditched their excuses and signed up to do trail maintenance after seeing us sweating away with children in tow.

Change Up Your Plans en Route

If you aren鈥檛 going to make it to that national forest on the docket because potty training has gotten in the way, look at what鈥檚 happening in the city around you. While traveling through Salt Lake City, Utah, we discovered an amazing 75-acre park called right down the street from our hotel. We were road weary and needed a day off from driving, so we skipped heading to Park City and spent all day exploring Wheeler. There was a farm with goats, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, and more, as well as a network of trails through the park, playgrounds, and plenty of shade structures. You never know what you鈥檒l find if you just look beyond the outdoors you usually visit.

Make Your Own Fun

Here are some of my favorite ways to add an extra layer of fun to an outing.

1. Costumes are always a big win. Keep a bag of capes and masks handy in your truck to pull out and give your adventure a superhero slant.
2. Draw up a little map for things you are going to find together in the park (a certain tree, rock, bridge, water fountain) and seek those things out.
3. Toys on the trail can make a small park seem much larger if kids stop to play midway through a walk.
4. Look for big muddy puddles in alleys听and you won鈥檛 even need to go for a hike to enjoy hours of outside adventure.
5. Find leaves, sticks, and rocks in your neighborhood听and take them home to make pictures of your outdoor journey.

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Camping used to be simple for my husband and me: load up the听gear in a backpack and hit the trail. The lighter, the better. Once, Mark听even rigged a stove from a used tuna fish can by听punching听holes in it and pouring in听white gas.

Then we had a baby.

While it鈥檚 still possible to hang tough听when you have a baby, I have to admit that I鈥檓 loving our current glamping ways. When you have everything you need to make camping comfortable for your kid, it鈥檚 easier to go more often.听We鈥檝e been听getting听out at least a few weekends a month. These five things will听make it easier on you听when spending nights听outdoors with kiddos under age five.

Get a听Camping Community

A few weeks ago, I camped with a bunch of friends听just听40 minutes from my house. Even though I could have driven home in a moment, and I regularly see those friends, it felt like an adventure because only a few of us had camped together before.

Some people think that just because you鈥檙e听camping, you need to have a remote, solo experience. With toddlers it鈥檚 nice to have others around to help you endure听(or even prevent) tantrums in the woods. Find a group, make a plan, and keep it close to home, so if it鈥檚 not working out for one of the families, they can bail.

In our case, we went to Oregon鈥檚听. It鈥檚听quiet (lights out by 10 p.m.), no alcohol is allowed (keeps the rowdy partiers out), a day fee keeps it fairly uncrowded, and there鈥檚 always a decent amount of staff听around, which makes it unattractive for those who don鈥檛 want to abide by the rules.

A Cozy Sleep System

My son, Mason,听is a terrible sleeper. He is sensitive to听light, he is particular about his pillow, and he听rolls around a lot. Last summer we听tried Coleman鈥檚听, and from the start I could tell it would be a winner. The size is great for a three- to four-person family and all of your stuff, but it isn鈥檛听such a big footprint that your tent takes up the whole campsite. With the fly on, it鈥檚 noticeably darker than traditional tents, which makes it a little warm for really hot locations听but听ideal听for shut-eye.

Blankets are also key. In Oregon, we have some pretty warm evenings that get cooler as dawn approaches, so being inside a mummy bag isn鈥檛 always a nice way to start out your sleep. For a while we just pulled bedding from our house, but what we really wanted was something we could get dirty and not have to clean right away.听听blankets,听a cross between a sleeping bag and a comforter, are听fairly weather resistant and toddler-proof:听Mason often drags his听听version through our campsite and it doesn鈥檛 pick up much dirt. They鈥檙e very light and compact into a stuff sack, so I also like to throw one听on the stroller for walks around the campground.

Shelter听from the Elements

These days we have two shade structures, for storms or superhot听weather. A fast-pitch one,听, is lighter and more portable鈥攇reat for听the听beach. We also have a superdeluxe version,听, which听fits the whole group and has LED lights, so听it鈥檚 easier to cook, clean, and play games at night. This latter structure is pretty hefty to haul around, but it makes the decision to camp on a weather-questionable weekend a nonissue.听

A Well-Planned听Camp Kitchen听

Cooking with a tiny backpacking stove when you have an impatient toddler sucks. Two-burner stoves normally feel excessive and clunky, but when you can crank out food in ten minutes after a long day or running around in the woods, you鈥檒l be grateful.听I often pack my little Jetboil as emergency backup in case our stove breaks (this happened to us a few months ago)听and for times when I don鈥檛 want to deal with the whole stove because we pulled in late and just want to quickly heat soup. But my main stove听seems to keep getting bigger.听I like the听鈥攊t鈥檚 easy to set up and has听screw-on legs so you don鈥檛 need to rest it on a table.听You can also pop off the burner and replace it with a grill, so I听cook mac and cheese on one side and听sausages on the other.

Usually,听I cook and my husband washes the dishes. He鈥檒l bring two large metal buckets with handles听that we can fill at any water spigot and carry back to camp for cleaning听up.

Meltdown Management

My husband used to laugh at my insistence听on bringing toys camping. Then he did a solo trip with Mason and was glad I forced him to bring a bag of Legos and books. While you can hope your children will be so enamored听with nature that they won鈥檛听need toys, they听will probably听get bored from time to time and act up. Bring plastic ones听you can wash, like big Lego blocks and听cars and trucks, as well as balls to kick around, bubbles, and crayons.

Also have a rough idea of what you鈥檙e going to do every day,听especially if your child听is used to a home schedule. If听at daycare听your kiddo听goes to the playground听at 10 a.m., then naps at 1 p.m., make that your camp schedule, too.

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It happens to all of us eventually. We head out for a hike, and as we听negotiate with our child to keep moving, we realize that this isn鈥檛 like the old days when we just gathered them, kicking and screaming, onto our backs and marched on.

That听was me recently, as I pleaded with Mason to go on a hike I really听wanted to do. We sat in the parking lot,听him听in his car seat, arms crossed, saying one word over and over: movie.听I tried the old听鈥淣o movie unless you go for a hike.鈥� No dice. After a long and arduous process, I听cajoled him out of the car. By the time we hit the trail, I barely felt up for the听hike myself.

What鈥檚听the secret to keeping a kid excited about the outdoors all the time and not just occasionally?听I turned to my friends in the Hike It Baby community with kids over age four. Here鈥檚 their advice.

Let Them Be the Leaders

Get maps and compasses, then ask your child to help decide what trail you鈥檙e hiking. Let them hold the map and lead the way on the trail. For fun, act lost and ask him or her to figure out the way back out.

Bring a Friend

This may be tricky with the crazy schedules we all have, but having a friend along will help the miles click by quickly. Grab a friend鈥檚 child who you know has spent time on trail and is comfortable hiking and give your friend the afternoon off. Pick a trail that the kids can really explore together so it鈥檚 a big adventure.

Log It

Get a special trail journal and start tracking all the hikes you do. Maybe find a park or trail system where you can mark off how many times you have hiked a certain trail in a month or over a听year. There are challenges, like 52 Hikes Challenge, that anyone can join, so you can go online and join with your kiddo and let them听pick the weekly hike to add to their听challenge so they听have听a goal. You can promise something fun after 52 hikes, such as a new pair of hiking shoes or a new backpack.

Pay Attention to Gear

Keep an eye on your kids鈥� feet. Make sure their footwear doesn鈥檛 pinch or have a slippery bottom. If their feet hurt, even if听they听don鈥檛 realize that鈥檚 what鈥檚 bothering them, they听may not want to hike due to the discomfort.

Find Magical Trail Friends

Search for Bigfoot, fairies, and gnomes. Dinosaur tracks can also be a good one if you鈥檙e in the Southwest. Find out what the local lore is in your area and add that storytelling to your hike.

Figure Out Your听End Goal听

Most kids have less fun walking aimlessly. There has to be a reward along the way or at the end, like a waterfall, playground, or vista. If your hike involves some distance, make sure there are a few payoffs along the way, like a cave听before you get to the waterfall.

Remember that Age Matters

It can be tricky to find hikes where all the ages sync up, especially for people with multiple kids. If you find you鈥檙e doing a lot of baby/toddler hikes and have an older kid, make sure you also get out on a hike with big kids. It can be boring for an eight-year-old to always be with toddlers. If you鈥檙e looking to meet up with people through Hike It Baby and have an older kid, just remember that it鈥檚听traditionally geared for kids under five, so be clear in your description and do a shout-out for older kids on the Facebook group.

Take Advantage of Natural Play Structures

If you know a trail that has a lot of wildlife spottings, like birds, deer, black bears, beavers, or whatever is native to your area, consider heading out there. If a trail has a lot of fallen logs or trees to climb, that鈥檚 another bonus. This may not be the best hike for a toddler, so consider making it a 鈥渂ig kid鈥� hike day and find those challenges that they鈥檒l appreciate.

Make an Exception for Technology on the Trail

While we try to encourage less technology on the trail, tracking your hike or putting a tracker on your older kid鈥檚 wrist can be another fun way to keep them听engaged. Show them听an app like 听where they听can have an account (with your permission and information, of course), and then they听can see their听mileage and watch the fun.听听is an app that links to Strava, Garmin, and a number of other apps, and it shows听you the actual mountains and the ups and downs of your hike in 3-D.

Hangry听Kids Don鈥檛 Hike

Make sure your kiddo has been well fed before you hike. If you know you鈥檙e picking them听up from school and heading for a hike, make sure they鈥檙e well fed before you hit the trail. Load up with snacks they听really like,听so it won鈥檛 be a challenge getting them听to eat before you head out.

Perform on Trail

Do a hike with access to an outdoor amphitheater or听stagelike area,听and have your child plan a performance for the group听to watch midway. If your little one always soaks up the spotlight, they鈥檒l love the open-air听venue.

Come Prepared with Games

Bring a board game, card game, or other travel game and plan to play on a picnic table somewhere. That way, even if the hike doesn鈥檛 happen, you can still talk your child into spending some time outside.

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It was obvious early on that my son Mason was spirited. He slept horribly at night, and the only way I could keep him happy all day was by taking him outside for extended periods of time. My husband鈥檚 job is rotational and far away from us in Alaska, so we realized that it made the most sense for me to become a full-time parent. I gradually went from full-time website consultant and freelance content creator to part-time jobs here and there, and then those jobs became more occasional, and then I was 鈥�just mom.鈥�

This new job was foreign to me, but the worst part was when people started asking me, 鈥淪o, are you just a stay-at-home mom?鈥� I know people don鈥檛 mean it to be offensive, and it鈥檚 something a lot of parents wish they could do. But it makes me cringe. I always used to want to spit back, 鈥淣o, I am raising a human, and it鈥檚 really hard work. If I just stayed at home all day, my child would destroy me, because he鈥檚 a constant moving ball of energy. So, I鈥檓 actually a 鈥榮tay-outside mom.鈥欌��

I never said any of this, but I became it. And I really committed. I branded myself as a stay-outside parent, built a website for other escapees like myself, and called it . There are a lot of stay-outside moms (and some dads), and they come in all shapes, sizes, and skill levels. We all have one thing in common: kids who just can鈥檛 be inside.

There are other reasons to be a stay-outside parent: escaping from stacks of dishes, dealing with anxiety about how to entertain a baby for 12 hours straight, or combating the fear of missing out on one鈥檚 former pre-baby outdoor life.

And there are lots of ways to be one. You learn to be creative about diaper changes in the middle of a Northwest downpour in a cramped 2003 four-door Toyota Prius. You find more trails to explore than you ever would have found without a child, because they鈥檙e too easy to be in the guide books. You seek out relaxed indoor spaces like nature centers where people won鈥檛 glare at your child as he destroys their books and toys. You make friends who鈥檒l still call back after a playdate when your overstimulated child bopped their sweet child on the head, for no good reason, in the middle of a park. You accept that your three-year-old might eat stale Cheetos for lunch if you forget to bring your cooler to the trailhead.

In hindsight, I now see that being a stay-outside-parent was good for me. It helped me muddle through postpartum depression in the early days, when I felt like I had no clue how to parent. Later, regularly being outside with other moms helped me open up and talk out my feelings about how Mason seemed different from other kids. He struggled with birthday parties, daycare鈥攁nything indoors, really鈥攁nd it was on hikes, swapping stories with other parents, that I didn鈥檛 feel so alone.

It also helped my relationship. My husband is an extreme introvert to my very extroverted personality, and he could relate to me better as I became more of a stay-outside mom. The trail was the one place we seemed able to talk out fights or have serious discussions about Mason and life. I didn鈥檛 know this about my husband before we started spending heaps of time hiking鈥攁t first to help keep Mason calm and manageable, but then for ourselves as well.

And the outdoors have given me confidence and stronger parenting intuition. When you choose stay-outside parenting, you know that when all else fails, hiking is the only thing that will change your Tasmanian devil back into a human. Even if it鈥檚 8 p.m. And that鈥檚 just the way it is.

Being a stay-outside mom is a job. It鈥檚 a sanity tool. It鈥檚 cheaper than therapy and has proven health benefits for everyone involved. And it makes potty training way easier. (Mason currently pees everywhere except in the bathroom. We鈥檙e working on it.)

So the next time you ask someone if she鈥檚 鈥渏ust a stay-at-home mom,鈥� rethink how you鈥檙e saying it. Parenting is hard, no matter where you do it. Add in an unexpected hailstorm, a heavy mosquito year, and a screaming three-year-old, and that mom should get a gold medal just for getting out the door.

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Life before Mason was a lot simpler when it came to camping. My go-to for years was a two-person backpacking-style tent from Sierra Designs. Then came the baby. It鈥檚 funny how a little person can take up so much room.

Life after Mason meant graduating to a four-person Alps tent, which we loved hard for the past few years. But our little family of three seems to have outgrown that one, especially when we鈥檙e camping in the rain or need a little sheltered play space to tuck Mason, now age 5, into during the afternoon. My significant other, Mark, insisted we didn鈥檛 need a bigger tent. When my sister and her twins showed up to camp with us, toting what looked like a circus big-top tent, I have to admit I was a bit jealous.

Then we had an opportunity to try out a Big Agnes Big House Deluxe four-person tent. Mark groaned and whined the first time we pulled it out of the bag. But we had it popped up within five minutes, and when Mark walked in and could fully stand up, he was sold. While I am very aware that bigger tents come with a bigger price tag, I鈥檝e found that if you spend the money and pick the right one, you鈥檒l have a tent that can be with your family for many years.

Over the past year, we鈥檝e been trying different 鈥渇amily style鈥� camping tents. We feel that these three, plus a runner-up tent at a lower price point, are worth every penny.

Big Agnes Big House Deluxe ($400)

If you鈥檙e looking for the easiest setup of all time for a large tent, the might be it. Lay the tent flat, then cross the two hefty听poles and feed them through a sleeve on top. Pop it up听and snap the plastic hooks in place to secure the tent. The poles are color-coded, and there鈥檚 nothing complicated about the setup, but as with most large tents, you鈥檒l want two hands on deck.

This tent has plenty of headroom, at 6.5 feet. The doors aren鈥檛 mesh, but the mesh top keeps things breezy inside and is excellent for stargazing in a dry environment. Mesh pockets running along the top, just below the roof, are great for storing keys and other things you want to keep up and away from a baby or toddler crawling around on the floor. You can also slide in a headlamp to use as overhead lighting.

There is a ton of space for families of up to four. You might feel a bit cramped with six residents or a packable crib; a separate ($140) offers additional storage.

The downside to the Big House Deluxe听is the rain fly. We put it on during a windstorm in Zion National Park and found it to be confusing鈥攊t鈥檚 hard to tell which side is the front or back. The small tension pole that holds the front of the rain fly out from the tent was really tight and hard to get in place. We鈥檝e avoided using it ever since, which leaves us with a floppy fly, but we don鈥檛 mind since we鈥檝e mostly been camping in good weather.

Repacking the tent is easy: Just roll it up and slide it into the pouch, which has one pocket for the fly and another for the tent, both of which sandwich together and buckle. The 13-pound 11-ounce tent is lightweight for its size, and it even has a welcome mat at the front door鈥攁 reminder of just how family friendly this company is.

Nemo Wagontop 4-Person ($400)

If you want a family camping tent that will likely last until your toddler goes to college, the is it.

We were surprised at how easily this tent sets up鈥攐nce we figured it out the first time (the directions didn鈥檛 spell things out clearly enough). Give yourself time, patience, and an adult helper the first time you set it up.

The spider-like poles are a little daunting, but now I see why the designers made the tent this way: It鈥檚 rock-solid. The Wagontop feels like you could practically survive a tornado in it鈥攁nd my son torquing on the poles and leaning deeply into the tent walls for 鈥渇un鈥� is similar to severe weather.

The headroom is awesome, at 6.6 feet, and the base flares out a bit and feels bigger than many six-person tents. Add the ($200) and you have tons of extra space for muddy boots and wet jackets. Two doors (only in the front) mean you don鈥檛 have to lean over your child or partner to zip out of the tent. The single-wall door setup also means no pesky rain fly flapping in the wind. Instead, window flaps and a front-door piece that you snap on after setup offer extra rain protection.

If we have any complaints about the Nemo Wagontop beyond the tricky first-time setup, it might be the weight (27 pounds) and the hassle of zipping it into its duffel bag. You don鈥檛 have to be precise, but you do need to take time to pack it correctly or it may not fit in the bag. Once it鈥檚 zipped in, however, the Wagontop is听super compact.

Therm-a-Rest Tranquility 6 ($600)

Five people on your camping trips? The is the tent for you. Weighing in at 18 pounds, this family cabin offers ample space, plus privacy dividers that keep the kids in their own zone. It packs well into a backpack, so a preteen or teen could easily carry the tent during a family backpacking trip.

The Tranquility听seems like one of the few behemoth tents that one person could set up, making it a rare family option for the single parent. Hard plastic loops on the poles securely hook tent clips and the rain fly onto the top of the tent, making it easy to raise.

The tent is long鈥攊t definitely feels like a six-person tent鈥攕o having a front and back door is key. It鈥檚 not as tall as the others, with 6.3 feet of headroom, but it鈥檚 still plenty tall for most families. You can buy accessories to increase storage space and extra poles that鈥檒l turn the rain-fly entrance into a stand-up awning for rain protection and easier entry.

Boot and flip-flop prints at the entrance indicate the best spot to leave your shoes before entering the tent, which is a good reminder for little kids. We also loved the ample storage and the divider that allows for kid and adult zones. This can be easily zipped open and tucked away or closed. The poles, add-on floor mat, and rain fly can act as a sun shelter without the tent if you want to use it for a day outing.

This tent鈥檚 rooftop mesh earns it an A-plus for stargazing. If the rain comes in, the fly is relatively easy to slide on in a hurry (watch Therm-a-Rest鈥檚 excellent how-to ). We didn鈥檛 experience any windstorms in this tent, but we have read and heard that it can withstand heavy gusts. Based on the design and how sturdy it felt during setup, we would guess the Tranquility 6 would do well in heavier weather.

We were pleasantly surprised at how well this tent packed down鈥攅verything has a designated place within the pack. If the price tag scares you, consider bumping down to the version if possible; that one also felt incredibly roomy and has the same stand-up height.

Coleman Carlsbad 4-Person Dark Room with Screen Room ($200)

The offers a great price point with the bonus of being a dark-out tent鈥攊deal for midday napping toddlers. Downside: It鈥檚 hot. The Carlsbad doesn鈥檛 breathe, even with the fly removed, so don鈥檛 plan on using this in hot seasons and regions. Also be aware that the cords inside the tent poles are somewhat weak and tend to snap easily.

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I鈥檒l never forget the moment I learned to nurse on trail. It was life changing. Before, I would arrive at a hike an hour before the proposed meeting time so I could nurse Mason in the car, change him, and get myself ready. I was still in that phase of needing the perfect lighting, comfortable seating, and privacy that a new mother often thinks is necessary to nurse. But it was so exhausting that I sometimes questioned if I even felt like hiking afterward.

Then, one morning, while hiking with a group of moms, I saw one nursing her baby as we walked. She didn鈥檛 even pause a beat as she zipped down her shirt inside her carrier and fed her child. No stopping to sit awkwardly on a log, holding up the group. She just fed her baby, and along we went. I asked her to teach me how.

Ten minutes later, I too was nursing while hiking. It took me a few tries to master, but it鈥檚 a great way to get comfortable with feeding on the go in other public spots. Start with nursing on the trail鈥攚hich is way more relaxing and private than most places鈥攁nd soon you鈥檒l feel comfortable doing so in the grocery store or on an airplane.

Nursing isn鈥檛 an option for every family, but there are tricks and gear that make feeding time on the trail easier no matter what your method.

Breastfeeding

Especially if you鈥檙e just starting to nurse on the trail, it鈥檚 key to wear comfortable tops that stretch down all the way so you don鈥檛 have to pretzel your body out of a shirt or bra. The , which attaches to a regular nursing bra, is a popular option. Also check out and for nontechnical yet functional tops. If you are larger-chested and need something more supportive, consider a comfortable nursing bra and a top that zips down easily, like the . This was my favorite for postpartum hiking鈥擨 liked the soft, stretchy feel of the material as my body changed, and it was warm enough for seasonal changes. For nursing bras, you don鈥檛 necessarily need to start expensive. Really stretchy yoga tops with a built-in shelf or that you can pull down also work great.

If you鈥檙e using wraps or slings, it can be tricky to get your baby comfortably situated on your breast without stopping. Consider investing in a good soft-structured carrier like an . Its nylon fabric is breathable, stretchy, and easy to adjust and loosen. The first few times you try this out, ask a friend to help you loosen any buckles and retighten them once the baby has latched. You鈥檒l get the hang of it on your own soon enough.

If you鈥檙e not using a wrap, bring a muslin cloth in case your baby is distracted and you need to cover their head. The woods are exciting, with birds flying and people walking by, so it鈥檚 good to have a thin cloth to keep them focused.

Bottle Feeding

One of the best tips I ever got about bottle feeding on trail came from Joe Gawron, a stay-at-home-dad. His wife was in medical school, so when he hiked with his daughter, Olive, he needed to figure out a way to feed her warm bottles of breast milk. His technique: carry frozen single-serving of milk in a little to prevent the milk from spoiling, plus a 12-ounce food container (the kind you use for hot soup) with hot water. Pull out the milk bag when you鈥檙e ready to use it, put it against your skin, and keep hiking so it can defrost for a bit. Then drop the bag into the Hydro Flask to warm it. Bonus: Put a tea bag in the warm water for yourself, or get the kid version of the insulated bottle and fill it with hot chocolate when they鈥檙e older.

Of course, you can premix formula and keep it warm in the thermos, but always use bags for breast milk. It will slosh and 鈥渃hurn鈥� on a hike, thickening up like butter, especially with small amounts. Bags give it less room to move around and are easier to defrost.

Pumping

There are a number of options for moms who need to pump on a long hike, maybe because their baby is no longer breastfeeding or is a bottle feeder. require no batteries, and many are super-lightweight. Battery-operated electric pumps are fairly lightweight and easy to throw into a pack and take on the trail. With more traditional versions like the that have bottles attached, you鈥檒l need to chill out on a log and pump for maximum milk expression. There are also plastic tubes and parts that can get lost and need to be cleaned daily. If this feels too cumbersome, the is a fancier, more expensive option: It鈥檚 battery-powered and fits directly in your bra over your breast, so you can literally pump anywhere at anytime without anyone noticing.

The truth about pumping is that it鈥檚 challenging and takes time no matter how you do it. If you can build up a surplus of frozen milk at home, great. But don鈥檛 forgo long hikes and climbs just because you have a little one. It can be done out in the wild.

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When I first dreamed up a monthlong road trip鈥攈iking a bunch of trails from my new Hike It Baby with my husband and five-year-old son鈥攊t seemed like a really great idea. That was more than 3,000 miles ago, and did I ever learn a lot about traveling with kids.

The itinerary took us from Wyoming to Wisconsin. We traveled through the Rockies, where we saw the Tetons and Devils Tower, then hopped over to the Midwest on a monthlong hiking adventure. (Full disclosure: The trip was sponsored by Subaru.) Everywhere we went, we met up with parents from the Hike It Baby community who鈥檇 helped me crowdsource kid-friendly trails for the book. Mark joined us for part of the trip, but when he had to return to work, Maura Marko, a friend who runs the blog , joined me with her kids: Jack, 4, and Rowan, 2.

How people with more than three kids under age five travel regularly, I鈥檒l never understand. While my son鈥檚 emotions can be big, if you add in two other little kids鈥� emotions, a long road trip is like turning on a popcorn machine and forgetting the top as the popcorn begins to explode and fire all around the room.

I鈥檓 sure I made much of my well-documented trip (if you were following on or ) look like an Instagram-perfect walk in the park: all pretty lakes, jagged mountains, and slot canyons. In between, however, were miles of highway, heaps of crying, full-blown temper tantrums, a day spent in a hotel while Mason threw up thanks to food poisoning, poopy pants due to potty-training regression, rainstorms hammering down on camp, giant bugs like prehistoric-looking cicadas, itchy mosquito bites, and way too much road food.

There were also the magic parts of road-tripping: seeing fireflies in Wisconsin, huge thunderstorms in Wyoming, a moose and a roadside grizzly bear munching on berries. We watched in a campground鈥檚 outdoor theater at Devils Tower. We negotiated down a wood ladder into a in Indiana and went to the largest in the country, where we got to touch real dinosaur bones. We played on huge sand dunes in Michigan at .

If I have learned one thing about being on the road with a baby, then toddler, then pre-K kid over the past few years, it鈥檚 that nothing will ever go as planned. This is already life with a five-year-old. When you add in the instability of a road trip, it鈥檚 important to remember to be in the moment and roll with whatever is happening, because it will all pass quickly. The great thing听about a road trip is that there are always shiny bright things to shift the moment, if you keep your eyes open.

These are the top ten road-trip tips I learned.

Don鈥檛 Plan Long Driving Days

These become increasingly harder as your kid ages. You will find yourself quickly frustrated when you have to stop every two to three hours just so you can keep your kid in the car longer.

Add Buffer Time and Then Some

If you are traveling with more than one child, add 15 minutes to every planned stop. You will never get back into the car as quickly as you thought.

Road Games Are Key

Figure out which games play well in motion. Legos will be challenging in a moving car, so think about what kids can do besides just watch movies on an iPad. They will eventually tire of the same four movies, especially on a long road trip.

Keep Everyone Fed

Keep a little cooler handy that you can pack with fresh, easy-to-grab food. Inevitably, you will all get burned out on road food, and it鈥檚 nice to have something fresh to offset the garbage you find at all the quick potty and gas stops.

Consider the Potty

If you are potty training, bring a potty that鈥檚 easy to put out anywhere. We have gone poop in the back of the car at Walmart, in parking lots of hikes, and on the side of the highway in a wildflower field. Make sure you have nice sealable scented bags in case the poop needs to travel with you for a bit.

Prepare for Messes

Keep waterproof bags (ideally reusable, washable bags) handy so when the messes happen, whether a potty accident or spilled milkshake, you have clean clothes ready to swap out and can seal away the soiled clothes until you get to a washing machine.

Rethink Your Changing Table

Bring a waterproof blanket or mat that鈥檚 easy to lay out so you have a surface available for a quick picnic or a diaper change in the middle of nowhere. It鈥檚 good to get out of the car and lay the little one out versus going into public bathrooms, both for the germ factor and just to give everyone some outside time after being in the car so much.

Plan Park-and-Play Stops

Look ahead at your route. Ideally, finding somewhere you can grab food and go down the street to eat in a park will win out over trying to drag kids into a restaurant after hours in the car.

Update Classic Road-Trip Games

Remember those road games you played as a kid, like 鈥淚 spy with my little eye鈥�? Look online for good road games and songs, and add these to your arsenal. We played many games of 鈥淚 spy鈥� on this trip to alleviate boredom and break up the long drive. It kept the kids entertained almost every time they had ants in their pants and were sick of being in the car.

Embrace the Chaos

Above all, bring your sense of humor and patience fully intact. Road trips are fun, and they are hard. While you may have planned that July summer trip in January鈥攚hen you had a really easy baby who, by summer, has become a wiggly, not-so-easy toddler鈥攜ou will be able to do it.

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The other day, a woman messaged me on Instagram to thank me for sharing stories about my outdoor experiences with my child. I had just posted about how I was surprised that my adventurous spirit hadn鈥檛 actually withered up and died as I鈥檇 anticipated it would when I had my now five-year-old son, Mason. She told me that she and her partner were on the fence about the whole family thing, but seeing how I was getting out there a lot helped her realize that such a lifestyle can continue after you have a child.

I had to laugh at that, because I constantly wonder if I am doing anything more than walking a few miles here and there, especially when we barely manage to complete a whopping one-mile hike. When I look at other families doing the same, I think, 鈥淗ow do they do it?鈥� But the great thing is that there is a lot of support out there to help you continue exploring when you have a child. Here are a few wonder parents on the internet that you should know.

Justine Nobbe, 国产吃瓜黑料 Mamas

While there鈥檚 no question that Justine Nobbe loves her son, Matty, more than anything in the world, part of her approach to good parenting is to make sure you leave your kid at home sometimes while you go play. 鈥淎s you foster independence and passion in your children, be sure to develop those same values within yourself,鈥� Nobbe says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 healthy and exciting to prioritize personal adventure.鈥�

This is why Nobbe and her childhood best friend, Stephanie Feller, founded the , a fast-growing nonprofit dedicated to moms getting after it in the outdoors. They offer a support system to help women learn new outdoor skills so they can keep growing during motherhood and can teach those skills to their children and other women around them. The group hikes, bikes, climbs, and camps give women who struggle with guilt a hall pass to fun in the outdoors.

Melody Forsyth, Down with 国产吃瓜黑料

When Melody Forsyth found out that her fourth child would have Down syndrome, she thought it meant the end of her newfound love of hiking. She had only started the year before her pregnancy, after seeing so many pictures of nontraditional hikers spreading across the internet on feeds like , , , and .

Forsyth was convinced that having a child with a disability would be too challenging on top of already dragging her three somewhat reluctant kids onto trails. Then, during her pregnancy, she saw a family with a child in a wheelchair on a trip to Zion. When her daughter, Ruby, was given the OK to ride in a backpack at eight months old, off they went and never turned back.

Ruby loved hiking from the beginning, so Forsyth decided they would set a goal to hike all the national parks. So far, they have hiked close to 36 parks and monuments around the United States. Last year, Forsyth started her feed, Down with 国产吃瓜黑料, encouraging families who have children with disabilities to get outdoors. Forsyth gets daily messages thanking her for showing them they can do it.

鈥淚 know that when Ruby sees us pull out the pack, she knows we鈥檙e hitting the trail and she gets excited,鈥� Forsyth says. 鈥淚t has been a blast watching our children conquer harder and longer hikes, and seeing Ruby love the trail herself has been so fulfilling.鈥�

Maura and Bobby Marko, We Found 国产吃瓜黑料

Backpacking is challenging for most. Add in a baby and you have a human who can鈥檛 really tell you if they are hot, cold, or hungry, or if they鈥檙e just crying because their legs have fallen asleep in the carrier. But that hasn鈥檛 stopped Maura and Bobby Marko from getting out with their kids, Rowan, age one, and three-year-old Jack. Now the couple runs a popular dedicated to backpacking with babies and kids.

Last summer, the Markos set out to traverse 170 miles of northeastern Minnesota by bike, canoe, and foot. While they had high hopes of finishing the entire trip, when they got into the backpacking portion, they realized they were in over their heads鈥攖he trail was just too much bushwhacking. Maura, who built trails as a volunteer for the Washington Trails Association in her pre-baby life, says it was hard to call it quits. But she鈥檚 learned to recognize that success is just getting out into the woods with kids, not the distance you travel.

Maura likes to remind aspiring backpacking parents that all you can do is prepare the best you can and roll with the unexpected. 鈥淚 would hate to cut a trip short because we ran out of diapers,鈥� she says as an example of an easy mistake for parents to make. 鈥淚n the weeks leading up to a trek, keep a running tally of the number of diapers used in a day. Average that number and add one bonus diaper per day. This has worked out perfectly for us when planning treks.鈥�

Amelia Mayer, Tales of a Mountain Mama

While many parents will tell you it鈥檚 hard to get onto the trails with one or two children, imagine going hiking with five kids under nine years old. Amelia Mayer has been writing about this since 2012 in her family gear review blog, . It has become a go-to for new parents who need to know what to trust when it comes frame carriers, bike trailers, and gloves that will actually stay on a toddler鈥檚 hand.

Just last week, Mayer and her husband听brought their kids on a bikepacking trip not far from home. They may have gone only 15 miles, but that鈥檚 an impressive distance considering that her youngest, at four years old, pedaled her own bike.

鈥淢y own need for sanity among the chaos of family life drives me outside,鈥� Mayer says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 when I am the best mom for them and we are all the happiest. And it鈥檚 when I see them grow and thrive the most.鈥�

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When my son Mason was about eight months old, my husband, Mark, and I took him on a trip to Yosemite, 700 miles away from home. We鈥檇 been hiking with our son a fair bit up to that point, so we thought we knew what to expect for the all-day hike we had planned. We had a frame carrier and a soft structured carrier, and on that day, my gut told me to bring both.

That was a good call. While the seven-mile out-and-back hike to Vernal Falls is well manicured and packed with tourists, it also features a lot of elevation gain. As we hiked down the mountain with Mason in the frame carrier, he started crying uncontrollably. We assumed he was wet, so we stopped to check him and found he was dry. He鈥檇 also been fed recently, so we knew he wasn鈥檛 hungry.

After analyzing all the usual options, we realized the sunshade of his frame carrier was acting as a echo chamber, heightening the sound of crashing waterfalls as we walked past. Mason also had recently become aware of depth perception. Being high up on our backs, looking all the way down into Yosemite Valley as we descended the steeper sections of the trail, plus the intensity of the water noise, was scaring him.

Once we realized this, we switched to the soft carrier. I placed Mason on my front, nuzzled up against my breast, and he instantly simmered down and was silent for the remaining two hours of the hike.

The moral of the story here is that it鈥檚 important to think outside the box鈥攐r the frame鈥攚hen you have a crying child on the trail. While there are just going to be some days when getting out with a baby or young child is tricky due to teething, tummy aches, poopy pants, and growth spurts, there are other times when a little adjustment can make all the difference. And sometimes adjustment means going shorter distances, looking for hikes with visitor centers so the kids can toddle around looking at books, or opting for a lake or creek if the long trail you planned just isn鈥檛 going to happen.

Research has taught us that getting babies and kids outdoors early on is important for healthy growth because of everything鈥攆rom increased vitamin D to better muscle coordination and problem-solving skills鈥攖hat comes with negotiating nature. But it鈥檚 also easy to just give up when a day isn鈥檛 going well. Trust me when I say there have been plenty of times when I thought there was no way a hike was going to happen. I鈥檝e been on hundreds of hikes with Mason, and with young families across the country, since starting the network in 2013. Here鈥檚 what I know: If you keep after it听and make slight changes to what you had planned in your mind, you鈥檒l never regret it. And you鈥檒l become a better outdoor parent all the time versus braving it only on fair-weather days.

I say all this while recognizing that Mason was born in summer鈥擩une 28, to be exact鈥攚hich makes getting outside easier. Pre-kid, Mark and I were both very outdoorsy, independent people. We didn鈥檛 really plan on having a child, and then there we were, in nine short months, wondering when we would ever get to really experience the outdoors again. We didn鈥檛 necessarily vocalize our worry over losing our adventure life, but we both knew it was lingering in the room, a little crying white elephant.

Our list of concerns were a mile long in the beginning. What if he didn鈥檛 like the car seat and we couldn鈥檛 go anywhere? What if he hated the carrier? Would we really be able to do anything with a baby鈥攐r would I be too nervous about all of 鈥渨hat if鈥� scenarios? I鈥檝e learned a lot since then. Here are a few of the top tips I鈥檇 offer parents who are similarly anxious.

Be a Minimalist

New parents often feel like they can鈥檛 leave the nursery without packing the entire thing into a stroller and wheeling it around with them. Go light. If you must bring it all, leave it in the car. Most major meltdowns, blowouts, or unexpected bumps can wait to be remedied in the parking lot.

Take Younger Ones Farther

When your baby is little, this is your chance to go for longer hikes. Your child is light and needs little more than milk, maybe a pacifier, an extra diaper (or two), a few wipes, hand sanitizer, and a baggie to pack it out. Because you don鈥檛 know how well your child will do with altitude, focus on longer, more scenic hikes. When Mason was little, we used to do a lot of five-mile hikes, and if we really wanted to go for it, we would try six to ten miles at places like Silver Falls, a beautiful loop with gentle up-and-down in Oregon.

Don鈥檛 Get Hung Up on Naptime

Babies who are trained to nap in motion from a young age will be easier to evolve into hiking toddlers. While it鈥檚 a personal preference for parents, I used Mason鈥檚 two naps a day (and more when he was really young) to get my hike on. I would head out and get to the trailhead just before naptime. I鈥檇 struggle a bit with a cranky baby as I got him comfortable on me, but once we started walking, he was out and slept for hours. This gave me a lot of freedom to explore and not feel like my wings were clipped.

Change Expectations with Age

One of the trickiest things about going from baby to toddler with little hikers is the independence that rises up when kids start learning to walk. This can frustrate a lot of parents who are used to moving efficiently鈥攅verything can come to a screeching halt if you have a child who refuses to stay on the trail or teeters around stuffing rocks into their mouth. The key to toddlerdom is patience and creativity. The great distances you may once have tackled go from miles to meters. This is the time to get more interested in what鈥檚 around you instead of the end destination.

Size Up Your Gear

I advise parents who are struggling with a kiddo who won鈥檛 get into the pack or carrier to first take a look at their gear. While a carrier might have been amazing for the first 14 months, your little one鈥檚 body is growing fast. Even if a carrier says it鈥檚 good for your child鈥檚 age, he may be uncomfortable or not like the view from the carrier.

Take It Slow

While it鈥檚 all trial in the beginning, things will get better if you keep at it. Think ahead and really read your child鈥檚 cues. Learn what she likes, keep doing more of that, and push it slowly from there. While it鈥檚 tempting to go out the gate strong, remember that your new little person is adjusting to the big world. The gentler you welcome her into the outdoors, the more she鈥檒l develop her own love for it.

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