#OptOutside with these great hike ideas for the entire family

Winters can be hard on trails. Many will need both cleanup and maintenance come springtime. You can contact your local or state park system to see if they have anything planned, or you can plan your own trail cleanup hike with your Hike it Baby branch! Hike it Baby offers lots of information on organizing a trail cleanup, and safety is a consideration when participating in a trail cleanup. Some of these things may seem like common sense, but it’s always nice to double check your preparedness whenever you try something new (or for the first time in a while). 5 Tips for Trail Cleanup Safety 1. Bring proper cleanup supplies Certain supplies will come in handy during a trail cleanup. This would include gloves, trash grabbers and bags. It’s a good idea to have the littles carry the trash bag instead of picking up trash. They may not know what they should and shouldn’t touch. 2. Work in pairs or groups Sticking together and staying in communication with the organizer are very important. Make sure you have a charged cell phone or walkie-talkie with you. A compass could also come in handy if you're off the beaten path. Make sure someone knows exactly what area your group will be working in. Check in often with the organizer and stay close to your partner or group. Or, if you're hosting the hike, help the group stay together and communicate the meet up locations and times. 3. Bring your normal safety supplies All normal hiking injuries can occur on a trail cleanup. In fact, after winter, the trail will likely be in worse shape than usual, so be prepared. Make sure you pack your typical first aid kit, plus plenty of water and snacks. 4. Give the kiddos simple tasks The concept of trail cleanup is super important to share with our kids beginning at a young age as it teaches them to be stewards for our trails and parks. It’s even better to reinforce as they get older. That being said, not every trail cleanup is organized with young children in mind. If attending a hike organized by another group or parks department, speak to the cleanup organizer before deciding whether or not you will bring young children. Make sure there will be tasks suitable for their age and ability. With supervision and proper gloves and grabbers, tiny people are great at holding trash bags, spying trash, and they love to use trash grabbers! Older kids can also be great to pair with younger kids. If hosting your own hike, make sure you communicate what supplies to bring and provide safety tips during Welcome Circle. 5. Use caution Don't ever touch anything sharp or lift anything too heavy. While you will typically feel totally awesome after participating in a trail cleanup, you might not if you cut yourself and get an infection. After winter, there could be trees or large branches across the trail. Don’t try to be the hero and lift something too heavy on your own. Even professional bodybuilders use a spotter to lift. Bring a notepad with you and document anything you can’t handle. Then give this list to the trail cleanup organizer so that the proper crew can address it. (Or, if you're hosting, contact the parks department with the information.) For toddlers and little kids, have them spot the trash ("I spy!") instead of picking it up. This will ensure they aren't picking up anything dangerous or unsanitary. What are your safety tips for trail cleanup? Have a question about safety while participating in a trail cleanup? Leave a comment or a question below! Read More: 11 Tips for Safety on Trail 3 Trail Safety Tips You Must Know Photos by Vong Hamilton. Hike it Baby hikes are hosted by volunteers who have no professional training and are not experts to guide families on hikes. They are people who want to raise a generation to love the outdoors and they accomplish this by facilitating outings for all to join. Our tips are gathered from collective experience. As with any physical activity, please be sure to check with your healthcare provider and other experts when hiking with your children. ABOUT OUTGROWN OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to create a world where everyone can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We are focused on creating opportunities and removing barriers to access so families with babies and young children can take their first steps outside. We believe all families have the right to connect with nature, benefit from spending time outdoors and be inspired to a lifelong love of nature. Since its grassroots inception in 2013, OutGrown is a growing community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Branch Ambassadors. More information on all of our programs can be found at WeAreOutGrown.org    EDITORS NOTE: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from OutGrown. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. 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Challenges of Opening In-Person Hikes We recognize that public spaces have begun to open and stay-home orders and other restrictions have begun to loosen in certain communities. We are currently evaluating what in-person hikes will look like and what systems we need to have in place to support safe in-person hiking events in the post-Quarantine environment. These are some of the challenges we face in making decisions around allowing group activities as an organization with over 300 branches in North America: Most guidelines are still limiting group size and requiring social distance. Maintaining 6 feet of separation is hard to expect with small children and on narrow trails. Mask wearing guidelines are varied and also not recommended for children under 2 years, which is a large portion of our participants, making it hard to establish safe and effective protocols that allow us to support in person hiking. Our calendar team is entirely volunteer-based and it is too much to ask of them to monitor and stay up-to-date with the various local guidance to approve or deny hike events case by case, so we need to keep our approach as simple and as global as possible. Many communities are seeing a rise in cases as they re-open, which leaves us wondering if allowing/encouraging in-person events is the best way to ensure individual families can stay safe and healthy. We are letting time help inform our larger decision making before re-opening in-person events. The Importance of Getting Outside However, we also recognize that time in nature is important to everyone's personal wellness and we do not want to get in the way of that. Some of our branches are in rural areas with very low risk and in states where larger group gatherings are allowed and we understand it may be frustrating to not have the HiB calendar as a resource. Our goal is not to stop you from hiking or being social. We do have a duty to keep our members and volunteers safe, so we ask that you extend patience and understanding while we navigate this new terrain. Please extend this grace to your hike hosts and ambassadors as well and know that ultimately, we all want everyone to stay safe and healthy. Keep it Local, Keep it Safe If it is safe and in accordance with local guidelines for you to meet in your area, please organize any meet-ups outside of the Hike it Baby platform as private, non-HiB sanctioned activities. This means not posting them on HiB Facebook group pages or on the HiB Calendar on our website.   Once we have guidelines we can apply universally we will look to opening up our calendar for events and hikes once again and we will continue to communicate openly and actively as we make these decisions. We appreciate your continued patience.   About Hike it Baby Hike it Baby is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to getting families outdoors and on trails across the U.S. and internationally, supporting, educating and inspiring families through their more than 300 communities across North America. Since its grassroots inception in 2013 in Portland, Oregon, Hike it Baby is now a growing community of 270,000 families and 500 volunteer branch ambassadors hosting more than 1,600 hikes per month. More information, as well as daily hike schedules, can be found at HikeitBaby.com, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram.   Photo courtesy of Michelle Craig.