When we started going on weekly hikes, we’d skip that week’s hike if it happened to rain Thursday morning (our designated hiking time). As time has progressed, we’ve gathered rain gear and become more consistent with our hikes, regardless of the weather. We’ve found that hiking in the rain can be fun!

It’s drizzled during a couple of our hikes, but until last week, we’d never gone on a hike where it rained the entire time. Last week it was raining when we started, it was raining as we hiked, and it was raining when we got back to our car.

We met a friend and her son and hiked about a mile to a swimming hole on the edge of Shenandoah NP that she had hiked to before with her family. The trail was great- not super steep or rocky, though I wasn’t prepared for the stream crossing. The kids were wearing sandals (we love our Keens!), but I’d opted for my running shoes since they’re more comfortable than my sandals (the downside of wearing orthotics for fallen arches), so I was trying to keep my feet dry.

Ocean had no such desire, and he tried to climb upstream at the crossing. Since I didn’t want to ruin my orthotics by submerging them in the water, I tasked Sunshine with retrieving him. He wasn’t happy at being pulled out of the water. He loves water in all its forms!

When we got to the swimming hole, the kids had fun wading in the water, though it was too chilly for actual swimming. We’ll definitely go back to play in the water when it’s warmer. The trail continues past the swimming hole, and I’d like to return soon and see where it goes. The leaves are just starting to change, so it should be a beautiful hike if we go in the next few weeks.

After everyone was thoroughly soaked, we headed back to the cars, making the return trip faster than the outbound trip as we all looked forward to drying off a bit and warming up.

Back at our cars we did our best to dry off the kids and get them warmed up. As we worked, I thought about how I could have been better prepared for this situation.

4 Tips for a Fun Hike in the Rain with Kids

1. Wear your rain gear

We actually keep our rain jackets and the boys’ trail suits in the car, so that wasn’t the issue. But we discovered that trail suits aren’t waterproof if you’re wearing sandals rather than rain boots. Ocean managed to collect quite a bit of water in the legs of his trail suit as he waded in the water. River didn’t want to wear his trail suit and opted for his jacket, which isn’t very waterproof at all. He regretted that when he was wet and cold.

Rain boots would have kept their feet dryer, but they’re not much fun for hiking in. And it seemed pointless to wear them since we were going to a swimming hole. While we have hiking boots, they’re too low cut to tighten the ankles of the trail suits around them. We’ll see how wet the trail is next time before making a shoe decision.

My rain coat needs to be replaced- it’s only waterproof for a little while, then I start getting wet. It works great as a windbreaker, but its waterproof qualities are wearing off.

2. Keep towels in the car

We didn’t have any towels to dry off with, so I need to put some old towels in the car for emergencies. I used a corner of our denim picnic blanket to dry Ocean off a bit, but a towel would have been more effective. The rest of us relied on the car heater to warm us up and dry us off.

3. Have some dry clothes to change into

My friend had spare clothes in her car for her son, and I need to start doing that as well. It wasn’t a big deal to drive home while wet when the weather was warmer. Now that it’s getting cooler, though, we don’t want to sit around in cold, wet clothes.

4. Put rain covers on our packs

Sunshine and River didn’t have their packs on this hike, but I did and it got wet. I left my good camera at home because I didn’t want it to get wet, and that was definitely a good decision on my part. Some waterproof covers for our packs would keep everything dry, including the spare layers that we really should be carrying with us, especially as the weather gets colder. These look perfect for the kids’ packs– the extra straps will keep them on their small daypacks. And this cover will fit my Mountainsmith Lumbar pack just right.

What have you found helpful to have on hand in wet weather?