I am starting this blog a year too late... We began hiking & biking as a family last year when our son was just 3 (almost 4), and our daughter was 1 year old. We covered a lot of ground that summer even with a pre-schooler and a toddler! Our daughter, M. was obviously too young to get any real hiking done, so my husband and I took turns (ok... it was mostly him) carrying her in our REI child back-pack.
Our son, A. however, hiked each trail with us in full length! We were amazed at some of the hikes he managed right along with us -- his longest last summer being a section of the Appalachian trail to Annapolis Rock & Pine Knob, reaching a total elevation of 1,791 feet (610ft) gain. Not bad for a 4 year old! Photos of our route (left) as well as a few from the trail, and at our goal point, Annapolis Rock on the Appalachian trail (below).
Other routes included:
Great Falls National Park, a 3.37 mile hike on River Trail, Matildaville, and Patowmack canal trails. We found this park to be pretty populated. The Riverwalk trail was moderately rocky, but offered spectacular views of the river and the falls. This trail leads you down to the river bank allowing for another beautiful photo opportunity. The Matildaville and Patowmack Canal trails were a reasonable walk on wooded trails back to the parking area. Both of these trails had less of a view, and more of a historical nature to enjoy. Photos from this hike below:
Gunpowder Falls, a 3.81 mile hike on Jerusalem Trail, Little Powder Falls Trail, and Jericho Trail. An easy-moderate hike with a lot of history to it! We had the opportunity to see black-smiths at work, the old grist-mill (built in 1772), hike along the Gunpowder river, and a walk/hike to the covered bridge.
Catoctin Mountain park -- Cunningham Falls, an 4.76 mile hike on Hogs head overlook trail and back down the mountain on the Park central road... We ran out of daylight on this one! The hike up on hogs head overlook was moderately steep and slightly rocky, quite a climb (especially for A.) but the reward at the top (the view from hogs head overlook) is well worth it! We ran out of day-light on this one and ended up cutting down and hiking back to the parking via the park central road to save some time on the way down. Cunningham falls was amazingly beautiful, you have the option to hike here (which is what we did) or to drive up & park. We were a little discouraged to see so many hikers ignoring the signs for hikers/families to stay on the path behind the protective fence to prevent destruction of the fall base & river!
Greenbriar state park, a 1.6 mile hike on Camp Loop and Big Red trails. Two fairly easy trails that meet at the lake banks. We did this one early in the morning after a previous day of hiking Cunningham and camping out!
There were a few more trips from last summer that we didn't document, unfortunately -- one included a wooded hike at Patapsco.... Perhaps we'll opt for a documented re-do this summer!
Along with the hiking, D. and I did a little biking... at that age, we felt A. was a little too young to ride on his own, and with the help of Craigslist, we purchased a used Schwinn double bike trailer for $50 -- what a deal! Soon enough we were on our first "family" bike trip, 10.48 miles down the Cross island trail! What beautiful views, the best of both worlds, forested trail as well as water views. We saw snakes, rabbits, butterflies along the way. At our end point, the bridge to Kent Narrows we enjoyed a picnic lunch near the water before heading back to start.
Earlier this year in April, my sister and I re-did this trail sans-hubby. A., now 4.5 years old was finally deemed old enough to pedal this trail on his own. Other than the constant reminders to stay to the right, he did great! He pedaled a whopping 9.36 miles, and ofcourse our little M. (now 2.5) rode in the trailer. Once again on this bike trail we were lucky enough to see a quite a bit of wildlife, including waterfowl and deer.
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