8 Awesome West Coast Day Hikes

Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park

Ruby Beach Trail
Olympic National Park
Day hikers can explore a Pacific Ocean shoreline featuring gushing seastacks, piles of driftwood logs, and colorful, wave-polished stones on the Ruby Beach Trail at Olympic National Park. The 1.4-mile round trip trail sits on the Olympic Peninsula’s west side.

Discovery Point Trail
Crater Lake National Park
Day hikers can walk to the edge of the United States’ deepest lake on the Discovery Point Trail at Crater Lake National Park. The lake sits inside the collapsed remains of an ancient volcano known as Mount Mazama. 

Big Tree Wayside Trail
Redwood National Park
Day hikers can walk beneath some of the planet's largest organisms at Redwood National Park. Though the sequoias of the Sierra Nevada range are larger than coastal redwoods in volume, the latter usually grows taller. Coastal Redwoods can reach up to 30 stories high. Comparatively, the world’s largest animal – a blue whale – usually is only about 1/16th the size of a redwood.

Swinging Bridge Trail
Yosemite National Park
Day hikers can enjoy an old-fashion afternoon of fun at the swimming hole on the Swinging Bridge Trail in Yosemite National Park’s Wawona area. Your kids (and you) will enjoy the 1.5-mile round trip out-and-back trail and the time it allows for the trail’s swinging bridge, swimming hole, and natural waterslide.

Best Sights to See at Channel Islands National Park
Among the best ways to see Channel Islands National Park’s major sights is via a day hike. Though the park covers several islands, four short trails allow visitors to enjoy the park’s major highlights – migrating blue whales, fascinating tide pools, impressive wildflower displays, and the rare Torrey pine tree.

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.

7 Great West Coast Hikes

Redwood National Park

Wonderland Trail
Mount Rainier National Park
Families can get a good view of the largest glacier in the 48 contiguous United States on a segment of the Wonderland Trail at Mount Rainier National Park. The 93-mile trail encircles Mount Rainier, the Washington national park’s centerpiece. A few access points, however, allow small portions of it to be day hiked; among them is a 3.3-mile round trip trail in the Sunrise area.

Discovery Point Trail
Crater Lake National Park
No visit to Oregon's Crater Lake National Park would be complete without a hike along the rim of the dormant volcano where a clear blue lake now sits. The Discovery Point Trail follows the rim, offering views of it through an alpine forest, stopping at the spot where miners first saw the lake in 1853.

Great hikes bookend U.S. Hwy. 101 drive
If driving the stretch of U.S. Hwy. 101 between Port Angeles, Wash., and Crescent City, Calif., this summer, you’re in for a treat. This scenic drive along the Pacific Ocean is wonderfully bookended by two popular national parks – Olympic and Redwood.

Upper Yosemite Fall Trail
Yosemite National Park
Day hikers can get a great view of Yosemite Valley – and a good work workout – by walking a segment of the Upper Yosemite Fall Trail at the national park. Rather than hike the entire trail – which is 7.2 miles and extremely steep (Just hiking to the top of the trail would be the equivalent of taking the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building – twice), consider only going as far as a mile to Columbia Rock. 

Chernoff Trail
Upper Franklin Canyon Park
We’ve all seen the opening credits of “The Andy Griffith Show,” where Andy takes Opie to his favorite fishing hole – Myers Lake, located in Stokes County, N.C. The truth is Myers Lake really is Franklin Canyon Lake, located in Upper Franklin Canyon Park – located in no less than Beverly Hills (Beverly. Hills, that is. Swimmin' pools, movie stars ... But that's a different TV show).

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