By: Kait Christmas
**This post contains affiliate links that generate revenue for the Colorado Hiking Moms community.
Welcome to mud season aka spring hiking!
Spring is a time for new beginnings and is long awaited during the darker winter months. As the days grow longer and the temperatures rise, the snow on the ground begins to melt and most places will usually start to see frequent rain storms or showers.
All of this extra moisture will go on to nourish new plants and budding flowers, but also tends to create pretty muddy ground conditions. Hiking in the mud can pose several challenges such as slippery conditions, trail erosion, and more, so it’s important to know how to hike during mud season to ensure your safety, as well as the environment’s.
Here are a few things to consider when hiking in mud:
Leave No Trace states that when hiking on muddy trails, it is best to walk through the mud, rather than around it. When you walk in the middle of the trail through the mud, you are simply deepening the trail instead of widening it. This helps to prevent erosion and damaging the land surrounding the trail.
Always pay attention to trail closures (more on that later), but if you come across a particularly muddy section of a trail while hiking, remember that the only way out is through.
Depending on where you are hiking, mud can turn to clay and be really hard to remove from boots or clothing. Choosing footwear that allows you to hike in muddy conditions, like rain boots or snow boots, and then simply spray them off afterwards is usually a good option.
Here are some brands of rain boots that we love for kiddos:
Keep the Littles Wild (a Colorado Mama owned shop)
Stonz
Reima
It is also not a bad idea to dress toddlers and small children in rain gear that can also be easily cleaned after the hike, and keep them dry if they happen to fall into the mud, or decide it’s time for some messy play in the middle of the trail. Springtime usually brings about some unpredictable weather, at least on the Front Range in Colorado, so rain pants or suits can be a great addition to your spring hiking gear to ensure you and your littles stay warm and dry!
Bringing traction, like microspikes and trekking poles, with you on all hikes in the fall, winter and spring is always a good idea - even if you don’t think you’ll need them. Shaded areas tend to stay frozen during the day or refreeze at night, so even with warmer day time temperatures or muddy trails, expect the possibility of some icy sections. If you’re hiking with kids, it’s best to be as stable as possible to help them through.
Most recommended Microspikes by the hikers in Colorado Hiking Moms: Kahtoola
Trekking poles can also help to stabilize you through muddy hiking conditions, as they tend to get slick and slippery, especially on an incline.
Many heavily trafficked park systems along the Front Range will close down trails, or sometimes entire parks due to muddy conditions. This is for your safety, as well as protecting the trails and ecosystems they occupy. When people walk on the drier ground to the sides of the trail, they trample fragile vegetation and will actually start to widen the trail. It also costs our park systems time and resources to repair trail damage due to deep ruts created from boots, hooves, bike tires, etc when the mud hardens.
If you plan to hike in a certain area, but pull up to a trail or park closure sign, please respect our park rangers and trails, and find a new place to hike for the day or pick another activity.
Some parks and county managed trail systems will use social media to update visitors about trail conditions, so as a part of responsible hiking, check trail conditions before heading out.
A few popular foothills county Instagram pages to stay updated on muddy trail conditions:
City and County of Boulder Open Space
Larimer County Natural Resources
If you are visiting a state or national park, you could always call the park office directly to ask for trail conditions or check online for their social media pages.
We’re all itching to get outside and soak up the spring weather, but remember that we are creating the next generation of hikers, so teaching them proper safety and caring for the land we all love to recreate on is key to enjoying hiking for many years to come.
Happy hiking!