Take your kids hiking — and let one of them be in charge of the map.

We recently added a page with Harriman trail suggestions for hiking with kids, from the very small pip-squeak to those capable of doing a few miles.  Harriman can be tough on the little ones, because there aren’t too many trails that are short and easy, and you should keep in mind the abilities of your children before you hit the trail.

Is it a stretch to say we all like gear?  For me, sometimes just looking at my bug net or sleep pad makes me want to go out and use it. With kids, it’s sort of the same thing.

So if they’re a little reluctant to get out and walk, but you know they’ll like it once they’re in it, try some of my parenting tricks for “jiggling the handle”:

1. Don’t make it lunch.  Make it sustenance for intrepid hikers.  Bring beef jerky or pepperoni, little energy gels, fruit roll-ups, cheese sticks.  Let them try freeze-dried spaghetti and meatballs from Eastern Mountain Sports or REI.  Cut their apples with a jacknife and spread some peanut butter on there.  Let them mix their own GORP, or bring energy bars.  If it’s a picnic, make lots of little sandwiches with different fillings.
2. In early spring, when the bugs are hatching from the bogs and streambeds, break out the (I’m serious) bug nets for your face.  These cost a couple dollars at an outfitter but I love to have mine, just in case.
3. Use the hike to teach how to light a fire, and how to put one out completely.  I have a pocket knife with a flint, and if I remember my childhood correctly, building a fire was fun if you could do it without a match.  Bring a pocketful of lint from the drier, and set up only at a fire ring near a shelter.  Obviously, this is for older kids whom you trust with fire, with building fire in the proper place, and with extinguishing fire completely.  Ensure the fire pit is cool to the touch before you leave it.
   
4. Let one kid handle the map.  Whether it’s an app on your phone or a tear-proof NYNJTC trail map, a kid with a map is a kid who feels in charge and connected to the trail.
5. Make sure your kids are convinced those Raisinettes you put in the grass are rabbit or deer droppings, before you scoop the up and eat them.  Worth it.
6. When I was a kid, anything you could pull from the wild and consume was somehow better than anything you got out of the refrigerator or tap.  Even water.  So, if you have a water filter bag system, bring it with you.  Then show them how to filter water from a stream.
7. Freeze-dried ice cream.  Pick up a bag at LL Bean, break some off and eat it straight out of the bag.
8. Clean it all up.  Don’t let anyone know you’ve been there, because if they see your ugly potato chip bag reclining in a bush or undulating in reeds of Silvermine Lake, they’re going to know you’ve been through, and they’ll eventually track you down.  A little paranoia on the trails is fun.

Freeze-dried ice cream. If looking at it sets your teeth on edge, you’ll be happy to know that eating it has about the same effect.

…and these are my recommendations for after-hike cafes in the area (if the kids aren’t full from hiking food):

1. Garrison Cafe, north of Bear Mountain in Garrison, NY.  Pizza that’s out of this world, wonderful salads, sandwiches and baked goods.  A favorite stop.
2. Take-a-Break Ice Cream Stand, Tuxedo.  Classic, jaunty roadside ice cream shack with picnic tables.
3. Hiker’s Cafe, at Bear Mountain Inn.  Hand-scooped ice cream and sandwiches in the old Inn, but you’ll pay eight dollars to park if you don’t have an Empire Passport, and then there are the crowds…