We arrived at the trailhead parking lot just before 3pm on a Saturday. There were a good number of cars parked on the side of the road coming in, but the main parking lot was only about 1/4 full.
We hiked with a toddler and a dog. This trail doesn't have much elevation gain so it's an easy enough walk for little kids. The trail was a bit overgrown in spots, which isn't much of an issue for adults, but much of the overgrown brush was at about face-level for our toddler so if your child isn't ready to push away branches or leaves, I'd bring a hiking carrier just in case. I recommend long sleeves and pants for littles.
Plenty of bugs were out, and we did see quite a few mosquitos. Wear bug spray if you tend to get bitten. The forest is lush with ferns and mosses plus wildflowers blooming along the trail, and the tree cover provided good shade on a hot day. Our son enjoyed the storyboards, but there might be one or two missing at the end because the last storyboard we read was clearly not the end of the story, so that was a bit disappointing.
We turned around at the end of the Swamp Trail at the sign for the Big Tree Trail. Out to that point and back was a little over a mile. All in all, it's a pleasant and gentle hike for families with small children, but be prepared to make up your own ending to the story of Zoe and the Swamp Monster due to the missing storyboards!
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