Hiking with Kids: Avoid Frustration

The first three times we went to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado, we didn’t make it beyond the first section off of the main parking lot.

We didn’t do a trail or explore much at all. I actually had a whole list of trails and areas I wanted to explore and we didn’t make it to any of them.

Why?

Because my kids loved the beginning part of the park. There were people climbing that they liked watching. And there are a couple of structures they liked to climb.

Before I had kids, I was the type of person who would do ALL the things in a few hours. I hated not doing everything. I rarely visited the same place twice so I liked to leave a place knowing I did everything I was interested in doing.

It would have been easy for me to get frustrated and irritated that I didn’t do what I came to do. But over time, I’ve realized that spending time with my family is sometimes all that matters.

So this is a reminder that even though we may sometimes move slower or unexpected with kids, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it to go.

Slow is better than not at all.

We definitely have tips and tricks to move faster if we need to. But it’s nice to let the kids set the pace too.

And it definitely doesn’t suck that we’ve been back to this park over and over again to check off my whole list. It’s beautiful!

And the nice thing is that the kids are really familiar with the park and have fallen in love with it because they’ve been allowed to explore it at their own pace. Now, when we go, we get there early enough so they can enjoy their favorite part of the park, and we have plenty of time to explore a new area. The kids even ask to go to new spots they haven’t seen before.

Check out this reel to see the beginning part of the park that the kids absolutely love: Garden of the Gods Reel

Here’s a photo of one of their new favorite areas after they were willing to explore beyond the beginning part.