First Backpack Trips for Kids

Taking young children backpacking can be extremely rewarding, especially if you choose the right hike for their abilities. All of the following trails are popular day hike destinations, but even if you are joined by other hikers on the trail, when they go home, you'll have your pick of campsites.

Joan's Picks

By Joan Burton, author of Best Hikes with Children Western Washington & the Cascades (Mountaineers Books)

: Photo by David Thurman.

Taking young children backpacking can be extremely rewarding, especially if you choose the right hike for their abilities. If your youngsters are eager to try out backpacking, you are wise to choose a short trip to start. Make sure their gear is comfortable and easy to use and that there are rewards for them worth spending an evening and morning or two.

A word about the family gear. You don’t need to buy expensive and fancy sleeping bags, pads and tent to start out. Inventory your hiking and camping gear to determine what you'll need, then ask to borrow friends' gear or rent from an outdoor store until you decide this is going to be an ongoing activity for your family.

For crafty sorts, you can make a simple sleeping bag for a baby or toddler by cutting up an old blanket and sewing three sides into a simple sack. Sleeping pads can be made by cutting up a blue foam mattress to the desired length. Shoes or boots are important, however. They should fit the feet well and be broken in. Be sure the boot tread is strong enough to give them traction in steep places. Smooth-soled tennis shoes won’t do for hiking but consider carrying in extra lightweight tennis shoes for wading or playing in mud, so they will have a change of footwear.

All of the following trails are popular day hike destinations, but even if you are joined by other hikers on the trail, when they go home, you'll have your pick of campsites. Make it easy by not carrying in too much gear, and make the meals and snacks delicious favorites of your kids. In other words, make it a fun adventure.

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North Cascades

Chain Lakes

: Resting at Middle Chain Lake. Photo by Micheal Tim Django Ruby.

Location: Mount Baker
Round Trip: 4 to 9 miles
Elevation Gain: 500'
Best Season: April - October

The Chain Lakes at the end of the Mt. Baker highway near Heather Meadows offer gorgeous scenic campsites and the chance to move camp from lake to lake along the chain of four. Snow banks won’t melt out until late July, but the hikes and camps are possible for families before that in light snow years. Check with the Forest Service for accessibility.

From the parking lot at the road end, the trail winds around Table Mountain and then descends steeply to the first lake, Mazama. Plan on a slide in the snow here, and be sure the kids’ footgear is appropriate. Tennis shoes will get soaked. Little Mazama appears at 1.75 miles. Iceberg Lake, the next one after another mile, may make a better campsite, but either of the others, Hayes and Arbuthnot, will be good choices too. Their shores have black sand beaches, a reminder of Mt. Baker’s volcanic activity. To regain the lost elevation, take a steep one-mile connector trail, the Wild Goose Trail back to your starting point at Artist Point trailhead.

Read more in our online Hiking Guide, but note that directions in the guide are from a different starting point. The hike described here begins at the Artist Point trailhead.

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East Bank Baker Lake

: The northern trailhead leads to an impressive suspension bridge that crosses the Baker River. Photo by Robert Michelson.

Location: Highway 20
Round Trip: 4 to 9 miles
Elevation Gain: 500'
Best Season: April - October

A low elevation North Cascades trail that makes an excellent early season backpack trip is the East Bank Baker Lake trail. For the greater part of the hike you are back from the lakeshore in forest, but you will see tantalizing glimpses of Baker Lake through the old trees.

In less than two miles, after dropping down from the trailhead about a hundred feet, you will come to a side trail leading to a small campsite, usually unused, which would make a good stopping point with very young kids. At 2.5 miles come to a delightful larger old campground on the water called Maple Grove. Formed by a long-ago rockslide, the camp is used by boaters on holidays, but is usually unoccupied at other times. You can tell how old the rockslide is by the size of the venerable big leaf maples. Plan to camp in the shelter of the trees, but look out at stunning views of Mt Baker to the north and Mt. Shuksan to the east at sunrise and sunset from the lakeshore beach. Fishermen and boaters course the lake, but they usually stay on the other side of the lake. Children can watch for jumping fish and listen for the call of loons. The trail continues for 10 miles for the length of Baker Lake. You can follow it for as long as you like, enjoying vistas of mountains, birds, and shoreline before returning to your starting point.

Central Cascades

Barclay Lake

: Barclay Lake is a popular destination for hikers and first time backpackers - and this picture shows why. Photo by Bill.

Location: Stevens Pass
Round Trip: 4.4 miles
Elevation Gain: 225'
Best Season: May - November

An easy two-mile trail off the Stevens Pass Highway through old growth forest leads to shallow Barclay Lake. This popular place is guaranteed to have other hikers, but you may be the only ones camping near the lakeshore. (Mind the sign that says ‘Stay at least 50 feet back.’) The trail is so short that, if necessary, parents can make two trips to bring in the gear. There is a sandy beach for waders and swimmers, and fishing for everyone.

Independence Lake

: You can swim in Independence Lake. Photo by MtnLuvr.

Location: Stevens Pass
Round Trip: 3.5 miles
Elevation Gain: 400'
Best Season: July - October

Another short hike (a little more than one mile!) to a mountain lake, this one off the Mountain Loop Highway, is Independence Lake. This trail neither gains nor loses much elevation, but does have some roots and rocks along the way. You can carry a toddler for this distance. The reward is a lake large enough to swim in, which has at least six good campsites. My kids loved wading and swimming in Independence Lake later in the season, and wished we had brought in camping gear so we could have stayed overnight.

Read more in our online Hiking Guide.

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Olympic Peninsula

Lena Lake

: Keep your kid happy with lots of snacks on your hike or backpacking trip. Photo by hikerchick.

Location: Olympics - East
Round Trip: 5 miles
Elevation Gain: 1300'
Best Season: May - October

Lower Lena Lake, on the east side of the Olympics and dominated by a shoulder of The Brothers, is a popular and beloved backpack destination. At first the trail climbs through old second growth trees, but then it enters old growth forest on long switchbacks, crossing Lena Creek, the source of the lake’s water. At 3 miles you come to the shores of Lower Lena Lake and a choice of camps. Because it is so popular you may need to go in early to get one. This is a large sub-alpine lake, formed by a long-ago rockslide that dammed the valley. The lake level fluctuates with the season like a small reservoir. Wading and swimming are possible, but the water is usually cold. When the lake is full there will be a 150-foot climb over a rock buttress called Chapel Rock to reach the shore.

Read more in our online Hiking Guide.

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Third Beach

: Kids will love playing in the tidepools at low tide. Photo by Susan Elderkin.

Location: Olympic Coast
Round Trip: 3.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 280'
Best Season: All Year

An all-year round favorite on the ocean is Third Beach. It is a nearly level trail only 1 1/2 miles long, reaching a wide sandy Pacific beach. Campsites are partly protected from the wind in a creek ravine. But the wind does blow in from the ocean, creating the magical surf. The adventure is in climbing over giant driftwood logs and exploring the shore and those enormous roaring waves. Your kids will love the tide pools, playing in the sand, and watching for gray whales and eagles. They will not want to go home.

Read more in our online Hiking Guide.

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South Cascades

Greenwater Lakes

: Greenwater Lake - as green as green can be. Photo by dayhiker.

Location: Near Mt. Rainier
Round Trip: 4.4 miles
Best Season: All Year

Greenwater Lakes, off State Highway 410, makes a magnificent old growth forest hike or backpack early in the season. Along the trail are three log bridges with whitewater rushing beneath them. The mossy forest has spring flowers and ferns. The two lakes are shallow and safe for water play with a river running through one of them and many ducks and birds to watch. Campsites are excellent, but may be taken early on weekends. No reservations are required, but camping is on a first come first served basis.

Read more in our online Hiking Guide.

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Indian Heaven Wilderness

: One and a half year old Matilda Engelson samples the abundant blueberries in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Photo by Andrew Engelson.

Location: South Cascades
Round Trip: 5 miles or more
Elevation Gain: 1000'
Best Season: September - October

The Indian Heaven Wilderness lakes make ideal easy backpacking destinations. The entire wilderness is a park-like oasis, filled with more than 30 shallow lakes, a children’s paradise in the South Cascades. You can access the wilderness from either its east or west side.

If you start from the Cultus Creek Campground on the east side, expect a steep 700-foot gain in the first mile. After that there are only moderate ups and downs throughout the wilderness. Once you reach Cultus Lake, the first lake and possible camp, you may find the kids don’t want to go on. Assure them that other lakes just as wonderful lie close by. You can make a loop trip in two days to see many of them, one right after the other. The only problem may be the bugs. Be prepared with good insect repellent suitable for kids’ skin, and long-sleeved shirts and full-length pants - or wait to hike here in September after the bugs are gone. Hiking then has the added advantage of being berry season - this place is full of them!

Read more in our online Hiking Guide.