It’s hard to imagine a more wholesome family activity than hiking. Exploring the outdoors boosts physical and mental health, promotes creativity and calms stress, says Heidi Magi, lead teacher at Pioneer Springs Community School, a nature-based public charter school in Charlotte.
“As a middle school teacher at a nature school, I see the ways in which a deep connection to nature helps kids feel more grounded in the world,” Magi says. “Studies show that because the natural world is less structured than the electronic and indoor worlds that children spend time in, time in nature tends to increasing creativity, self-confidence and imagination.”
Ready to get moving? From choosing baby’s first trail to motivating hesitant hikers and keeping kids safe, here’s what you need to know at every stage.
EARLY YEARS
Tiny Trekkers
The first step (pun intended) toward happy hiking with tots is making sure they’re safe and comfortable.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
Bright Lights In Beaufort
Historic homes adorned with red velvet bows, forest green garland wrapped around iconic Southern porches, and lights twinkling through windows are hallmarks of small-town holiday charm. Beaufort, named one of North Carolina’s
Modern Midwifery
This traditional birthing option has evolved to meet the needs of today’s pregnant moms
The Joy Of Letters
I wish that joy could fill every moment of Jessie’s life, but children, like their parents, must overcome diffiulties. Two major challenges Jessie has faced in her young life come to mind.
5 Ways To Address A Bad Grade On Your College Application
“Bad” can be a very relative term, particularly when attached to high school grades.
7 Tips For Safe Holiday Online Shopping
7 Tips for safe holiday online shopping
Helping Children Through Winter Holiday Routine Changes
The festivities leading up to and during the winter holidays can bring about many changes and disruptions to a family’s routine. Some children take these changes in stride, while others may need extra support to manage the excitement of the season.
Helping Children Handle The Strongest Of Feelings
Helping children handle the strongest of feelings
Smart Speakers: Smart Choice?
Weighing the pros and cons of welcoming Alexa or Google Assistant into your home
Pumpkin Patches, Hayrides And Ghostly Gatherings
Autumn is a glorious season in the Triangle. Visit a local farm to hop on a hayride, sip apple cider and find your way out of corn maze. Scare yourself silly in one of the area’s celebrated haunted houses, or venture down a dark trail to greet the undead. Explore our vast selection of fall offerings, from tame experiences to frightful festivities. Events requiring a fee, ticket or donation are marked with an asterisk. Check the daily calendar section for more seasonal fun.
Hiking As A Family Benefits All Ages
Hiking as a family benefits all ages.
Ditch Your Dusty Workout Excuses
The first step to fitness? Conquering your can’ts.
Camping With Your Dog
Bringing your dog on your next outdoor overnight excursion? Oh, yes! With a little planning, your canine companion will enjoy camping just as much as you. These Northern Michigan spots are perfectly pet-friendly.
Get Moving!
You don’t have to spend hours in the gym to reap the health benefits of exercise.
Liz “snorkel” Thomas – Hiking Icon
Thomas has thru-hiked more than 20 long trails, including the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails (the Triple Crown). On top of that, she set a fastest known time on the AT for an unsupported woman and has completed dozens of urban thru-hikes as well. This issue, she joins Backpacker as a contributing editor. Here’s some of Thomas’s best advice and insight fed by more than 20,000 trail miles.
Drop Weight
The old backpacker’s adage is that the lightest gear is what you carry between your ears: your brain. Ultralight gear often requires more know-how than traditional gear. Here’s how a Triple Crowner approaches her packing strategy.
Boot Camp
Even if you log thousands of vertical feet at your local mountain beforehand, heli-skiing can wreck you after one day. Here’s how to beat the bonk.
Warm Up to Winter
Backpacking is so many things. It’s a leisure pursuit, a way to connect with nature, an athletic feat, a means of forging bonds with your friends and family, a problem-solving game, an escape, a subculture . . . Realistically, it’s something unique to every hiker. Because, above all, it’s a pull from within to get out there, and that’s a very individual thing.
Who's Afraid of Winter?
Two fair-weather enthusiasts tear down their fear of the fourth season.
Bone Up on Bone Loss
What do chairs, hiking, mineral flow, and estrogen have in common? They all play a role in whether or not your bones deteriorate with age
The View at The End
Three scientists chronicle life, death, and the last stand of the Grizzly Glacier.