Outside magazine: families thru‑hike with kids

Backpacking families are having a small moment — not because parents suddenly discovered hiking, but because the idea of taking kids on full long trails has moved from fringe legend to something people can actually picture. Outside’s March 24 story by David Gleisner zeroes in on that shift through families on the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, and Continental Divide Trail, especially the Netteburgs, who thru-hiked the PCT as a family of seven in 2023. The point isn’t that this is easy. It’s that a few families have turned an almost absurd-sounding idea into a repeatable system. (outsideonline.com) ### Who are these families? The clearest example is the Netteburg family. Gleisner first heard about them on the Pacific Crest Trail because other hikers were talking about a family of seven in matching yellow sun hoodies knocking out 20-plus-mile days. They had already done the Appalachian Trail in 2020 and then the 3,100-mile Continenta(outsideonline.com)ting anymore — they were operating from experience. (outsideonline.com) ### Why does the PCT example stand out? Because the Pacific Crest Trail is 2,650 miles long, and 2023 was a record snow year. That would be a huge ask for a solo adult hiker. Doing it with five kids, including a two-year-old, is what made other thru-hikers stop and stare. The awe in Gleisner’s piece isn’t really about heroics. It’s about scale — food, clothing, sleep systems, pace, weather, and morale multiplied across a whole family. (outsideonline.com) ### So what’s the real challenge? Logistics, basically. Gleisner frames the same questions most readers would ask right away: how do parents carry enough food and gear, what happens with school, and how do small bodies handle months of mileage? That’s the useful part of the story. Family thru-hiking sounds like an inspiration-porn topic, (outsideonline.com)d fatigue, and a family culture that can survive being together all day for months. (outsideonline.com) ### Are these families trying to prove something? Sometimes yes, but not in the chest-thumping way people assume. Earlier Outside coverage has wrestled directly with whether thru-hiking with kids is admirable, selfish, or both. That debate never fully goes away. But the families in these stories usually describe the hikes less as records (outsideonline.com)he ethical argument — it just explains why the parents keep saying yes to a lifestyle most people would reject instantly. (outsideonline.com) ### Is this actually new? The idea isn’t new. Outside has covered family thru-hikers for years — the Crawfords on the Appalachian Trail, the Bennetts on the PCT, the Strawbridges chasing the Triple Crown. What feels newer is visibility. In 2026, the family story sits inside a broader Outside push around thru-hiking, with a guide package and live Q&A (outsideonline.com)t of the mainstream long-trail conversation. (outsideonline.com) ### Why do readers care so much? Because it scrambles two strong American myths at once. One says serious adventure belongs to solo obsessives. The other says family life kills big adventure. These families are poking holes in both. The catch is that they’re not proving “kids don’t slow you down” so much as “families can build a totally different kind of trail life.” That’s a subtler claim, but it lands harder. (outsideonline.com) ### What’s the bottom line? Outside didn’t uncover a cute niche trend this week. It documented a real subculture that has been building for years and is now visible enough to explain on its own terms. The hard part isn’t whether children can hike long trails. A few families have already answered that. The hard part is whether parents can redesign work, school, money, and risk tolerance enough to make the miles possible. (outsideonline.com)