6 Great Day Hikes in Washington State

Fog rising from moss-covered tree trunks on Hall of Mosses Trail.

Wilderness Peak Loop
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park
The Wilderness Peak Loop, a circle of connecting trails, serves as nice summer jaunt through the forest for kids. The 3.6 miles of trails sit on the southeastern side of Cougar Mountain – the nearest of the Issaquah Alps east of Seattle – in Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park.

Hall of Mosses Trail
Olympic National Park
Hikers can walk among the greenest places on Earth on the Hall of Mosses Trail at Olympic National Park. The trail runs 0.9-miles round trip through the park’s famous Hoh Rain Forest. A popular trail, it can be crowded, even in summer when humidity levels can make the air feel thick.

Best trails for seeing North Cascades' sites
Among the best ways to see North Cascades National Park’s top sights is via a day hike. Just four short trails will allow you to enjoy each of the park’s highlights – glaciers, an ancient Native American travel route, an alpine landscape, and mountain lakes.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

6 Great West Coast Day Hikes

Olympic National Park rainforest

Olympic National Park’s rainforest
Much of Olympic National Park consists of temperate rainforests. While not hot like a tropical jungle, Olympic receives plenty of rain – in some areas as much as 14 feet a year – and so is extremely wet and green, creating forests unlike any other in the United States.

Annie Creek Trail
Crater Lake National Park
Some 7,700 years ago, Crater Lake National Park was the sight of incredible destruction, as lava and ash flowed from the southern Oregon volcano. Today, it’s the location of a clear blue lake surrounded by lush greenery. Kids will love hiking the verdant side of this extinct volcano on the Annie Creek Trail.

Alder Creek Trail
Yosemite National Park
Day hikers can enjoy a walk through a forest of stately cedars and sugar pines on a spur of the Alder Creek Trail in Yosemite National park’s Wawona area. The 1.5-mile out-and-back trail is a spur leading to the lengthy Alder Creek Trail, which heads into the Yosemite backcountry to an impressive 100-foot waterfall.

Day hiking trails in Los Angeles area that kids will love
Are there any good day hiking trails for kids in Los Angeles? There are more trails than you know ... despite being a sprawling an urban area, nature areas with hiking trails actually abound.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

14 Great Day Hikes in the Mountains

Chimney Tops at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ten must-see sights at Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so large that unless you spend years there, you won’t see all it offers. So when you’ve only a week or so to visit the park, what are the absolute must-do sights?

Alpine Ridge Trail
Rocky Mountain National Park
If you’re looking to prove your mettle, you may want to hike one of Rocky Mountain National Park’s shortest trails. The 0.6-mile round trip Alpine Ridge Trail gains 300 feet while sitting at an altitude of 12,000 feet above sea level, where there’s significantly less oxygen than most of us are used to. Because of that, the route through the alpine tundra appropriately is nicknamed Huffer’s Hill.

Hidden Lake Overlook Trail
Glacier National Park
Day hikers stand a good chance of spotting the rare marmot on the Hidden Lake Overlook Trail at Glacier National Park in Montana. Though several species of marmots exist across the globe, in the United States their range is limited to mountains of the northwest. The result is very few Americans ever see the marmot.

Jenny Lake Trail
Grand Teton National Park
Day hikers can walk along a tranquil blue lake with some of the most impressive mountain views in the United States as a backdrop on the Jenny Lake Trail in Grand Teton National Park. The 6.5-mile trail wraps around the world-famous lake at the base of the snow-capped Teton Mountain Range in northwest Wyoming. 

Rancheria Falls National Recreation Trail
Sierra National Forest
A 150-foot high waterfall awaits day hikers at the end of the Rancheria Falls National Recreation Trail in California’s Sierra National Forest. The 1-mile out-and-back trail (2-miles round trip) sits high in the Sierra Nevada, south of Yosemite National Park. For those wishing to avoid Yosemite’s crowds, the Sierra National Forest offers a nice alternative from June to October; the trail typically is closed the rest of the year due to heavy snowfall at the 7200-foot elevation.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

13 Great Day Trails in the Mountains

Leigh Lake and Mount Moran Grand Teton National Park

Several entries lead to cool Great Smoky Mountains hikes
A vast, sprawling park covering 816 square miles, Great Smoky Mountains National Park offers a number of access points and sections. You'll find great mountain trails near every one of the entrances.

Milner Pass Trail
Rocky Mountain National Park
Day hikers can place their feet on both sides of the Continental Divide when hiking the Milner Pass Trail at Rocky Mountain National Park. The 4.1-mile one-way trail makes for a long round-trip hike, but the route can be shortened or treated as a point-to-point trail.

Four Mile Trail
Yosemite National Park
Day hikers can view almost all of Yosemite Valley’s famous landmarks from above via the Four Mile Trail. The trail runs from the Yosemite Valley floor to Glacier Point – but rather than make the steep ascent that will be impossible for most young children and backbreaking for parents carrying them, instead hike the 4.6-mile trail backward from the Glacier Point rim to the valley floor.

Leigh Lake Trail
Grand Teton National Park
Families can day hike alongside two alpine lakes on the Leigh Lake Trail at Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. The 2-miles round trip segment described here heads past crystal blue lakes through green pines with gray Mount Moran soaring in the background. Most of the segment passes String Lake, but the trail ultimately ends at its namesake, Leigh Lake.

Swiftcurrent Lake Loop Trail
Glacier National Park
A scenic stroll around a high mountain lake awaits day hikers on the Swiftcurrent Lake Loop Trail at Glacier National Park in Montana. Flat and full of great views as well as wildlife, the 2.9-mile loop – made up of segments of three other trails – is perfect for families with children.

BONUS: Day hiking trail maps for Great Smoky Mts.
No one ever should hit the trail without a topo map. Here are topo maps for three day hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks series.

Seven great national park sunrises, sunsets

Sunrise at Acadia National Park in Maine.

The following article originally was written for the June Coach-net newsletter.

Nothing quite so effectively displays Mother Nature’s beauty than a sunrise or sunset, those few moments each day when the world shines golden and with incredible serenity.

Some of America’s best sunrises and sunsets can be seen in her national parks. They range from the where the morning light first touches America each day to romantic sunsets over tropical waters, from the subtle signal for a million bats to begin their day to incredible sunrises over the continent’s deepest chasm.

Here are seven must-see sunrises and sunsets at our national parks.

First sunrise at Acadia National Park
Day hikers can walk to one of the first spots where the sun touches America each morning via the South Ridge Trail in Maine’s Acadia National Park. The trail is a 7.2-miles round trip to the top of Cadillac Mountain, which is the highest summit on the Eastern seaboard. Though the hike would be done in the dark, with moonglow and flashlights, the trail is traversable. Acadia’s ancient granite peaks are among the first places in the United States where the sunrise can be seen. Be sure to bring a blanket to lay out on the cold rock and take a seat looking southeast.

Gold-lined paths at Bryce Canyon
Fairyland really does exist – it’s smack dab in southcentral in Utah, where a maze of totem pole-like rock formations called hoodoos grace Bryce Canyon National Park. Hoodoos are unusual landforms in which a hard caprock slows the erosion of the softer mineral beneath it. The result is a variety of fantastical shapes. Take the Queens Garden Trail, which descends into the fantasyland of hoodoos. When hiking during the early morning, sunrise’s orange glow magically lights the trail’s contours.

Bat show at Carlsbad Caverns
About 1 million Mexican Freetail bats live in Carlsbad Caverns. During the day, they rest on the ceiling of Bat Cave, a passageway closed to the public. At sunset, to feed for the evening, the bats dramatically swarm out of the cave in a tornadic-like spiral, their silhouettes stretching into the distant horizon. An open-air amphitheater allows visitors to safely watch the bats’ departure in an event called The Night Flight. The Chihuahuan Desert Nature Trail, a half-mile loop, also allows you to watch the bats disperse across the New Mexican desert.

Breathtaking light show at Grand Canyon
Among the Grand Canyon National Park’s most spectacular sights – sunrise and sunset – can be seen within walking distance of Grand Canyon Village in Arizona. While the South Rim Trail extends several miles along the canyon edge, you only have to walk to Mather Point, where views of the canyon shift like pictures in a marquee at both sunrise and sunset. Another great spot that’s a little less crowded is Ooh Ahh Point on the South Kaibab Trail, which is east of the village and south of Yaki Point. The aptly named Ooh Ahh Point is less than 200 feet below the rim.

100-mile views at Great Smoky Mountains
You can enjoy views of sunrises and sunsets covering up to a hundred miles on the Clingmans Dome Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At 6625 feet, Clingmans Dome is the highest point in Tennessee and along the Appalachian Trail, as well as the third tallest east of the Mississippi. A half-mile trip leads to the summit. How incredible are the sunsets? They can be crowded, as those hoping to photograph the stunning scenery line up 45 minutes before the sun descends.

Romantic sunsets at Biscayne National Park
A full 95 percent of Florida’s Biscayne National Park sits underwater, a turquoise blue paradise laced with vividly colored coral reefs – and nothing quite says romance like a sunset over this tropical ocean. Adams Key offers a quarter-mile trail from the dock through the hardwood hammock on the island’s west side; most of the route skirts the beach, where the sunset can be enjoyed.

Needles aglow at Canyonlands National Park
Clambering over boulders and ambling across strangely angled slickrock – and watching needles aglow at sunset – await on Canyonlands National Park’s Slickrock Trail in southeastern Utah. The 2.9-mile loop trail generally follows a mesa rim. Plan to walk the trail about an hour or so before sunset; on the final mile, tall thin rock formations called needles fill the horizon, glowing crimson as the sun sets.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Escape a forest fire when hiking when children

Forest fire in Angeles National Forest,
autumn 2009.

With global warming and current land management practices in national forests and parks, the threat of forest fires continues to grow, particularly in the West. Do not hike through any area where a forest fire is occurring, especially to “see” the fire. Besides being dangerous, it will be an unpleasant experience as you find smoke choking you.

Sometimes fires begin while you’re already on the trail. If you see or smell smoke (and it’s clearly not just a campfire), immediately return to your vehicle – presuming the fire isn’t between you and it – and leave the area. If you are cut off from your vehicle, find the quickest route to a road that is in the opposite direction of the fire and seek help.

If there’s no way to escape flames – and be forewarned that forest fires can move faster than you can run – lie face down on the barest patch of ground you can find and cover yourself with soil. Put your mouth to the soil, breathing through it rather than your nostrils or the air.

Read more about day hiking with children in my Hikes with Tykes guidebooks.

Door Trail: A great Badlands trail for kids

Door Trail at sunrise in Badlands National Park.

Hiking the Door Trail in Badlands National Park is like a two-for-one deal. The trail begins amid the prairie’s level and open grasslands. It ends in a bizarre menagerie of spires and domes encased by striped, twisting canyon walls.

The trail is located two miles northeast of the Ben Reifel Visitor Center on the Loop Road. Pull over in the large Door and Window parking area. The 0.25- to 0.75-mile trail starts in the parking lot’s northern end.

The Wall
Pavement covers the trail for the length of a football field, as grasses sway in the wind, rippling like ocean waves. Sometimes bison can be spotted. Be wary of prairie rattlesnakes that like to sun themselves on rocks or hide under bushes; so long as you stay on the trail, though, the chances of encountering one is low.

The trail remains easy until coming to the break in the Badlands Wall. This break is known as “The Door” – hence the trail’s name.

Nearly 60 miles long, the Wall marks the edge of a massive area of erosion that has left behind remarkable looking geological features. Three river systems, wind, rain and snow melt over the past 5 million years have carved out the Badlands. The Wall continues to be made today, at the rate of an inch a year.

Walking through the break is indeed like entering a new room and a bizarre one at that. The scene is otherworldy, even surreal, a sharp contrast to the prairie you’ve left. A quarter-mile boardwalk offers fantastical views of the Badlands.

Spur into the badlands
The trail technically ends past the wall, but a spur allows you the trek through a maze of rolling mud hills. Yellow signposts point which way to go, but they are not particularly high, making them easy to miss from a distance. Because getting off the off-beaten path is easy here, and given the steep drop offs, you’ll probably want to turn around if traveling with young children walking on their own.

If heading onto the spur, remain constantly aware of your location and don’t allow children out of sight. Also, make sure you wear good walking shoes as the ground is rugged.

You might be lucky enough to spot a fossil in these mudhills. If you do, report it at the visitor center. You may have just discovered an important new fossil bed!

The best time to visit the Badlands is in late spring or mid-September. Summers are oppressively hot and winters bone-chilling cold. Regardless of the season, expect wind. Afternoon lighting is best for views from the Door Trail.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Spots for kids to hike: national, state parks

National parks typically boast the region’s most stunning sights. Unfortunately, they can be crowded, and unless you live right next to one, it’s going to be a long drive. That may be fine for teenagers but may not be worth it for younger kids when you’ll spend more time on the road than the trail. In addition, long drives probably mean you’ll be staying overnight, often an expensive proposition.

If living near a national park or traveling cross country, by all means stop and hike through it. There will be a great variety of trails to choose from, and the scenery will make them highly memorable.

You’ll also need to pay an entry fee for national parks. If you plan to hike national parks regularly, you should consider purchasing a National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, which will get a noncommercial vehicle plus passholder and three passengers into any national park for less than $100 a year. Even less expensive versions of the pass are available for senior citizens, the disabled and National Park volunteers.

State parks sometimes are a little less scenic than national parks but still offer a variety of beautiful sights and a great adventure for kids. They’re also a lot closer than most national parks, meaning shorter drives and little need to stay overnight. You usually will have to pay a fee to enter or park your vehicle.

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

Learn more about national park day hiking trails in my Best Sights to See at America’s National Parks guidebook.

Great places to hike: National, state parks

National parks are great places to find
family-friendly day hiking trails.

National parks typically boast the region’s most stunning sights. Unfortunately, they can be crowded, and unless you live right next to one, it’s going to be a long drive. That may be fine for teenagers but may not be worth it for younger kids when you’ll spend more time on the road than the trail. In addition, long drives probably mean you’ll be staying overnight, often an expensive proposition.

If living near a national park or traveling cross country, by all means stop and hike through it. There will be a great variety of trails to choose from, and the scenery will make them highly memorable.

You’ll also need to pay an entry fee for national parks. If you plan to hike national parks regularly, you should consider purchasing a National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass, which will get a noncommercial vehicle plus passholder and three passengers into any national park for less than $100 a year. Even less expensive versions of the pass are available for senior citizens, the disabled and National Park volunteers.

State parks sometimes are a little less scenic than national parks but still offer a variety of beautiful sights and a great adventure for kids. They’re also a lot closer than most national parks, meaning shorter drives and little need to stay overnight. You usually will have to pay a fee to enter or park your vehicle.

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.