(tone chiming) - Hey, I'm Jayarr.

And on this season of "Trail Mix'd," I'm gonna take you around, under and through Arizona.

Join me in my quest to see the best trails that Arizona has to offer, from the iconic spots to the hidden gems.

Along the way, we'll be diving deep into what makes Arizona's trails some of the best in the world.

So, come on, let's take a hike.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music slows) While getting out in nature can be enjoyable on its own, there's no better way to enjoy the outside than with your family.

Children see the world in such a unique way, taking time to notice the things we adults sometimes miss.

Today, I get to explore the world with my 7-year-old daughter in Pinetop.

Then later, we'll join some new friends of ours to enjoy a gorgeous hike just outside of Phoenix.

We'll also chat with a children's health expert about how to get your kids started on their first hike, no matter what age they are.

But first, welcome to Pinetop.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] "Trail Mix'd" is made possible in part by a gift from Sue and Bill Ahearn.

(upbeat music continues) Additional support provided by- - [Announcer] SRP is staying ahead of the valley's growing energy needs.

We are investing in one of the country's largest solar battery storage projects to deliver power that's as reliable as it is sustainable.

- [Announcer] Whitfill Nursery, proud to support Eight Arizona PBS, a valley tradition since 1946.

Over 200 acres of Arizona-grown tree, citrus and palms, complete custom design and installation, and Whitfill Nursery still does the digging.

Whitfillnursery.com.

(gentle serene music) - [Announcer] Arizona, you never cease to amaze us.

From your determination to your resiliency, both individually and as a community.

Because of you, the Arizona Lottery can use its resources to help make our state stronger, from supporting small businesses to protecting Arizona's most vulnerable people and giving hope to future generations.

Paving the way for a better tomorrow, for our better tomorrow.

- [Announcer] And by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you, thank you.

(birds chirping) (screen whooshing) (gentle serene music) (screen whooshing) - Located centrally in Pinetop Lakeside, Woodland Lake Park is a fantastic place to spend the day with your family.

With plenty of amenities, including play areas, walking paths, sport fields, ramadas, lots of room to boat or fish, and miles of hiking paths connected to the lake, there's an activity for everyone.

Hello, today we are hiking around Woodland Lake and I have a special guest with me.

This is my sun in the sky, my greatest creation ever.

- Nia.

- What's one of your favorite things about hiking?

- Well, that the fact that you get to be outside in nature with your friends or family.

- And that's exactly what we're doing today.

We're gonna spend some time in these beautiful pines.

Are you ready?

- Yep.

- Well, come on.

Let's- - Take a hike.

- You can take my line any time.

(gentle serene music) (birds chirping) What's usually here in these signs?

- I think, like, activities to do.

- Yeah, every time we've come here before there's been instructions for fun things to do for families in between each sign.

But since they're not here today, which is totally cool, that gives us a chance to come up with our own.

- Ooh.

- Do you have any ideas for any activities we can do until we can hit the next one?

- Leapfrog.

- Yeah?

You wanna do leapfrog?

- Yeah.

- I'm really big, so you're gonna have to really leap the frog.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

With you, it's a little different.

I can just go, but you're really gonna have to bullfrog it.

You got it?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Oh gosh.

Okay.

All right.

My turn.

So we gotta do this all the way to the other one, you ready?

- Yep.

(Jayarr grunting) - It can be hard for kids to focus on walking a trail.

Making a game out of it can help little minds stay engaged.

Woodland Lake Park has activity signs that get swapped out regularly to help inspire you.

You can pick activities that challenge your children physically, build their brains, or connect you emotionally.

We did it.

(hands banging) Okay.

So sign number two.

What do we... Hmm.

What if...

Okay, this would be a good time for us to rest.

What if we tell each other one of the dreams that we've had recently till we hit the next one?

- Okay.

- You cool?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

I'm gonna take a moment to breathe so I can actually talk.

(gentle serene music) (birds chirping) - Okay, so once I had this dream and I was in a cage with a tiger, the tiger was nice.

- Mm.

Thankfully.

- But then there was these sides with leaves.

But once I walked through one of the sides without leaves, I could get through.

But the tiger couldn't for some reason.

- Oh boy.

Scary.

- Ooh.

I have an idea of what we should do next.

- What?

- Let's do a race.

- A race?

- Yeah.

- Alright.

Just like a sprinting race?

- Yeah.

- Do you want a head start or?

- Yes.

- Yeah?

- Yeah!

- How much of a head start?

- Um, like- - Like to where?

- To, like, that pole right there.

- Okay.

Alright.

So you wanna do a three, two, one?

- Yeah.

- A three, two, one, go?

- Yeah.

- Alright.

You ready?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

Go ahead.

Count it off.

- [Nia] Three, two, one, go.

(dramatic music) (dramatic music continues) (dramatic music intensifies) (dramatic music continues) - No, no, no, it was 'cause of the bag.

It was 'cause of the bag.

My pants were falling down.

Yeah, it's just, I had all types of things going on and I just, I was struggling there.

How'd you do?

- I did fine, but Daddy!

- What?

What?

(Nia chuckling) - You know, you always lie.

- I'm always lying?

I was lying about the bag and my pants?

- Yeah.

- If you look... Look, we can run, do the instant replay and I'll show you.

I was running with my pants up and this bag was flapping like this.

(Jayarr chatting indistinctly) No, no.

(bell chiming) No.

(Nia chuckling) This is not fair.

I'm carrying our water.

I'm at a disadvantage.

I'm at a disadvantage.

- Well, it's fair because you're always taller than me and you have longer legs.

- Yeah, you're right.

That's why you got the head.

That's why you got the head start.

You're right.

- I still win.

- You did.

You won.

Since we've been moving so much, what about a meditative walk where we just are silent and just enjoying nature?

- Okay.

- You wanna take a few deep breaths before we start?

Here, come, we'll line up.

All right.

A few deep breaths, three, two, one.

(Jayarr inhaling) Eyes closed, nice and relaxed.

Deep breath.

(Jayarr inhaling and exhaling) One last one, deep.

(Jayarr inhaling and exhaling) Okay, you ready?

Here, let's do hands.

Okay, silence.

(gentle serene music) While activities can help keep your child engaged, don't be afraid to just take a moment to guide your child in how to relax in silence and enjoy the moment.

Both meditation and spending time in nature have been shown to reduce anxiety in kids and adults.

(gentle serene music continues) (gentle serene music swells) (gentle serene music continues) (gentle serene music continues) (gentle serene music continues) (gentle serene music swells) (gentle serene music continues) (grass crunching) (gentle serene music) Okay, and here we are.

How was that?

- Good.

- Did you have your eyes closed most of the time?

- Yes.

- Me too.

But I was kind of like, I was, like, opening them just a slit just to make sure I wasn't crashing us into a tree.

(gentle serene music continues) While we were in Pinetop, I stopped to ask Kathie Whitney, a pediatric nurse practitioner, if she had any health tips for hiking with kids.

- So I take care of kids every day.

I do everything from checkups to sick visits, to mild injuries, to giving guidance on how to be a healthy kid.

- What is the best age to introduce 'em to hiking.

- You can actually introduce kids really at any age, even small infants.

They can be worn, they can be put in a stroller.

So young babies to teenagers and everything in between can absolutely be introduced into hiking.

- So how would I introduce my son or daughter to hiking?

- Just explaining to them, "Hey, hiking is nothing complicated.

Hiking is simply walking outside and enjoying nature.

And it is fun."

Talking about, "What do you wanna see?

What are you interested in?

What wild animals can you imagine that we could see here in the White Mountains?"

And making it fun of, "Let's do an activity starting there and then building up."

Kids need, school-age kids up through teenagers need about an hour of exercise, physical activity every single day.

So encouraging kids in a fun way to pique their interest, to show 'em how beautiful our state is, because from top to bottom, Arizona's pretty immaculate.

We're pretty lucky to live here.

(upbeat curious music) - I had an idea, what if we pointed out plants and animals that we saw till the next section?

- Ooh, okay.

- You know what I mean?

Any plants, any animals we see.

- Okay.

- Alright.

I'll help you up.

(Jayarr chuckling) All right.

You ready?

- Yep.

- Alright.

What do you see?

Big rock.

Does that count?

- Yes.

- That counts as a plant or an animal?

- Tree.

- Okay.

Tree.

Pine cone, does that count as a plant or an animal?

- It's a plant.

- What about the human animal?

I see a lot of humans on the trail too.

(Nia chuckling) - Um.

- Grass everywhere.

Grasses.

Very easy.

- Patch of flowers.

- Yeah.

Do you know what type of flower that is?

- I think daisy.

- I think, yeah 'cause the daffodil's the one you blow and it'll go everywhere, right?

- [Nia] Yeah, but daisies don't have purple stuff under the petals.

And those ones have- - Yeah.

- stuff under the petals.

- Animals.

Remember that bird we heard earlier that was like- - [Nia] Yeah.

(Jayarr mouth popping) - Sounded like somebody was cracking open a soda bottle.

(Jayarr mouth popping) Never heard a bird like that in my life.

- Me neither.

- Oh, big bird.

Huge bird right there.

Huge bird.

- Big, big, big bird.

- You see it?

- Yep.

(Jayarr laughing) - Big bird, tiny bird.

- There's a big bird on the tiny bird.

- Ooh, little bird right there, right there.

Little bird.

Right on that tree.

You see 'em hopping?

- Yeah.

- Eh, they get so close to us here.

I think they're comfortable with humans.

- Hey, Dad?

- Yeah.

- [Nia] That plant kind of looks like a vegetable.

It kind of looks like cabbage.

- [Jayarr] Do you remember seeing this plant?

- [Nia] Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Do you remember what the name is?

- Lamb's-ear?

- Yes, lamb's-ear.

Good job.

- [Nia] Aw, geese.

I hope they don't hiss at us.

- [Jayarr] No, I don't think they will.

That'd actually be kind of funny if they did.

You're my little baby goose.

- [Nia] No, I'm your baby kitten.

I'm your kitten.

You're my dad cat.

(Jayarr chuckling) - So what's next?

- I'm tired.

Can we sit over there on that bench?

- Yeah.

You want a snack?

- Yeah.

- All right.

Let's see what we got.

Daddy came prepared.

You know, water and food snacks are vital for being on trails.

- With snacks, we wanna go healthy, more natural snacks.

So things like apples, oranges, fruit that you can pack, granola bars, nuts, stuff like that that's gonna be natural sugars and natural energy that's gonna be more sustained.

The problem with more sugary things, a candy bar, things like that's gonna give you that instant burst, then you're gonna crash.

So you want something that will give you sustained energy.

- That makes sense.

Like, a fibrous fruit takes your body longer to extract the sugar out, that's the idea, right?

- Exactly.

- But something like a drink pack that's 30 grams of added sugar, it's like (bomb crashing) it's just all of it at once.

- You feel great for- - Yeah.

- about 30 minutes and then you're done.

- So how do you manage water for... How old are your kids?

- [Kathie] My kids are five and eight.

- So how do you pack water for them?

- So I always say, pack more water than you think you need.

On a day-to-day, especially in Arizona, our kids, our younger school-age kids need about three, four, five cups of water a day.

So comparing that to like the plastic water bottles that we get from the grocery store, two cups in each of those water bottles.

So my oldest could easily go through two to three of those bottles.

And then the bigger that we are, the more water we need.

- Yeah.

- We need more when we're active.

So if we're doing a strenuous hike and sweating, we're losing more water.

So pack more water than you think you need.

- That's actually less than I would've thought.

So just one, like, a regular water bottle?

- Uh-huh.

- Wow.

Okay.

- For a little kid.

- Yeah.

Right, right.

- For a 5-year-old- - For the 5-year-old.

- they need about one to two of those a day when they're not being active.

- Got it.

- So we need, as an adult, when you're not active, two liters or four of those a day.

- Thank you so much, Kathie, for chatting.

- Yes.

- I feel more prepared.

Yeah.

And you have such a calming energy.

I feel good to bring my little human on the trail for sure.

- Well, it's great to be here.

Thank you so much for having me.

(gentle serene music) - We've made it to the last marker.

And we have one final activity to do.

- Can we put our rocks out?

- Yes, we can.

These things are getting heavy, please.

Woodland Lake Park has a neat little feature called Sadie the Rock Snake.

It's a huge line of rocks that stretches a surprising length along the path.

You can bring a rock you've decorated and leave a little memory at the park.

What'd you paint on yours?

- I painted a donut.

- Okay.

And I have a peace bird wanting peace for the world.

We've been to this place multiple times.

We love Pinetop so much, and it's just really nice to finally leave our mark.

We've never actually brought painted stones.

So the next time we come, you'll have to keep an eye out for your- - Donut.

- Yeah.

And thank you as always for hiking with us at the Woodland Lake Loop.

We had an amazing day, beautiful wind, beautiful nature.

Anything you wanna say to the people?

- And we'll catch you on the next trail.

- There you go.

You killed that.

Pinetop, I've learned a lot here and you've been a wonderful escape from the heat.

But now I think it's time to say goodbye and head back down to the valley.

(gentle serene music) (screen whooshing) If you're located in Phoenix and Pinetop is just a little too far of a trek for you, I've got just the place.

Tucked away at the northern edge of Cave Creek is a stunning 26-acre preserve.

It's a desert oasis where tall cottonwood and willow trees grow alongside one of the few perennial streams left in Maricopa County.

It's a wonderful place to get away.

Take in some wildflowers or just cool down in the creek.

(gentle upbeat music) Welcome to Jewel of the Creek Preserve.

To learn more about the preserve, today I spoke with Vicki Preston, the president of the Desert Foothills Land Trust.

Desert Foothills Land Trust.

So we are on a land trust right now?

- We're on a land trust preserve, yeah.

- For the uninitiated, what exactly does that mean?

- I know, right?

That's the question of the day.

It's a question we get often.

Desert Foothills Land Trust, like many other land trusts, we're a nonprofit organization and our main goal is we work with landowners to help protect the most special places that make our desert so unique.

So places just like this, the Jewel of the Creek.

(screen whooshing) (upbeat music) (icon popping) (upbeat music) (screen whooshing) (upbeat music) (icon popping) - The Jewel of the Creek Dragonfly Trail is a fantastic place to introduce your kids to hiking.

(upbeat music) Named for the dragonflies that buzz around its banks, the Dragonfly Trail is a shady oasis filled with greenery fed by the waters of the creek.

On today's hike, I brought Nia and invited our new friends from AZFamily Guide.

- [Guide] So we start right here.

- Hey, what's up man?

Tyler?

- Tyler.

- And Shelby?

- Yeah.

Hey.

- Hi, good to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Good to meet you.

- And who do we have here?

- Aviana.

- Aviana.

Good to meet you.

- Lincoln.

- Lincoln?

- Lincoln.

- Hey, good to meet you.

Low five, high five, middle five, space five.

Can you make it?

Space five.

Put your rocket boots on.

And you guys, I have my daughter here, Nia.

Nia, everybody, this is Nia.

Nia, this is everybody.

- Hi, Nia.

- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.

- Hello.

- It's our hiking crew for the day.

Today, we'll be hiking the Dragonfly Trail at the Jewel of the Creek Preserve.

Come on, everybody.

Let's take a hike.

Let's go.

(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music continues) As a family, what do you guys get from hiking and getting outdoors?

- [Tyler] Well, we don't claim to be health or exercise experts, but we like to get the kids outside, get 'em in tune with nature, see this beautiful state.

You know, today's society, it's all about screen time and games, which is fine, but we like to have a little happy medium, if you will.

And this is the best way to do it living in Arizona, you know?

- [Jayarr] Yeah.

It's good to find that balance.

Like soon as you vilify a thing, like screen time and completely shut it out, and that just makes them want it more.

- Yeah, for sure.

I also think just hiking with us, like it really gives us good quality family time without, like, a lot of distractions from other things.

- But the best distraction is, oh my gosh, there's a deer.

- There's deer.

Yeah.

- It's real nature.

- [Shelby] Mm-hmm.

(gentle upbeat music) (footsteps crunching) (gentle upbeat music) - [Jayarr] This place is gorgeous, isn't it?

(chuckling) - [Aviana] Hey, I'm pretty sure we're getting closer.

I can hear the water.

- Oh, awesome.

- Oh yeah, I hear it.

- [Tyler] I hear it.

I hear it.

- [Jayarr] What direction do you think it is?

- [Aviana] I think it's that way.

- [Tyler] Is that where it's coming from?

All right, let's check it out.

- Lead us.

- Lead us the way.

- Come on.

(gentle upbeat music) (people chattering indistinctly) (gentle upbeat music continues) (gentle upbeat music continues) - Ooh, look at these.

- I know.

These Saguaros are beautiful.

- Super tall.

- They're so tall.

- All right, Lincoln, this one right here, this big tall one.

How old do you think that cactus is?

How many years do you think that's been on the planet?

- Like 100 years.

- That might be right.

A cactus that tall could be anywhere from 100 to 300 years old.

How old are you?

- Four.

- [Jayarr] Okay.

So how many of you is that?

A lot, right?

- A lot.

- [Jayarr] Yeah.

All right, you guys wanna see what's next?

- Yeah.

- There's Saguaros everywhere over here.

- This feels soft.

- And they're so healthy.

- [Jayarr] So what was the one of the longest trails you guys have done as a family?

- So the longest trail that we've done with the kids is a trail in the Superstition Mountains.

I would say it was a little over three miles altogether.

- How was that for them?

- Oh, it was so beautiful.

Great views, little elevation.

And they did great.

- Little explorers.

- Yeah, they are.

- They have good examples, huh?

- Yes.

- There's abandoned mine.

- What?

- Ooh.

- Oh, okay.

- It says, stay out, guys.

Stay out!

- [Nia] Wait a minute.

Wait, Dad, can we go look in there?

- [Jayarr] Well, read the sign.

What does the sign say?

- It says, "Stay out."

- [Jayarr] Can you tell us a little bit about some of the mines that are on the trail?

- Yeah, so we have at the Spur Cross parking lot, there's the Phoenix Mine, and then a little bit further downstream, we have the Maricopa Mines.

So those are two pretty large mines in the area.

And in fact, the very first town called Lisgum was basically right up top here.

And it was formed because of those mines.

So there's a lot of history around the mines here.

Of course, those are off trail.

We don't encourage the people to go into those, they're not safe to go into.

But just learning more about the history of the mines and, you know, the kind of North Valley gold rush we had back in the day is pretty fascinating.

(upbeat music) (fingers clicking) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music intensifies) - [Shelby] Oh my gosh.

Let's go over there and play, Lincoln, look.

- Wait.

- Oh yeah, we made it.

- [Aviana] Wow.

This is beautiful.

- [Tyler] Yeah.

Really nice.

(upbeat music) - Wow.

- It's like a beach.

- It's like a beach.

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Jayarr] What are you guys' go-to trail snacks.

- We stick with like protein bars, chips, we'll even make sandwiches, bring those, you know, whatever is, like, good for the kids.

- Let's talk about stuff that's not good, though.

What's the naughty stuff?

'Cause you gotta bring some naughty stuff, right?

- Yeah, we'll pack, like, these little gold chocolate coins.

- Yeah.

- Every now and then I'll throw one on the trail and he'll find it.

- Find treasure.

- Yeah.

- Can't restrict them from everything, right?

- Right, even us, 'cause we grew up eating the same stuff, drinking the same stuff, so.

- [Jayarr] What are some other hikes that you guys enjoy to do?

- In Arizona, a couple of our favorite hikes have definitely been Water Wheel Falls in Payson.

That is- - That's cool.

- Yeah.

That is so fun.

We also really enjoy Sedona, so going outside Grasshopper Point and Oak Creek.

- Oak Creek is beautiful.

- Yeah.

Yeah, we love water trails.

- [Jayarr] Yeah, I think the water hikes are important for kids, 'cause as you can see- - Yeah.

- Like, they're good.

- Yes.

- They're so good.

And they would stay here easily for two to three hours, you know what I mean?

- Oh, yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

While the parents kinda collect themselves.

But let's be honest, like, you know, even as a kid, I'm sure like the idea, it just, it seems boring the idea of just walking- - Right.

- but then if you know you're going to a waterfall or a swimming hole- - Exactly.

- it becomes so much more exciting.

- Yeah, so if there's either, like, a water destination or a summit, it's so much easier with kids than just like a regular hike.

(bright upbeat music) (Lincoln screaming) (bright upbeat music) - A part of our mission, aside from the actual land conservation, is finding people a way to connect to nature.

Because what we do is really preservation of our desert.

And people protect what they love.

And so if you're not giving people opportunities to fall in love with the desert, the work we do is forever.

So we need to make sure we're passing that torch of conservation onto the next generation.

So getting people outside, getting them immersed in the desert really helps us with our perpetuity.

- You know, what I noticed is this trail has a lot of young people on it.

So I think that that mission will definitely be fulfilled by this accessible trail.

- Absolutely.

My favorite thing is coming out here and seeing families.

You know, as we talked about, part of our mission is connecting people to nature.

I love seeing kids off of tablets.

They have literally the world in front of them to just play and explore.

And so it's one of those things for me, it's like a mission moment.

It reminds me of what it is we're doing.

- As I went through both Woodland Lake and Jewel of the Creek with my daughter, I was deeply reminded of how important it is for us as adults to get out in nature, but also for us as our children's guides, to get them outside and remind them how important it is to reconnect to the outdoors.

No screens, no cubicles, no desks, just us spending precious time with our families.

AZFamily Guide, you guys have been amazing to hike with.

To the little ones, thank you so much for joining us.

It's been really cool to meet you, Lincoln.

And to you as always, thank you for hiking with us and thank you for joining us on the Dragonfly Loop Trail at the Jewel of the Creek Preserve.

And as always- - [All] We'll catch you on the next trail.