What are the Best Seattle Area Kid Friendly Hikes?

Especially as a mom tethered to naptime, and not wanting to spend too much time in the car with my young children, I sought out hikes within a reasonable distance from my home in Seattle.

Lucky for me, I quickly learned that I didn’t have to travel far to have grand adventures (in the Seattle area) with my kids.

When my kids were little, my criteria was pretty simple. I needed hikes 1 hour or less from Seattle, low mileage and elevation gain, and some sort of exciting feature. Exciting is relative when considering the youngsters involved. Lakes, waterfalls, viewpoints, story boards, bridges, and treasure hunts (such as geocaching) are all features that can help peak interest and motivate little legs to keep moving.

Now that my kids are older, we are no longer tied to naptime, and they have more stamina for car rides, and longer hikes. However, time is still a factor! We are busy with sports, scouts, and other activities that suck up our precious outdoor adventure minutes. Our family still relies on the Seattle area hikes that are close by, and inevitably kid friendly.

Are you too looking for Kid Friendly Hikes near Seattle?

I have two resources for you! For a list of 14 of our favorite kid friendly hikes in or near Seattle, head to our blog post: 14 KID FRIENDLY HIKES NEAR SEATTLE. There you’ll find recommendations for Seattle area hikes with mileage, location, pass information, and the special features of each trail.

If you are looking for even more, I recently created a Seattle Area Kid Friendly Hiking Guide.

What’s the difference between the blog post and the hiking guide? The Seattle Area Kid Friendly Hiking Guide includes all the information from the blog post, and then some! Instead of 14 hikes, there are 25 recommended adventures, plus our best tips for hiking with young children, and ways to build stamina.

The Seattle Area Kid Friendly Hiking Guide is also organized by micro-region of Greater Seattle. Each hike is linked to its exact parking lot location making navigation simple. And since it’s designed as a 16-page guide, it’s easy to print, ready to reference for your next Seattle Area adventure.

Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out here in the comments, email me (wildtalesof (at) gmail (dot) com), or reach out social media!

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