I'd look at 5 miles per day max. And as light as possible, take some queues for ultralight hikers.
Inspect their bags before hand too.

I know people hike all 48 5000'ers in the white mountains with dogs, but I have never

Not girls, but boys.

We started with a two day, one night. Did a loop - day 1 was 6 miles, ~2500 ft of elevation gain, day 2 was 5 miles, same elevation gain. Some boys loved it and continued on to longer trips. The boys that didn't love it were miserable and didn't do more. The shorter length trip was good as a shakedown.

Make sure the adults have a good first aid kit. We've had everything from minor falls to a broken leg.

Backpacks are heavy - talk to the kids before hand about what is actually needed. Take a couple hikes with full packs.

Find somewhere beautiful/fun. On our first trip we stopped at an inn on the trail that gave out lemonade and brownies. We camped on a ridge top overlooking a beautiful valley.

Happy to answer any other questions - love backpacking!

Fun fun fun!!

Do a couple day hikes with heavy packs. Pack like it’s an overnight trip, and go for a hike a 3-4 mile hike. It is a much tougher trip with with totally different packs, and food is heavy.

I wouldn’t plan on anything longer than 3-4 miles max for the trip at a time. Maybe 3 miles day 1, 2 miles day 2 and 2-3 miles out. They will all be exhausted. My husband took my oldest out last summer and by the end he was so tired he could barely walk any more. It’s a lot of weight they aren’t used to.

As for the dog, if you have ever hiked or camped with the dog, you should have an idea. If it has slept in tents and is a good tent sleeper, backpacking is no different. If it doesn’t sleep well in a tent situation, maybe not a good idea to bring it.

Have a blast!! Backpacking is fun!!

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."

Do you want them to have fun? My suggestion is "less is more". Do a shorter hike in distance and only one night. Less weight to carry and if they hate it/shit happens/weather sucks you can bail easily.

As for the dog. My friend backpacks with her dog often. He carries his food, some water and his poo. He definitely does NOT love his pack, but he tolerates it because he gets to go hiking.

Just remember dog food smells good to bears. I once hung my dogs backpack on a tree limb directly above my tent because she wouldn't leave it alone. The next morning it was gone. I assumed the shady guys camped nearby stole it. Later I was brushing my teeth in the woods and found it completely shredded. There were bear tracks all around it. This was at the southern terminus of the AT. So there is a decent amount of bear activity in that area.

I’d also suggest on your practice hikes, take your stove, fuel, water pump, toilet shovel, etc and practice getting water, cooking and cleaning a camp stove/pot, digging a hole to poop in, etc. so nothing is a “surprise” come time to cook and poop in the woods.

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."

I went on a 2 day overnight hike with my now 16 year old and dog.

I think the key is to make it fun. Don't set distance goals and just stop and smell the roses. We were to do a loop but I found it too difficult for her so we got to a point, spend a lot of time setting up a camp and exploring and then hiked back the way we came. I also packed much more than I normally would (and carried most of it to keep her load light) and most of that was food. I wanted to have a good meal and to make sure she wouldn't get hungry.

You can't do much about the weather so that's a flip of the coin but my main goal was to make it as fun as possible as that would be the only way she does it again. Going with a dog is a no-brainer, I wouldn't think of going without him.

Now I’m thinking a hike in yurt might be a good first step :-). There are some great ones where you can loop a few together not too far from me.

Are the kids total couch muffins or reasonably active already? Reading these responses, most seem overly cautious. I've even taken my kids on longer overnights snow camping in the winter without much in the way of specific prep or training; in normal conditions with decent weather it's honestly not that hard. I carried all the 'common' gear (tent, cookware, main meals) so they only had to carry their own sleeping bags, clothes, & snacks ~ really not that heavy, and 4-5 miles isn't much more than a few hours even w/ snack & photo stops so there's plenty of spare time to set up/break camp, etc, depending on the season/latitude.

Obviously in the winter/snow we went a lot slower and the days were much shorter so the distance was roughly half (plus the clothing weight was more, but then we also didn't need to carry as much water as a normal summer trip either). It's not like we did this a lot and the kids were super used to it, but they were used to a variety of day/family hikes up to maybe 6-8 miles and such so the added gear isn't that much unless you want to stick them with all their own separate tents & everything else. They really enjoyed the added sense of adventure more than anything.

Biggest thing for me was just extra planning to pick routes so we had more bailout options and never got too far from a major road in case something went super sideways.

Some back country yurts/cabins have age limits so check for that.

We too my two girls 7 and 9 for the first time this fall. 3 miles in, 3 miles out, but they hadn't done full day hike prior to that, so it wasn't much more for them. I carried everything I could. The more I carried, the slower I got and the faster they got. They just had their school backpacks with pillows and water in them. Take our time and let them help out with all the stuff like setting up camp and pumping water. They even helped choosing the food and such before the trip. Teaching them to crap in the woods was my wife's job.

The low key trip was easy enough that there was no gripes and they are excited to go again.

The fun part was Monday of the week we were going the youngest broke her arm. We hemmed and hawed about if we should still go, but she was adamant that she still wanted to go. 5 minutes down the trail, she tripped and landed on her new cast. So we help her hand the rest of the hike.

I'd recommend not taking the dog on the first if you have not already done trips with it. From what I read dogs can be greatly stressed mentally by new situations and may react in ways you are not expecting toward your group and others.

If you want to be a responsible dog owner, keep it on a leash at all times. It is for it's safety and others. Dogs off leash may run off and now your trip becomes how do I find my dog instead of being something fun for the kids. Also, no backpackers will like you if you dog destroys their gear so keeping the dog on leash at camp is also important. remember you have to packout their crap or bury it depending on the rules for the area you are going to. Some people do not realize the environmental impact of the furry friends on wildlife. Google it if you don't think it is a problem.

The dog is probably more legit than the rest of us. We’ve taken her whitewater rafting and hiking and non-backpacking camping. My daughter shows her in 4h and agility. Her nickname is “whatever” because she’s generally cool with just about anything. Looks at it and lies down for a nap. Me or a kid are much more likely to freak out :-)

That’s why you string a bear bag between 2 trees and at least 100 feet from your tent sight!! Much harder to get to if it’s between trees instead of just dangling from a branch.

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Harry: "I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this."
Loyd: "I was thinking the same thing. That John Denver's full of shit, man."

+1. Great advice and the dog will provide extra comfort at night for the kids.

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"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

For some reason it did not click in my brain that dog food would attract a bear. Sitting here now it is obvious but at the time I just wanted my dog to leave her backpack alone. I am just glad the bear did not tip over during it's heist.

Dad used to bring me on every trip under the sun until I went to college, moved out, etc... snow camping, lots of whitewater rafting, some backpacking, early morning ocean-fishing trips before school, always with our dog in tow.

Speaking from a kids perspective,

• Always have a fast "escape route" if things go sideways
• Jelly bellies/gummy bears made excellent "energy pills"
• Ask them every five minutes how they are temp/hunger/tired. Stop meltdowns before happening.
• Let them "own" part of the trip. Someone pick desserts? Someone in charge of packing the dog's backpack (with supervision)? You choose three reasonable hikes and let them make final determination?
• Also, we used to stop and make "fairy houses" with sticks, leaves, rocks, etc. May be of interest for a 10-year old on a backpacking lunch break.

That’s why you string a bear bag between 2 trees and at least 100 feet from your tent sight!! Much harder to get to if it’s between trees instead of just dangling from a branch.


For some reason it did not click in my brain that dog food would attract a bear. Sitting here now it is obvious but at the time I just wanted my dog to leave her backpack alone. I am just glad the bear did not tip over during it's heist.


I was on an extended bike tour on my own and a lot of time in bear country. I used to cook dinner on my stove, in my bike clothes and then when finished, would change my clothes and put them in a bike bag. Then pack up my stove and put it away and the food would go up in a tree. I then set up my tent a few hundred meters from where my bike, clothes and food. Bears have an incredible sense of smell and I took a lot of precautions but when out on your own with no one remotely close, it made sleeping a lot easier...