Book Shelf

    Get Your Kids Hiking

    How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun

    (trade paperback, 228 pages, May 2013, $13.95, Beaufort Books; ISBN: 9780825306914)

    Hiking is a great way to relax, connect with nature, and enjoy time with your family. Bringing your kids along can be rewarding for you and for them, but it can also add new challenges and concerns to your trip. Get Your Kids Hiking is loaded with everything you need to know to hit the trail with kids; from gear to simple proven techniques that will make your hike safe and fun. Written with both the novice and the seasoned hiker in mind, Jeff Alt provides all the information you need to take your child out on the trail.

    This books offers:

    • Age-appropriate ways to include your child in all aspects of the hike
    • Checklists of what to pack for any type of hike
    • Kid-friendly menus
    • Advice for hiking with a child who has special needs

    Get Your Kids Hiking is the playbook to inspire an appreciation for the great outdoors in your children and keep your young child or teenager interested in a family hiking trip.

    Get Your Kids Hiking (Beaufort Books), wins the Bronze in the 2014 Living Now Book Awards.

    Get Your Kids Hiking (Beaufort Books), wins the Bronze in the Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards.

    A book cover with people hiking on it
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    The Reviews Keep Coming

    “Jeff Alt, hiking expert, has written what may be the most comprehensive, readable and inspiring book ever focused on getting kids hiking. This will be…invaluable for families — and for outdoor programs and environmental educators as well. And ‘Get Your Kids Hiking’ is the perfect size and weight for your day pack!”
    Richard Louv
    author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” and “The Nature Principle.”
    “With great ideas for making hiking safe, fun and exciting for every age, Get Your Kids Hiking gives families a fresh step in the right direction to a lifelong love of the great outdoors. This is great information organized in an easy-to-access manner. What a great tool for connecting kids and nature.” 
    Lynn Brunelle
    author of “Camp Out!: The Ultimate Kids’ Guide,” “Pop Bottle Science,” and a four-time Emmy Award-winning writer for “Bill Nye the Science Guy.”
    “…Get Your Kids Hiking provides tips on gear and motivation to help families with kids of all ages get outside to hike…”
    Terry Gardner
    Los Angeles Times
    “Hiking offers everyone a treasure chest of lifelong benefits, Alt says in his new paperback,  Get Your Kids Hiking. In case that blue glow of our computers has made us forget, he reminds us that movement releases endorphins. For him, hiking leads to positive thoughts and conversations. The new book is geared not to a specific hiking place, but to the different ages of development in children’s growth, and what will motivate them best. That might mean encouraging a teenager to use electronics to research and chart a trip. Or, for a younger one, toting along a magnifying glass to look at bugs or leaves close up. While Alt’s book is filled with checklists and tips for each age, he also encourages keeping things simple and uncluttered…”
    Debbi Snook
    The Plain Dealer
    “…Excellent tips from an experienced hiker on how to…[hike with] even the tiniest babies…Written for the novice and seasoned hiker in mind.”
    Foreword Reviews
    “…Get Your Kids Hiking is written in a casual style… It is chock full of practical advice for parents with kids of all ages and abilities…”
    Brent Coleman
    The Cincinnati Enquirer
    “…Get Your Kids Hiking has great ideas on adding hiking into your family’s fitness and fun…”
    Philadelphia Enquirer
    “Love the book “Get your kids hiking” and your kids will love you for reading it…”
    Jenell Walton
    ABC TV “THE LIST”
    “…This handy guide gives tips on getting the whole family outdoors and on the nature trail…”
    Parent Magazine
    “…Get Your Kids Hiking…offers an easy to use guide for any adult wanting to take children into the outdoors. The chapters are easy to read and to reference. There are great tips on how to make the trail fun and safe for all ages. More than ever, it is important to expose our children to the benefits of the wilderness and Jeff Alt’s guidance in this book will allow you to confidently take kids into the backcountry.” 
    Jennifer Pharr Davis
    author of Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail  and Called Again: Love and Triumph on the Appalachian Trail.
    “…I loved Jeff Alt’s forthcoming book, “Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun!” In the book, the Cincinnati based author offers tips and tricks on age-appropriate ways to include your child in all aspects of a hike, checklists of what to pack for any type of hike and advice for hiking with a special needs child. In short, he presents the Appalachian Trail of books about family travel outdoors…”
    Matt Villano
    The Wandering Pod and former travel blog writer for Parents Magazine
    “Get Your Kids Hiking by Jeff Alt is the perfect book if you want to get your kids out on the trail. Alt and his wife are seasoned hikers, having hiked the Appalachian Trail and the John Muir Trail in Yosemite National Park in California. Now their kids come along, so they’ve thought through what it means to travel with little ones. Different chapters are dedicated to each age group, from little bitties to teens, and they provide ideas for everything from gear to grub. As someone who loves to hike but is more on the novice side, I’ll be using this as reference guide.”
    Jane Schneider
    Memphis Parent Magazine
    “…Having kids can inspire a parent. They inspired Jeff Alt to write a book about how to interest and motivate youngsters to try hiking, and how to equip them for it…”
    John McCoy
    The Charleston Gazette
    “…A hiking guide for parents to get kids into the fun. The chapters and checklists are broken down into age ranges to make it easily accessible for all, and the expert author (he’s even hiked the Appalachian Trail) has plenty of information to share…”
    Heidi Brandes
    Metro Family
    …”Think hiking with young children is a hassle? It doesn’t have to be. Jeff Alt just wrote a book full of tips and detailed instructions to make hiking with kids an adventure and even a stress reliever. In “Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun” Mr. Alt draws from his own experiences to show parents and caregivers how to hike with their little ones starting from their first few months of life.  The book includes chapters devoted to different age groups, backpacking, overnight trips, safety tips, using park resources, supplies you will need on the trail and more…”
    Kitoko Chargois
    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    “…Alt — a daddy of two — presents fun ways to hit the trails with your kids, and we agree with him: start ‘em young!”
    Nashville Parent
    “…I wish we had this book when our kids were younger. Our family loves to hike and this book has great advice on motivating kids and keeping the hike age appropriate….”
    Parent Click Reviews
    “Hiking in a natural wilderness is good for the body, the mind, and the human soul. “Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep It Fun!” by hiking expert and naturalist Jeff Alt is a 240 page, pocket sized instructional reference guide and manual that parents can utilize to introduce and educate their children of all ages into the joys and benefits of a hiking trip. Parents are shown age-appropriate ways to include a child in all aspects of the hike. “Get Your Kids Hiking” also features checklists of what to pack for any type of hike, kid-friendly menus of what to take along on a hike, and a wealth of practical advice for hiking with a child who has special needs. Thoroughly ‘user friendly’ from beginning to end, “Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun!” is confidently recommended for family and community library Parenting Skills reference collections. It should be noted that “Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun!” is also available in a Kindle edition ($6.59).”
    Midwest Book Review
    “…Jeff Alt’s powerful new book, Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun! speaks to the practical ways the reader can assist and inspire children to explore our remaining nature areas. Whether you are a parent, an aunt or uncle, or a loving cousin—buy this book! Then get the maps, grab the kids, and head out… Alt also offers 11 useful appendices that give you plenty of detail so you are ready to make sure your child has a great time outside with you. He has specific chapters for walking with toddlers, 3-4 years, 5-12 years, and teenagers. Since there are a lot of ins and outs to successful (= fun!) dayhiking/backpacking, really do utilize this book with its many lists…Obtain Alt’s book…plan, grab the kids, jump in the car, go to the trailhead and start hiking with joyful elan…”
    Dan McCaslin
    Santa Barbara Independent