Bike Your Park with Kids

September 12, 2018

There’s no need to leave the kids or grandkids home during Bike Your Park Day on September 29. Enhance your Bike Your Park Day experience by sharing bicycling and your love for the outdoors with a child in your life.

Whether the child sits in a bike trailer, bike seat, or they ride a tag-along bike, strider bike, a bike with training wheels, or their own two wheels, it’s easy to participate in Bike Your Park Day with little ones. Check out the Get Inspired page for more resources on planning your family ride. 

Bike Your Park Day can be whatever you want it to be.

• Get there your way: You can ride to your favorite public land if it’s nearby, or you can drive or take public transportation and ride once you get there.

• Choose your distance: You can ride any number of miles that suits your family’s needs — the point is to get everyone on a bicycle to explore a nearby park or public land. 
• Take it slow: Slow down along your ride and stop to read interpretive signs with your children to learn about historic sites or the natural world.
• Urban parks count too: Explore your city in a new way by bicycling to an urban public land like a national monument or historic park.

• Be a steward: Complete a kids’ ranger program or participate in a National Public Lands Day service project with your child during ride breaks.
• Explore with them: See the park from the seat of your bicycle and through the curious eyes of a child.
• Be safe: Before you go, check your bike to make sure the tires are filled with air and the brakes work. Kids and adults should wear a properly fitted helmet. If you’d rather not share the road with vehicles, seek a separated bicycle/pedestrian path or find a car-free day. If you do ride with traffic, wear bright colors and make eye contact with drivers.

• Enter your national parks at no cost: The Every Kid Outdoors initiative offers your fourth grader and your entire family free entry into parks. Participants of National Public Lands Day on September 22 will receive fee-free coupons to use to enter your park for free on Bike Your Park Day or another day.
• Pack a picnic: Avoid a meltdown by packing enough water and the right snacks. Turn your nibbles into a lovely roadside picnic. Stopping for ice cream is also a requirement after a ride with or without kids.
• Be flexible: Know that you may need a plan B if your kids get too tired. It’s okay to turn around early, seek a shuttle service, or spontaneously stop for ice cream. As your child goes on more bike adventures, he or she will get stronger and more interested in riding longer distances.

Not sure where to start when planning your Bike Your Park Day ride? Here are some examples of family-friendly Bike Your Park Day rides, open for others to join, ranging from 5 miles to 25 miles. Join an existing Bike Your Park Day ride on the interactive map or get inspired to plan your own and register it at BikeYourParkDay.org.

• Family Overnighter to Elora via Guelph, Elora Conservation Area, Ontario, Canada
• Flood Family Adventure, Caloosahatchee Regional Park, Florida, United States
• Ma, Pa, and Kids, Travelers Rest State Park, Montana, United States

Now join a ride or design your own adventure and be sure to register it for free at BikeYourParkDay.org.

Photo 1 by Meg Whicher | Photo 2 courtesy of Lassen NP | Photo 3 courtesy of Jamie Bianchi | Photo 4 by Saara Snow | Photo 5 by  Kevin Winzeler.