Great Family Walks for Energetic Boys in the UK

Why a walk needs a job to do

Ask a boy to come for a walk and you'll often get a groan. Ask him to come and find out whether the stream has any fish in it, or to see who can reach the top of the hill first, and the boots are on before you've found your car keys. It sounds simple, and it is. Most boys I've walked with aren't motivated by distance or scenery. They're motivated by purpose, a bit of trouble and plenty of mud.

So the single best thing you can do is stop calling it a walk. Call it a recce, an expedition, a river survey, a quest for the highest point on the map. Give it a job, however daft, and you'll get a completely different child at the other end of it.

Choosing the right route for the age and stage

A rough rule of thumb: a child of four to six manages about one mile an hour on rough ground. Seven to ten-year-olds, once they're used to it, do nearer two. Teenagers will happily cover six or seven miles if the route ends at food.

• Under sixes: a mile to a mile and a half, with a stream, pond or playground at the halfway point. Loops rather than there-and-back if you can manage it — the return leg of an out-and-back is always twice as long to a tired five-year-old.
• Six to ten: two to four miles with a proper hill, a ford, a ruined building or a wood to explore. This is the golden age for den-building, so look for plenty of fallen branches.
• Ten plus: five to eight miles, ideally with something to climb. Ridges, summits and old quarries satisfy the need for danger without much actual danger.

Good areas to plan a day out around: the Peak District, the Yorkshire Dales, the South Downs, the Brecon Beacons, the Lakes, Dartmoor, and just about any stretch of coastal path with a beach at the end. Local country parks and canal towpaths are brilliant for the first few outings, when what you really want is an easy escape route.

Streams, stepping stones and the case for wet feet

If you have a choice between a dry route and one that crosses a beck three times, take the wet one. Water is a magnet. Boys will spend forty minutes building a dam, racing sticks off a bridge or trying to cross without falling in — and every one of those minutes is a minute they're not asking how much further.

Accept in advance that they will fall in. Wellies are hopeless on a long walk; proper walking boots plus waterproof trousers are far better, with a spare pair of socks in your rucksack. Add a small towel and a plastic bag for the sodden ones. If you can, finish at a spot where they can paddle properly rather than stand shin-deep in a bog.

Packing for four seasons in one afternoon

British weather will not respect your plans. Pack for cold, wet and sun all at once, and keep the load light enough that you don't resent carrying it.

• Waterproof jacket and trousers for everyone, including the adult.
• Spare socks, jumper and trousers for the youngest.
• A fully charged phone and a paper map or downloaded offline map of the route.
• Water bottles — more than you think — and a flask in winter.
• Plasters, a small first aid kit, suncream, hats and gloves in the same bag all year round.
• A headtorch if there's any chance of being out later than planned. There usually is.

Suncream in February sounds ridiculous and isn't. A clear winter day on a hillside will burn a child's face just as efficiently as July.

Keeping the pace up without nagging

Boredom, not tiredness, ends most family walks. Head it off with a few reliable tricks:

• Snack stops on a timer. Small handfuls every twenty minutes beat one enormous lunch. Boys who are "starving" are usually just bored.
• Giving them the map. Even a rough one. Let them navigate a leg, spot the next stile or choose the path at a junction.
• Running games. Count red cars, collect five different leaves, spot three birds of prey. Or simply: whoever reaches the gate first picks the next snack.
• Letting them lead. Boys walk faster at the front, and they learn to read the ground rather than the back of your coat.

The picnic payoff, and getting home without a meltdown

Choose a route with a genuinely good stopping place — a flat rock by a waterfall, a summit, a beach, a fallen tree wide enough for four. Eat there, let them potter for half an hour, and you'll buy yourself a much happier second half.

Two last bits of advice. Turn back before you think you need to. The walk that ends with everyone still smiling is the one they'll agree to do again next weekend. And finish with something — an ice cream, a hot chocolate, a bag of chips — that becomes part of the ritual. Do that a few times and you'll have children who ask to go out rather than being dragged.