The Get Outdoors blog keeps telling me hiking is in decline. (Numbers down at Yosemite, for example.)
If so, perhaps we need to do more to get kids on to trails as they are doing in New Zealand:
Hut and campsite fees for children and young people aged under 18 will be free from July next year on New Zealand’s nine Great Walks, including the Whanganui Journey. …
Conservation Minister Chris Carter announced the initiative on the Abel Tasman Coast Track today, on the eve of this year’s Conservation Week (August 6 –12), the theme of which is outdoor recreation.
besthike.com 
The side of me that wants the next generation to discover the joys of tramping and the need to preserve New Zealand’s forests thinks this is a great idea.
The side of me that is planning to do a couple of the great walks next summer, and doesn’t want to face a hut packed with rowdy kids, is less enthused. Ah well, they were going to be crowded anyway…
http://loveinatent.blogspot.com