My first hike with my 4-month-old son was a fiasco. He wailed so loud on our Connecticut adventure, the reverberations echoed to the Metro North train station 40 minutes away in Fairfield — for which we promptly departed, dare we miss the 6:15 p.m. express and endure this any longer.

While I can’t promise you there’s a better result (because, well, they’re babies), I can tell you I’m grateful for the lifelong memory. Whether taking your tiny tots or teens on the trails, it’s always worth it. It may require extra grunt work and gear, but that’s where experts are here to help.

Before you’re out the door, double-check your packing job. “Bring everything you need for hiking, pack snacks, check the weather and get your kid(s) excited about the experience,” Andrew Koehn, a camping specialist a

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