Safe Hiking and Outdoor Adventure: A Family Guide

The Outdoors Is Worth Getting Into Safely

Regular time in nature is associated with significant benefits to children's physical and mental health, creativity, and development. Getting children outdoors, including on challenging terrain and in all weather conditions appropriate to their age and experience, is something families should do more of, not less. The goal of outdoor safety education is not to produce anxiety about nature but to produce competence within it.

The UK countryside has genuine hazards, and incidents happen annually to people who were unprepared for conditions that changed, equipment that failed, or terrain that was more demanding than expected. Most of these incidents were preventable with modest preparation. Understanding what that preparation looks like enables confident, enjoyable outdoor adventure.

Planning Before You Go

Good planning is the foundation of outdoor safety. Before any walk or hike, particularly in upland areas or unfamiliar terrain, know the route, its length, and its terrain type. Check the weather forecast for the specific area (mountain weather can differ significantly from the forecast for the nearest town) using the Met Office mountain forecast. Have a clear plan for your turnaround point and arrival time, and leave details with someone who is not coming with you.

Know your group's ability honestly. The most common cause of difficulties on hills and in the countryside is overestimating how far or how fast the group can travel, particularly with children. Plan for children to walk more slowly than adults (roughly 2km per hour for young children, adding some calculation time), to need more frequent breaks, and to be unpredictably energetic or fatigued. Build significant margin into the day.

Navigation

A phone with a mapping app is useful but should not be the only navigation tool, because phones run out of battery, lose signal, and can be damaged. Carry a paper OS map of the area and a compass, and know how to use them. The 1:25,000 OS Explorer maps provide the level of detail needed for off-road navigation. Basic compass and map skills can be learned from online resources and are worth investing time in before you need them.

Know your grid reference at all times, or at regular intervals. In an emergency, being able to tell the emergency services your six-figure grid reference is the most important thing you can communicate about your location. The Ordnance Survey app and the What3words app both make this straightforward on a smartphone for those who do not yet read grid references from a paper map.

What to Pack

The Ten Essentials, a checklist developed over decades of mountaineering, provides a useful framework for what to carry in the outdoors. Adapted for family day walking, this includes: navigation (map and compass), a headtorch with spare batteries (conditions can change and a day walk can run late), sun protection (sunscreen and sunglasses, even on overcast days at altitude), first aid kit, fire (matches or a lighter in a waterproof container), appropriate food and extra snacks, water, a survival bag or emergency bivi, communication (a charged phone and knowledge of what to do if you lose signal), and appropriate clothing.

Clothing is one of the most frequently underestimated elements. Mountain and upland weather can change rapidly: sun and warmth at the start of a walk can become cold, wind, and rain within an hour. The principle is layers: a moisture-wicking base layer, an insulating mid-layer, and a waterproof and windproof outer layer. Cotton is particularly unsuitable in wet outdoor conditions because it loses all insulating capacity when wet and dries very slowly. Merino wool and synthetic fabrics both perform significantly better.

Weather Awareness

Weather in the UK hills and mountains can be severe and fast-moving in ways that are difficult to anticipate from lower ground. Thunder and lightning at altitude carry specific risks: seek lower ground and avoid trees and prominent structures if a storm develops. Cold and wet conditions combined with wind (windchill) can cause hypothermia in temperatures that do not seem extreme: the danger zone is not only in winter.

If conditions deteriorate beyond what the group can safely manage, the correct decision is to turn back or to find shelter and wait. This is a decision that requires neither shame nor lengthy deliberation. The summit or destination will be there another day; turning back in deteriorating conditions is experienced outdoor leadership, not failure.

If You Get Lost

Stop as soon as you realise you are uncertain of your position. The instinct to keep walking in hopes of recognising something familiar generally makes the situation worse by increasing the distance from the last known position. Stop, consult your map and any landmarks visible, and try to establish your position before moving further.

If you cannot establish your position and have a phone signal, call Mountain Rescue via 999 (ask for police and then Mountain Rescue). If you do not have signal, try moving to higher ground (often improves signal), try sending a text (texts sometimes get through when calls do not), and try the emergency SMS service (register your phone at emergencysms.net before you go: this is a service specifically for when phone signal is very limited).

If you decide to stay put, make yourself as visible as possible and use your whistle if you have one: six blasts is the international distress signal. A survival bag or space blanket significantly extends the time you can wait safely in cold conditions.

Children and the Outdoors

Children are more capable outdoors than many parents assume, and being exposed to appropriate challenge and manageable discomfort in the outdoors builds confidence, resilience, and a love of nature that lasts a lifetime. The key is appropriate challenge: terrain and conditions within the group's actual capability rather than aspirational ones.

Involve children in the planning, navigation, and decision-making where age-appropriate. A child who helps plan the route, reads the map, and contributes to decisions is having a fundamentally different experience from one who is simply told where to walk. That engagement builds the skills and the desire to come back again.