One of the keys to helping your kids enjoy hiking and look forward to future excursions is to pick kid-friendly, fun hikes. But knowing how to find these hikes isn’t always easy.
Kids love hiking trails that are interesting, exciting, or challenging. If you can find trails that keep them interested, they are more likely to enjoy hiking and want to go again. If you are hiking with kids, you should look for trails that are short, interesting, and safe.
Over the years, I have found that all of my kids enjoy hiking when I choose certain kinds of trails.
Choosing the Best Hiking Trails for Kids
It can be hard to know what hikes and excursions will be the most fun and interesting for kids, unless you have actually visitied them. Online reviews and maps are helpful but only give you part of the story. To add to the frusteration, kids are all unique and a trail that one kid loved might frusterate or bore another child. However, we have found that there are a few types of trails that seem to appeal to most kids, and now we focus most of our hiking efforts on these kinds of trails. Once you understand the kind of things that kids like doing on their outdoor excursions, it will become easier to find the hikes they like. Here are the types of hikes I look for:
1. Wildlife Hikes
Kids are naturally curious and interested in a lot of things. For many kids, nothing is more interesting than animals. Hikes where kids can see wildlife will naturally be high on the list of favorites. Of course, some wildlife is best seen from the safety of your vehicle. You should never get close to wildlife or move toward it. Here are the wildlife safety tips from the National Park Service.
Anhinga Trail, Everglades National Park
The Anhinga Trail is one of our favorite hikes for seeing animals. We saw turtles, alligators, and many different birds including cormorants which we could watch swimming underwater as they fished. Whether or not you will see a lot of wildlife can depend on the weather and time of year when you visit, but this is one of the most likely places to see animals out of all the parks we have been in. For the best luck, visit on a sunny, warm day when the reptiles are likely to be out basking.
Kalaloch Beaches, Olympic National Park, Washington
The Kaloloch and Ruby Beaches along the coast of Olympic National Park are among the best places to see tidepool creatures. The recommended beach, and the one we visited, is Kaloloch Beach 4. You can access this beach from Highway 101, where there is a large parking lot and restrooms. While there isn’t a designated hike here, once you access the beach simply walk north through the sand until you get to the large rock formations where you will find tidepools. If you want a longer hike, you can continue along the beach indefinitely.
Homassasa Springs Wildlife State Park, Florida
This state park is unlike any other I have been at before. While it feels in many ways like a zoo, it isn’t actually designed for that purpose. This state park is the home of rescued Florida wildlife that can’t be safely released back into nature. You can also see wild and free animals here, including birds and, if you visit during the winter, wild manatees that travel up the river to enjoy the warmer spring water. Unlike many Florida state parks, Homossasa Springs has an underwater viewing center where you can spot wild fish and manatees. The trail around this park is one of the best places to see Florida wildlife, and it’s sure to keep your kids entertained for several hours. (Note: This park is more expensive than other Florida State Parks. Visit the website for current prices.)
2. Hikes Where Kids Can Play in the Water
Water is unendingly fun for kids. Many adults also enjoy hiking near water, so this is a win for everyone. If you can find a hike where your kids can play in a creek, look for animals in the water, or go swimming, they will have fond memories of the experience. This is especially nice as the culmination of a long hike on a warm day!
Many kids also enjoy waterfall hikes. Waterfalls that kids can get close to, or even get into, are the most fun, of course, but a lot of kids also enjoy simply watching waterfalls, enjoying the power and beauty.
Hell Hollow, Leroy Township, Ohio
This out-of-the-way trail leads down a lot (a lot!) of stairs to a creek-side trail where the shallow water slides over flat shale pieces and gravel. Our kids played and splashed for a few hours, cooling off on a hot summer day. This hike is short and more of a destination than a journey. It’s a great place to play in the water though! Click here for more information.
County Line Ski Trails, Grand Mesa National Forest
This forest has hundreds of lakes, campgrounds, and backroads surrounded by both maintained and unmaintained trails. Many of the ski trails (which we wander in the summer) lead to small lakes, reservoirs, and creeks which my children have enjoyed splashing in many times. Some areas with shallow lakes and creeks are near the County Line Trailhead and the Ward Lake Trailhead. These areas are both located conveniently right off Highway 65. These are not manicured, maintained trails and together there are hundreds of miles of trails that loop, crisscross, and twist through the forest. If you go here, make sure you know how to navigate in wilderness areas.
Sougahoagdee Falls, Bankhead National Forest, Alabama
This is the best area we have been to for waterfalls. The forest is large and scattered with areas with houses, so it’s not a wilderness like some national forests. However, it has many waterfalls, and several of them are large. One of the best trails is the path to Sougahoadee Falls. This trail wanders past several waterfalls on the way to the main event at the end of the trail. It’s easy to think you have arrived and miss the large fall, so don’t stop until you reach the place where there’s a fall involving the main river (Capsey Creek), rather than tributaries. If you like waterfall hunting, northern Alabama is the place to visit. This site has details on some of the falls.
3. Hikes that Have Interesting Things to See
Other interesting hikes are also fun for kids. Hikes such as those where you can see petroglyphs walk through rare and strange plants, such as saguaro cactuses, or which involve historic structures can be interesting for kids. Many national parks contain hikes that are interesting simply for the uniqueness of the area. Walking through fields of twisted lava, along bubbling mud pots, or through towering groves of redwoods is fascinating. Hiking to see archeological sites like those found in Mesa Verde National Park, or to a fort, ghost town, or old farm can also be more interesting than a hike that is just about the scenery.
Stout Grove Trailhead, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California
If you want to amaze your kids, take them to the Stout Grove hike in Redwoods National and State Parks. Not only will they get to see towering redwoods that are still standing, but they will also experience the size of the trees up close as the trail winds between fallen logs that have been cut to allow passage. They can see the rings in the trees and how thick the logs are (taller than the adults!).
West Thumb Geyser Basin Trail
This trail in Yellowstone is a good place to see most of the different forms of hydrothermal features that are found in Yellowstone, including hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles, and geysers. (Although you are unlikely to see an actual eruption of a geyser in this area, as most of them are dormant. Visit a regularly erupting geyser for that.) Take the short .5-mile West Thumb Geyser Basin Trail loop to see all the different features and enjoy the beautiful backdrop of Yellowstone Lake. Although this is a short trail it took us around an hour because we stopped at so many interesting features.
Echo Canyon Trail, Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona
The Echo Canyon Trail is a great place to look in wonder at towering rock formations. The trail winds in, around, under, and through the rock formations and the view is great, as well. From the trail, you can see several directions at different times, and the view often falls over other more distant fields of formations. The biggest disadvantage to this monument is how out-of-the-way it is. However, if you are traveling through southern Arizona, Chiricahua National Monument is worth the drive.
4. Kids Like to Be Challenged When Hiking
Kids of all ages love to be challenged. How extreme the challenge will, of course, depend on the child’s age and personality, but in general, a hike that involves climbing, tree-walking, or scrambling up steep places will be one that kids enjoy. Many hikes in mountainous or rocky areas have places where kids can “rock climb”, or scramble up boulders and rocky slopes, relatively safely and easily. Walking along logs or stepping-stone rocks to cross creeks feels adventurous to kids, while exploring canyon areas and along creek beds is also entertaining.
Sentinel Dome, Yosemite National Park, California
The hike to Sentinel Dome is especially fun for kids who enjoy a challenge. The hike travels about 1 mile through the woods on a mountain slope. Along the way, there are a few boulders and roots that will need to be navigated. The hike culminates on top of Sentinel Dome itself, a large rounded rock dome overlooking Yosemite Valley. While the rock itself is perched on the edge of the valley and bordered on several edges by several-thousand-foot cliffs, it is very large and it is easy to enjoy the top without venturing near the edge. The top of the rock is flat, and our kids enjoyed climbing on the boulders and exploring (while staying near us and far from the edges of the dome).
Bar Island Trail, Acadia National Park, Maine
This trail goes across a sand bar from the town of Bar Harber to Bar Island. The Bar Island Trail is fun for kids because it can only be accessed during low tide. The potential of being stuck on the island was a great feeling of adventure and risk for our kids! (Even though the risk was very low- there is a three-hour window when the bar is accessible.) The hike starts in town with a walk across the gravel bar and concludes at an overlook near the top of the mountain on the island. Besides the excitement, the bar also offers an interesting assortment of ocean creatures such as snails, left on rocks and in pools when the water recedes. We even saw several small seastars.
Zumwalt Meadows Trail, King’s Canyon National Park, California
The Zumwalt Meadows Trail in King’s Canyon National Park allows you to travel past the edge of a grassy meadow and then along the bottom of a ridge where you will encounter large boulders and fallen rocks. Kids love the challenege of scrambling over rocks and across (not-too-large) boulders. Most of the trail doesn’t actually require climbing over rocks, but the path does lead between and around many large boulders, which amazing and entertained my kids, and which they enjoyed using as a nature-made playground. This trail used to be a loop but flooding has caused part of it to be closed. The remaining trail has become an out-and-back hike about a mile long. You can turn back at any point or continue on by taking a connecting trail to Muir Rock.
5. Finding Educational Hikes
There are tons of ways to make hiking educational without making it feel forced, but some hikes lend themselves more naturally to this. Hiking in historic areas is a good way to make the trek interesting as well as educational. Read signage, either aloud, or to yourself if your kids are young, and then explain a bit about it to them. Another good educational hike is to find nature trails with information and labels. Some kids enjoy learning interesting facts about plants and animals along the trail.
Cactus Gardens, Saguaro National Park, Arizona
Nature trails are one of the best ways to learn about new environements. Rather then learning from a book or movie, nature trails allow you to study and learn about native plants and animals right at the source. Two such areas are the Cactus Gardens (located next to both visitor centers in Saguaro National Park) where children and adults can learn about the strange desert-dwellers of Arizona, including many different types of cactus, reptiles, and birds. Signs help to identity different plants and help you learn more about the park. This is a great place to sketch the amazing plants of the area if your children enjoy this type of activity.
Fossil Exhibit Trail, Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Combining several of the things kids like into one short hike, the Fossil Exhibit Trail is a boardwalk and a loop that will teach you and your kids about the fossils found in the area. The path is lined with informative signs, hands-on features, and imagination-inspiring pictures of fossils and ancient creatures. This .25-mile trail is a good way to stretch your legs when you are driving the Badlands Loop Road but is so short that it can hardly be called a hike.
Fort Pulaski National Monument, Savannah Georgia
There are several trails and paths on the grounds surrounding Fort Pulaski, including the perimiter trail which allows the closest viewing of the battered walls of the fort itself. Children enjoy imagining the fort full of soldiers during a raging battle, and will be able to see the fort better and get out their wiggles while wandering the trails outside. One of the most fun activities here involves counting the shells remaining in the walls-look closely! They can be hard to spot. You can also see the area where the wall was repaired with newer brick. Along with walking around the outside of the fort, be sure to also visit the inside where you can see huge cannon, barracks, and bricks created by slaves with their finger marks still embeded, a sobering reminder of the past.
6. Why Boardwalks and Loop Trails are Good Choices
Why do I recommend boardwalk and loop trails so often? Kids simply like these kinds of hikes. Unlike the other hikes, boardwalks and loops aren’t really about the things you will see or do on the walk. Rather, they are more about the trail itself.
Boardwalks are just what they sound like- a long boardwalk, usually over water or swampy areas, where you walk rather than walking on the ground. Boardwalks are always favorite hikes with all my kids, and if there are boardwalk trails available at a national park or other destination, we nearly always take advantage of them. Boardwalk trails are usually shorter hikes, less than a mile, and are usually over water. This means we often take them slowly, peering into the water at regular intervals.
Loop trails are hikes that do not travel to a destination and then require you to return via the same route. With a loop trail, there often isn’t a specific destination, such as a waterfall or view, although there can be. My kids enjoy loop trails a lot, mostly because they know they will be seeing something new all along the way. My 9-year-old son consistently asks at each hike “Is this a loop?” because he loves them so much.
Bog Walk Boardwalk, Lake Bemidji State Park, Minnesota
The Bog Walk is a short boardwalk in Lake Bemidji State Park in northern Minnesota that allows hikers to see rare plants, including carnivorous plants such as pitcher plants and sundew, as well as wildlife and birds. These bogs are fragile and important environments and the boardwalk allows people a chance to see the unique area without damaging it. You will have to cross a road and walk about a mile before you get to the quarter-mile boardwalk. Children may get more out of the Bog Walk if they learn about carnivorous plants before they visit. While there are informative signs along the way, they may be hard for young children to understand.
Cypress Swamp Boardwalk, Highland’s Hammock State Park, Florida
Highland’s Hammock State Park has several interesting boardwalk trails through the swamp and forest. The water levels fluctuate throughout the year, so each time you visit might be different. We enjoyed the Cypress Swamp Boardwalk, which includes both a traditional boardwalk as well as a narrow, one-sided “catwalk” section. This area was enticing for our kids because of both the perceived danger (the water is very shallow, so there is no real threat) as well as the novelty and the chances for spotting wildlife. We’ve seen alligators, several different types of turtles, various birds, as well as snakes and lizards. This boardwalk is appropriate for children old enough to follow instructions and hold onto a railing.
(Note: The catwalk portion of the trail is closed for repairs, but the boardwalk area is still accessible.)
Hidden Valley Nature Trail, Joshua Tree National Park, California
The Hidden Valley Nature Trail is a great place to see desert plants and geology, as well as enjoy an easy walk. This 1-mile trail loops around Hidden Valley, a unique area surrounded by towering rock walls. The sandy path is mostly level but has just enough areas of rock scrambling to keep the kids interested. The story behind it will also interest them: It is said that is was once the hideout for a gang of cattle rustlers. There is a picnic area at the trailhead where you can have a snack or take a rest.
