EPISODE 10: Adventure as a Family — How Rob & Kristin DeCou Are Raising Wild Kids, One National Park at a Time
What does it look like to make adventure a core family value — not just a vacation, but a way of life?
In Episode 10 of the Social Adventures Podcast, host Jeff Hester sits down with Rob and Kristin DeCou, longtime members of the Six-Pack of Peaks community, to talk about their extraordinary mission: visiting all 63 U.S. National Parks as a family before their son Hudson turns 18.
With two kids (ages 7 and 9), a roof tent, and a shared belief that the best memories are made in the wild, the DeCous have already checked off 56 parks — and have the stories to prove it. From swimming across the Rio Grande into Mexico at Big Bend, to watching bison roam at sunset in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, to blowing two tires simultaneously at the top of an 11,000-foot peak — this family has figured out that adventure isn’t always pretty, but it’s always worth it.
👤 About Rob & Kristin DeCou
Kristin DeCou first found the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge while living in Los Angeles, and quickly became a community ambassador. Rob is a veteran ultra-endurance athlete — Leadville 100 finisher, Race Across America participant, multi-sport competitor. Once kids entered the picture, hiking became the perfect bridge between his athletic drive and family time. Together, they’re the Wild Parks Family.
🗺️ What We Talk About
How It Started Kristin discovered Six-Pack of Peaks in LA and roped Rob in immediately. She still remembers the finishers party on October 6, 2019, where she met Jeff — and walked away wanting more. Rob found that hiking with his family was the ideal way to channel his endurance background into something they could all share.
The National Parks Mission The vision was born in Acadia in 2016, while Kristin was pregnant with Hudson. Three big family goals: visit all 63 national parks, take an around-the-world trip, and take on a major endurance challenge together. (The Camino de Santiago — 500 miles — is already in the books.) They’re now at 56 of 63, with the final seven all in Alaska. The plan: Alaska Airlines miles + renting out their home to fund the last push by 2027.
Raising Outdoor Kids Hudson (9) and Claire (7) have grown up on the trail. Claire calls herself “the climbing queen.” Hudson’s third-grade goals for 2026 include visiting Australia and going skydiving. Rob wants them to remember the hard, beautiful moments that “get at your heart.” Kristin wants them to carry adventure as part of their identity — not something their parents forced on them, but something that became their own.
The Screen Time Solution Tablets in the car, not in the parks. That’s been their rule for four years and it works. The first summer on the road, it was educational apps only. Now the kids get a bit more latitude — but when the car stops, the screens stay behind.
The Junior Ranger Program Kristin’s top family tip: the Junior Ranger activity booklet, available at every National Park site. It’s paper, not a screen, and it keeps kids genuinely engaged with what they’re seeing. Pair it with scavenger hunts, mile-marker snacks, and a little friendly sibling competition and you’ve got a recipe for a full hiking day. (Hudson walked the Manitou Incline at age 5 for the promise of candy at the top.)
Stories That Stick The best moments often happen outside the park gates. Hudson’s favorite memory from three weeks in Alaska? Watching a bald eagle return to its nest above their KOA campsite in Seward, dropping a freshly-caught salmon to its eaglets — water dripping, right overhead. Not on any map. Just life, happening.
Other stories in heavy rotation: swimming across the Rio Grande at Big Bend to “touch Mexico” and back, then riding donkeys into a Mexican border town the next day. Watching bison fill the plains at sunset in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in what Rob described as a moment that felt like stepping back hundreds of years.
The Double Flat at 11,000 Feet On the way to Bryce Canyon, the family detoured to Cedar Breaks National Monument — and blew both tires on the gravel summit road. Rob convinced a tow truck driver to come that day. The family popped the roof tent, played Uno, and cooked hot dogs. “There is always a way,” says Kristin. And there was.
Advice for Families Who Want to Start Start local. Find your minimum viable adventure — what can you do this month? Ask the kids what they want. Cast a bigger vision together. Then design your life to make it happen: rent your house, take the extra work, save the miles. Tell everyone your goal and watch who shows up to help.
💬 Memorable Quotes
“When I’m 70 or 80, what are the things I’m going to regret not doing? Most of it is the things you regret not doing.” — Rob
“Our daughter told a friend: ‘I’m the climbing queen, and our family is the Wild Parks family.’ And to me, that is everything.” — Kristin
“We blew both tires at the top of an 11,000-foot peak. So we popped the roof tent, played Uno, and cooked hot dogs.” — Kristin
🔗 Connect with Rob & Kristin — The Wild Parks Family
- 🌐 wildparksfamily.com
- 📷 Instagram & Facebook: @wildparksfamily
🏔️ Join the Social Hikers Community
- Take on a Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge: socialhiker.net
Responses