The TMM team loves to get out and enjoy time outside, and we have had some great outdoor family adventures this year. We are sharing some of our favorites from 2024. We hope they inspire you to get outside in 2025!
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Amanda: Nordkalottleden, Scandinavia
In 2024, my family had a few short outdoor adventures and one big one. The big adventure was to hike the middle section of the Arctic Trail, which is a collaboration between Sweden, Norway, and Finland to put together a long distance trail entirely north of the Arctic Circle. The central section starts in Sweden and ends in Finland, with the majority of the trail in Norway. The stretch is a little over 100 miles and took us 10 days; it is possible to camp at (or in) trekking cabins through the entire trip.
We decided to do this hike because we were spending fall semester in London (for my job) and wanted a European outdoor adventure before the time in London. We also decided taking bikes with us was going to be too big a hassle. I wanted to do something established but off the beaten path, and ran across the Nordkalottleden. The added bonus of being above the Arctic Circle the entire time sold us on the trip.
During the trip, we walked through glacial valleys, birch forests, and swampy grasslands. We picked wild blueberries and wild cloudberries. We enjoyed local mushrooms picked by some Norwegian women and prepared by Swedish men (all of whom we met at a cabin one night). We climbed a locally prominent peak after a spontaneous decision to spend an extra night at one campsite. We met Finns, Norwegians, Dutch, Germans, Swedes, and one other American enjoying the Scandinavian backcountry.
We loved the trip and are inspired to spend more time trekking in Scandinavia.
Cece: Camping in Owyhee Canyonland, Oregon
In August of 2023, my family moved from Colorado to eastern Oregon, so we got to spend much of 2024 exploring a new region. In early Spring of 2024, I started asking around for good Spring camping spots in the area, knowing that 10 hours to our normal Utah destinations was too long.
While I love ski season, the kickoff to camping season is always memorable and refreshing. We usually head to the desert in the Spring for warm days and frosty mornings where we are bundled in winter gear. This year was no different! We spent 2 nights in the Owyhee Canyonlands of eastern Oregon in early May.
The towering red rocks and desert landscape were so similar to areas of Utah, where we’ve done our Spring camping for many years. Not what I think of when I think of the Pacific Northwest, it was a comforting surprise to spend a couple of days in the desert.
We found a site for dispersed camping up a hill from the main road into the area. Though the area was a bit crowded, this was our little oasis with room for the kids to roam and great views.
We took a drive into famed Leslie Gulch. We spent hours playing in the creek across the road from our campsite, playing ‘town’ in an enchanting mass of boulders on the bank, and building structures out of rocks in the creek. We climbed huge solitary rocks around our campsite and I delighted at how big this made my tiny boys feel, powerful while dwarfed by towering canyon walls. In the evenings we walked and ran along the dirt road, then had a campfire while the boys shouted to ATVs coming back into the canyon for the night. In the early mornings we stayed cozy in the tent reading, and when we emerged we watched the sun crawl over the adjacent canyon wall slowly.
The first camping trip of the year always brings fresh joy, energy, and exploration. These are my favorite adventures; the ones where time stretches out, where we have no agenda, where we forget about kids crying in the car on the drive there or things we forgot to pack or the fact that getting out the door is rarely a smooth process. The ones where we start weary and end refreshed.
Chloë: One Night Camping Adventure With Friends
I’ve been struggling with a herniated disc and broke my ankle this year, so getting outdoors with little kids looked a bit different this year. 2024 was the year of the small and easy adventures.
One of my favorite adventures of 2024 was a one-night back-country camping trip with two other families. We hiked up a mountain, starting from our friend’s house. Halfway up, we set up camp in a small flat area. The kids did really well hiking the 300 altitude meters, playing games along the way. Even our 2-year-old walked most of it himself.
We had a beautiful afternoon and evening cooking and sitting by the fire, while the kids explored and had lots of fun. Our evening was topped with a beautiful sunset and a quiet night in the tent. In the morning, we enjoyed a coffee and breakfast and headed down again, as we wanted to be off the mountain before the forecasted storm arrived. We made it perfectly on time, and we were tired but filled up with new memories.
All of us loved it, the best adventures don’t need to be big! All we needed was some basic camping gear and enough food.
Elaine: Local Hiking Trail Challenge
My favorite outdoor adventure of 2024 was completing a local hiking trail challenge. I live in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and we have a network of 13 parks called the Huron-Clinton Metroparks. They hosted a trail challenge where participants had to hike a trail at every park to find the challenge signs.
I decided to sign up for the challenge to explore more local trails and to see what else the parks have to offer. The challenge was even more fun and rewarding than I expected.
I hiked a couple of trails with a friend and remembered how much I like hiking at an adult pace with my female friends. My kids, ages 7 and 8, and my husband joined me on some trails, and other trails we were joined by other friends and their kids, too. We enjoyed the variety of different trails throughout the 13 parks, and we found and explored some cool features of the parks as well, including lots of playgrounds, picnic areas, nature centers, an observation tunnel beneath a pond, several beaches, and a waterpark.
The trail challenge was a great way to get outside and stay active, to discover new trails and parks close to home, and to bond as a family and with friends. I am inspired to explore more local trails next year!
Jami: Family Vacation to the Badlands and Black Hills, South Dakota
After driving near the Black Hills and the Badlands of South Dakota many times over the years, we finally decided that we should take a trip and explore there! We traveled with another family, so there were 4 adults and 5 kids on our trip. We first spent a day and a half in Badlands National Park, driving around to see all the unique formations and did a few short hikes.
We then spent a night in Wall, SD and of course checked out the famous Wall Drug. We then had an amazing rental cabin in the national forest outside of Custer, SD for the rest of our week. We toured Custer State Park on foot and by car, toured Jewel Cave, drove the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road (my husband took a morning and biked most of the loop too!), visited Mount Rushmore, and even rented UTVs for an afternoon.
We got lucky with lots of wildlife viewing in both Badlands NP and the Black Hills. We saw lots of bison and prairie dogs, some burrowing owls, big horn sheep, marmots, coyotes, pronghorn and more! One of the absolute best parts of the trip was our five kids playing together outside our cabin for hours creating and tending to their “crystal shop” with all of the rocks they found around the cabin.
Laura: Foothills Trail Backpacking Trip
My family plans to attempt thru hiking the Appalachian Trail next year, and this year took our first (and turns out it will be the only) practice run with our entire family of nine all together. It was really special and hard and amazing and exciting and exhausting!
We had rain for parts of every day and every night of our four days while hiking over 10 miles per day (50 total), and I couldn’t believe how well the kids handled those conditions. It was also so beautiful to see how they encouraged each other the entire time—something that doesn’t always happen at home. They rose to every occasion in ways that my husband and I *hoped* would happen but now got to see actually occur.
We all got pushed in pretty challenging ways. The rain, pushing relatively big miles, navigating directional errors, and even dealing with bears stealing our food—it was a well-rounded adventure. The hike definitely wasn’t a blissful experience, but truly was probably better than that. Every one of us has more confidence in doing hard things, and more belief about and excitement for our bigger hike next year.
Mary: Family Rafting in the Salmon River, Idaho
As a family who loves being on the water together, multi day river camping trips are always high on our list of priorities. This year we got the opportunity to spend 6 days and 5 nights on the Salmon River floating across Idaho. This section boasts lots of big, white sandy beaches, steep canyon walls, fun rapids, historical sites, hot springs, and best of all- no cell service for a week!
We floated with 3 other families and made so many fun memories. We watched our kids overcome fear and anxiety on the river, supporting each other through rocky rapids and big splashes and feeling so accomplished at making it through each one safely, gaining more confidence each day. Off the river we worked together loading and unloading the boats, preparing meals and setting up camp. They played creatively together for hours in the sand, found lots of critters to examine, and came up with endless ways to enjoy the water.
We feel so grateful to have been able to unplug and just play with our family while experiencing the magic of being on the Salmon river. It’s hard to get that kind of fun and quality time anywhere else.
Whitney: Road Trip to the Biggest Trees
We packed up the car and headed from Flagstaff to Three Rivers, California, our home base for the week, to explore Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon. It was unbearably hot in Three Rivers, but almost every day we drove up the winding road into cooler temperatures.
We went hiking in Mineral King and were snooped on by marmots. We jumped from boulder to boulder and played in the water along the Tokopah Falls trail, meandering alongside dad’s fishing route. We did an early morning loop on the Big Trees Trail amazed at the immensity of the trees. We even learned that when they tried logging Sequoias long ago, their wood would splinter when they fell so they were only able to be used for matches and fence posts.
In Kings Canyon, we foraged for berries alongside a teenager bear (unknowingly!), forded a pretty strong stream on our path, and dunked our hats in water to keep cool. And our crew earned two Junior Ranger badges. The heat was rough, a Yoto player (snuck into a hiking pack) helped keep the kids trudging along trails, and we savored the icy Gatorades packed in the cooler.
Luckily our house in Three Rivers had a pool that we used after every day in the park. It was so nice to come back and relax after long, hot days in the sun. Rather than accomplishing big hikes or seeing all the sites, we picked a couple must-dos and focused our time on exploring, play, and enjoying our surroundings. It made for an unforgettable trip!
2024 In Review
Whether we were doing something big or something small, the TMM team had lots of fun outdoor adventures in 2024. We are excited to see what 2025 will bring and are already planning all the ways that we will adventure outside in the coming year!
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Favorite Outdoor Family Adventures of 2024
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