Minnesota Mom Inspired to Start Outdoor Club

Pioneer Press – October 31, 2008
By Maja Beckstrom

Jodi Hiland wants you to get off the couch and out into nature. The Newport mom has started an informal outdoor club for families called Happy Trails in the hope of getting more families outdoors. Each free event features a short hike, some unstructured play and a bonfire.

"As a mom, I know families get really busy," says the stay-at-home mother. "Life can pass you by and suddenly you haven't gone outside and it's been weeks or even months. I'm hoping that by having a regularly scheduled event, it will make it easier for people."

Hiland and her sons, ages 3 and 4, check out destinations in advance. The club was inspired by Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods" and is loosely modeled on a popular family nature club in Roanoke, Va., called the Kids in the Valley, Adventuring.

The first Happy Trails event last month was a success, Hiland says.

"There was one woman with a daughter with Down syndrome who said, 'I can't get her to walk,' and here she walked with all the other children the whole way," Hiland says. "Then we stopped for a while and the kids managed to find trees to climb with low branches and boulders to scamper on and they built forts."

Their next hike will be from 10 a.m. to noon today at Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield. For more information, check happytrailsclub.net.

ShareThis