Lime Kiln Trail

This morning I took my two older daughters (age 4 and 1) on a hike. My 4 year old is finally enjoying doing the hiking herself, she used to be carried in the pack by me and thought that was what hiking was, riding in a pack. But now that she is older and I have a younger one to pack around she has had to do the hiking herself. This was the first hike that she actually loved walking herself the whole time. So that was good to see.

We headed toward down town Granite Falls and just outside of town is the trail head for Lime Kiln Trail. It is a great easy hike for kids, lots of old growth and if you make it to the Lime Kiln lots of old history. It's really cool. We didn't make it to the kiln today, our goal was really just to get outside and let the kids enjoy the wilderness. It was a success.


I packed the little one the whole time and let her out and explore when we stopped for a snack. She absolutely loved it. My 4 year old also loved hiking the whole way and was obsessed with how much mud there was (there wasn't even that much mud in my opinion). But to her it was way too much mud and made a comment about it every time we came across any mud.

The trail was in good shape, there was one downed large branch that easily stepped over. Even my 4 year old could get over it with no help. We only hiked in a little over a mile and then back out. But it was a good mix of dirt and gravel with open views of the sky and being dwarfed by large trees. Certainly a good hike to start the season with and get the kids outside and excited about nature and wilderness even though you are just outside of town.

Region: North Cascades, Mountain Loop Highway
Distance:  7 miles
Elevation Gain:  625 ft
Peak Elevation:  750 ft
Difficulty: Easy
Pass Requirement: None

As always check out all the photos of the hike and every hike by clicking on the "Photos" tab.