We hike with our daughter quite a bit. We have kids on our trips and what we do with kids is we call it just what it is - a kid's trip. We design a day hike or an overnight hike that kids are really going to enjoy. Maybe there is some water. It's in the summer time. There is some water involved so they get to play in a stream, go swimming or something like that. We don't try to make it a forced march or anything very lengthy depending on the kid's age, of course. If you have really young ones, you want to make it really enjoyable or you don't want them to hit the wall and next time when you say you are going to go hiking they all groan. Fun is what it's about and if you have a little knowledge of the area you can expose them to some great things. You can all put your noses up to a Ponderosa or pine tree and it smells like butterscotch. If you study that area just a little bit, you will be able to add a lot of value and interest in the natural and cultural history.
