37 Fun Things to Do on a Hike or Nature Walk (Dos & Don'ts)

What else can I do on a hike besides walking and looking at the scenery?

Hiking and going on nature walks are fun outdoor activities one can do alone or with companions, such as friends, family, or a romantic partner. However, while some people are satisfied with just walking and taking in the beautiful views around them, others wonder what they can do on a hike or nature walk to make their outdoor adventure more fun.

Since you’re here, you probably have the same question. And this article has got you covered. We will provide a list of fun things you can do on a hike or nature walk to entertain yourself, connect with nature, bond with your hiking companions, learn new things, protect the environment, and create great memories. Read on…

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Fun Hiking Activities for Adults and Kids

Watch the sunrise

Plenty of people prefer starting their hiking adventure in the early hours of the morning before the sun becomes too hot. If you do this, you get the opportunity to watch the sunrise. As the sky lights up, marvel at nature’s beauty and enjoy the feel of the sun warming up your skin.

Listen to the sounds of nature

Our everyday lives are often filled with noise from automobiles, electronic devices, people, and more. When on a nature walk or a hike far away from civilization, it’s quiet.

As you walk in silence, enjoy listening to the sounds of nature such as birds singing, trees swaying in the wind, small animals moving around in the bushes, or the ocean waves crashing into the shore, among other nature sounds.

Breathe in the fresh air

The quality of air at home or outdoors in the city can never come close to that of air found in forests. The trees act as natural air filters through the process of photosynthesis. Take in the fresh outdoor air while hiking.

Take in the view in silence

Most hikes involve going to places in higher elevations, such as mountains and hills. Depending on where you are going hiking, there are a lot of things to see on the trail.

Appreciate nature’s beauty by taking in the view around you. Look at the mountains, vegetation, cliffs, waterfalls, lakes, rivers, the sky, towns in the valley, and more things you can see from your vantage point.

Try to identify flora and fauna

You’ll come across many different species of plants and animals. Have fun on your hike trying to identify the flora and fauna. Phone applications such as iNaturalist and the PictureThis app can come in handy while hiking.

Take pictures and videos

Documenting your journey through pictures and videos is one of the fun activities you can do on a hike alone or with friends and family. They can be pictures of yourself, your group, or the things you see while hiking.

There is so much to see and take pictures of while hiking, from the various spectacular landforms in the landscape to things such as wildlife, sunsets, trees, wildflowers, waterfalls, the ocean, and more. A lot of these also provide beautiful backdrops for your photos.

Take pictures and videos to capture moments on the trail and preserve your memory of this experience. If you’re alone, bring a small portable tripod stand.

Sing quietly

Though most people recommend hiking in silence so you can immerse yourself in nature, you may want to entertain yourself while hiking, especially if you’re alone.

Singing quietly or humming are some of the fun things you can do on a hike or nature walk. You can do it whether you’re alone or with friends and family.

You could sing songs from your favorite genres or opt for marching songs to motivate each other as you hike. Remember to keep your voices down.

Play games

There are many games you can play on your hike with friends and family, or even alone, while walking on the trail or at rest stops.

Some fun games for adults and kids to play while hiking include Nature Bingo, I Spy, 20 questions, Would you rather, nature trivia, geocaching, pranks, jumping rock to rock, Guess the plant, orienteering, and more.

Tell stories and jokes

Hikes are often a great opportunity for friends to meet and have fun together. Entertain yourselves by catching up on each other’s lives, telling stories and jokes, and talking about your past hiking experiences.

Smell the wildflowers

Though the main character syndrome is often considered bad, have a main character moment while on your hike by stopping to smell the beautiful wildflowers. Ensure no bees or other bugs are in the flower before smelling it.

Do some trail maintenance

Even though the trail you’re hiking on may already have people responsible for maintaining it, you can help clean it up and keep it in good condition. For instance, you can improve the trail by assisting with small trail maintenance tasks such as picking up any trash you find on the path, in campsites, and at picnic spots.

Additionally, you could help keep other hikers safe by collecting thorns, sticks, or stones on the trail and placing them farther away. Leave the trail cleaner and safer than you found it.

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Climb trees

You’re most likely hiking in a wooded area. Use those trees as entertainment on your hike.

Climbing trees is one of the fun activities you can do while hiking alone or with friends and family. Both adults and kids will enjoy this activity. Some people do it to get a better view, while most do it just for the fun of it.

If you want to climb trees on your hike, avoid accidents by looking for sturdy, non-slippery trees, not climbing too high up, and avoiding trees whose branches start too high up.

Birdwatch

Birdwatching is one of the main reasons a lot of people go on nature walks or hiking. Though you could use your natural eyes for this activity, it is best to bring a pair of binoculars for a better view. Bring a good quality camera to take pictures of the birds as well.

Try to identify the birds you see using your knowledge, or install applications such as the Merlin app to help identify birds using their sounds and pictures.

Count your steps

Besides nature sounds, the sound of your footsteps may be the only other kind of noise you can hear when hiking alone. Use your footsteps as a form of entertainment.

Even though there are many apps and wearables that help you keep track of your number of steps per day, you can manually count your steps when hiking. For example, you could count 1 to 50 several times on a hike in order to entertain yourself, distract yourself from anxious thoughts, and make the hiking time seem shorter.

Listen to music

The sounds of nature are great to listen to, but at some point, one may want to get rid of the near-silence and desire to listen to something else while hiking.

Listening to music is one of the fun things you can do on a hike or nature walk, especially on the way back. It will feel like you have an accompanying soundtrack on this adventure.

However, though it is okay to listen to music while hiking, don’t do it the entire time, and don’t plug both your ears. Leave one ear out in order to be aware of your surroundings to avoid potential dangers such as falling trees, mudslides, flash floods, criminals, or encounters with wildlife like moose, bears, snakes, deer, and others.

It’s also good to not plug one ear so you can know when bikers or runners are behind you on the trail, or to be able to hear when other hikers are in distress.

Listen to podcasts

There are podcasts for nearly every topic. If you’re hiking alone and want to entertain yourself, get rid of loneliness, and feel like you have a companion, listen to a podcast on a topic of your choice or look for ones hosted by people sharing their hiking experiences.

Some people even prefer listening to true crime podcasts while hiking, saying they keep them on high alert and motivate them to pick up their pace.

Similar to listening to music, listen to podcasts with one ear free of headphones or earbuds in order to stay aware of your surroundings.

Listen to an audiobook

Besides music and podcasts, audiobooks are other things you can listen to on a hike (with only one ear). It could be an audiobook on any genre you like, or you can opt for ones on the local plants, wildlife, geology, and culture. It would feel like you have a guide while hiking.

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Go shore fishing

Many people combine hiking with fishing, especially if they’re traveling through areas with open water bodies like public lakes, rivers, and oceans. It’s a fun activity one can do alone or with companions.

On your hike, you’ll need to bring a fishing kit with items such as a fishing rod and reel, bait, a knife, as well as a storage container for your catch. It might be challenging, but it will also be fun and relaxing.

Catch only enough fish for your needs. Note that some places require you to have a fishing license, so check for the rules and regulations in your hiking area.

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Go for a swim

If you’re walking in areas with water bodies such as lakes, creeks, rivers, or oceans, going for a swim is one of the fun activities you can do on a hike. Ensure the water is safe to swim in before getting in.

Stop for a picnic

Some people prefer to eat their hiking snacks on the way, while others like to save the food and eat only after arriving at the final point before starting the journey back home.

Whatever your preference is, stopping for a picnic to eat snacks while surrounded by nature is one of the fun activities to do on a hike or nature walk alone or with family and friends.

Find a great spot that gives you a nice view of the landscape and set up your picnic. Sharing food is a bonding opportunity, and the food will give you the energy to complete the hike.

Pick wildflowers

Need some flowers for your vases at home, or for a romantic partner? When on a hike, save the money you would use to buy flowers by picking wildflowers along the trail. They smell good and will elevate the aesthetics of your space or show someone you love them.

You can also pick wildflowers to put behind your ear or in your hair as an accessory, or to use in making a beautiful flower crown, bracelet, or necklace.

However, before picking some, ensure you follow local laws and guidelines about picking wildflowers in the area you’re hiking. Avoid picking too many flowers or picking from endangered or rare plant species.

Forage for food

Our ancestors used to forage for food. Try this experience while hiking. Foraging for wild food to snack on on the way or bring back home is one of the fun activities you can do on a hike.

Research what edible wild plants you can find in the area you’re hiking in different seasons and at what altitudes, as well as how to identify them. Depending on your location, you may find edible plants such as mushrooms, nettles, sorrel leaves, wild nuts, Mountain Bluebells, wild onions, dandelions, as well as various types of berries and other wild fruits.

Before eating anything in the wild, ensure it’s not poisonous or contaminated. This book by Steve Brill can help you identify edible and medicinal plants in the wild. Avoid any rare or endangered plant species and don’t over-harvest in any particular area. Take just what you need.

Forage for healing herbs

Wild medicinal plants are a good find when you’re in the great outdoors. If you know how to identify them and need them, forage for herbs on your hike. They’ll enable you to take your health and wellness to a new level and save some money on regular medicine.

Many of the wild plants with medicinal properties can also be considered food. Look for plants such as jewelweed, elderberries, stinging nettle, yarrow, dandelions, and wild carrots, among others.

Look up what healing herbs can be found in the area you’ll be hiking in advance, and whether there are rules and regulations about picking them.

Draw or paint the landscape

Nature has so many things that can inspire your next art project. If you have time to spare, make stops to draw or paint the things you see around you or have seen on your way. You could paint the mountains, waterfalls, trees, water bodies, and animals you’ve encountered.

Find a souvenir

Like any other travel destination, you should come back with souvenirs from your hike. Depending on where the hiking trail is and the things you can find on the way, you could bring back peculiar-shaped rocks, crystals, feathers, sticks, a wildflower to dry, pine cones, pebbles, seashells, foreign currency coins, and many more things.

Do outdoor yoga and meditation

Doing mindfulness activities such as yoga and meditation outdoors while breathing in fresh air, surrounded by nature and natural light, has many health benefits. Besides helping to calm your mind, these mindfulness practices also ground you and make you feel more connected with nature and your inner self.

For the meditation, you can stop to do it while sitting quietly or do a walking meditation to ensure you’re still making progress on your hike or nature walk.

Make new friends

Perhaps you joined a hiking group trip for a particular trail. If you don’t know anyone in your group, don’t feel lonely or awkward. This is an opportunity to make friends with a shared interest and goal.

Making friends is one of the fun things you can do on a hike. Participate in activities and confidently start conversations to get to know the people with whom you’re going on this amazing adventure.

Learn new things

Hiking is a learning opportunity. You get to have fun while also gaining knowledge and skills. For instance, you will likely learn how to identify various wild plants and animals, the local geology, and more about the local culture and traditions.

You’ll also gain important skills such as navigation, tent setup, cooking, fishing, survival, and how to be a team player.

Talk to your dog

If you brought your dog on your solo hiking adventure, get rid of loneliness and entertain your pet by talking to them.

Bringing your dog along gives you a companion to talk to, makes you feel safer, strengthens your bond, and lets your dog explore the outdoors without much restriction.

Talk to yourself

You don’t need a companion in order to speak out loud. When hiking alone, entertain yourself by talking to yourself.

It doesn’t have to be about serious topics. You could act like you were recording a vlog (or actually record one) of your experiences, or talk to yourself explaining what you see and do to no one.

You could also be your own cheerleader, giving yourself motivation to keep on going and not give up on the hike.

Do some self-reflection

Being alone with your thoughts while hiking or going on a nature walk gives you an excellent chance to do some self-reflection. You could check in with yourself to see how you’re feeling, evaluate your life decisions so far, determine what matters to you most, identify your strengths and weaknesses, outline your hopes and dreams, and come up with a plan of action for after the hike.

Exercise

If you have the energy, incorporate exercise in your hike or nature walk. You could do simple exercises such as jogging and squats, or use natural items such as rocks, logs, trees, and ground inclines as your workout equipment. Do not overexert yourself, especially if you still have a ways to go or are on a difficult hiking trail.

Daydream

Have you ever hiked at a particular beautiful place and felt like you’d stepped into a fantasy-adventure movie? Some hiking trails have really magical views and features that make you daydream about being in some fantastical movie setting.

As you hike, have fun fantasizing and visualizing yourself as a character in one of your favorite fantasy-adventure movies/TV shows, or as the main character on a quest in an entire new movie from your imagination.

Watch the sunset

Since most hikes involve going up to higher elevations, you will have a breathtaking view of the sunset. Take a moment to watch as the sun disappears over the horizon while lighting up the sky with brilliant hues of yellow, orange, red, and pink.

Camp for the night

A lot of people combine hiking with camping, making the experience even more fun. Select a secure campground, set up your tent, start a fire, and engage in fun night camping activities such as sitting around the fire, cooking, talking, playing musical instruments, telling jokes and ghost stories, skywatching, dancing, playing games, singing, and more.

You can start your journey back early the next day or explore the nearby areas, play team bonding games, and laze around the campsite sunbathing, napping in a hammock, or reading a book before heading back home.

Regret your decision to go hiking

Even people who love hiking regret their decision to do it at some point on their hikes, especially when they’re exhausted, the weather is bad, or the terrain is difficult. Seeing your car at the end of the hike is a lot of people’s best part about a hike at that particular moment.

If you find yourself regretting your decision to go hiking, realize it is just part of the hiking experience. If your reason for the regrets is not that you’re in danger, most of the other challenging hiking experiences will likely be worth it, will provide misery to bond over with companions, and will create great memories.

Though you may be regretting your choices right now, it will be so rewarding when you reach your final hiking point. You’ll later look back on this adventure fondly when you remember the experience.

Plan your next hiking adventure

If your hike is going smoothly and you’re having fun, don’t you want a repeat of this adventure?

Planning your next hiking trip is one of the fun things you can do when on a hike alone or with friends and family, especially on the way back. You may want to try a different hiking trail, hardship level, or season.

Things You Shouldn’t Do While Hiking in the Name of Fun

Do not make too much noise
Do not wander too far from the trail or take shortcuts
Do not stack rocks along the trail, as it can be misleading to other hikers and could injure them
Do not leave a trace, e.g., no littering, no carving on tree bark, etc.
Do not step on fallen logs. You could lose your footing and fall, plus they may be rotten or have snakes inside
Do not get left behind by your group or guide
Do not eat any plants or berries you’re unfamiliar with
Do not feed the animals (depending on the guidelines)
Do not overexert yourself
Do not disturb animal habitats like bird nests or burrow holes
Do not engage in risky activities in the name of fun, or for views and likes on social media

Final Thoughts

Are you ready to go on a hike or a nature walk? Make these already great outdoor activities more enjoyable and rewarding by including the above activities on your list of fun things to do while hiking or going for a nature walk.

Have fun exploring, marveling at nature’s beauty, and making great memories while leaving no trace!

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Read more articles from Aisles of Life here.

Fun Hiking Activities for Adults and Kids

Things You Shouldn’t Do While Hiking in the Name of Fun

Final Thoughts

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