Building your family’s relationship with the trail
One of the things that I love most about my hometown is that we are a trail town. The D&H Rail Trail runs right through our town and we have a new, well maintained trail head. These features are appealing for a family who love the outdoors. There is tons of potential for our town to become a hub of outdoor living. These are the kind of situations that build communities.
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Find the trail closest to you and “adopt” that trail for your family. Think of it as “your” trail like we do with the D&H. When you think of it that way, you will be more invested in the success and care of the trail. Your enthusiasm will spread to others in your community. Before you know it, you and your neighbors will be participating in something wonderful and bigger than all of you!
The best way to get involved is to get to know your local trail association. Get the newsletter, attend events, and support the organization.
Here are a few ideas to get started with building your family’s relationship with your trail through spending time there together.
Clean up your trail
We like to celebrate Earth Day in April by doing a trail or park clean up. I have seen first hand that when my children help to clean up a public space, afterward they are much more aware of keeping it clean. They will be careful not to leave trash on the ground and will even spontaneously pick up trash they see. It fills my heart with love and pride when I see them becoming responsible members of our community.
Learning activities
You could definitely get lost down a Pinterest rabbit hole looking up outdoor educational activities for you and your children to do out on the trail! I’ll throw you a rope by linking to a post with a few ideas. I’ll be posting some more activity ideas as we do them from our new book Never Get Bored Outdoors. Sign up for our email so that you don’t miss out.
Character building
Another benefit that I have noticed as we cultivate the trail family lifestyle is the effect on my children’s character. They have built endurance and confidence through hiking, biking, and getting to know others in their trail community. I’ve written more fully on this topic which you can read here.
The more we get out there together, the more I see the benefits of cultivating the trail family lifestyle. It is good for families and communities. Let’s build something great together.
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