Babywearing: How to Find a Hiking Trail Wherever You Are

Are your feet itching for a hike? Babywearing makes it possible for you to get out into terrain that’s foot-friendly, but not stroller-friendly. So when you’ve got a nice day and a few hours to spare, grab your favorite baby carrier and get out there! You’ll be getting the awesome benefits of fresh air and exercise, all while showing your baby the wide and wonderful world of nature. Win-win!

Here are a few online resources to help you find a hiking trail close to where you are:

• National Park Foundation’s  Find a Park – Searchable by state, this database includes all US state and national parks, as well as historical monuments, memorials and heritage sites, lakes, rivers and seashores and more. 
• National Wildlife Federation’s Nature Find – “Find nature in your neighborhood.” A searchable, US-based map tool with an advanced search option that helps you search for places or events by different criteria, from aquarium to zoo.
• The Nature Conservancy’s Visit a Preserve – “Experience nature with the Conservancy.” Searchable, primarily US-based map tool that allows you to find Nature Conservancy preserves local to you. Only Conservancy lands appear on this map, but there are a lot of them and these lands sometimes don’t appear on other maps, so it’s a valuable tool nonetheless.
• AllTrails.com – Multiple search options on this site allow you to search by activity, zip code, state or city maps, Canadian, Mexican and Caribbean trails and more. You can set up a profile too, so that you can save your hikes and trails and connect with other outdoorsy folks on the forum. Pretty cool, but you do have to pay to join (the rest of the services on this list are free, but many accept donations).

Happy babywearing!