How to Visit a National Park with Kids

Olympic National Park is incredibly diverse with ecosystems ranging from glacier-capped mountains to old-growth temperate rainforests. Add that to over 70 miles of wild coastline and there is something for everyone in the family to enjoy. The park is open year-round, with fun activities in all seasons such as skiing and tubing in winter at Hurricane ridge and incredible wildlife-viewing in spring and fall. However, some roads close down due to weather conditions in the colder months. You are most likely to get full access to the park between the months of June and September. While there are an incredible amount of family-friendly activities and trails in this park, we have compiled a list of our top ten things to do with kids during your visit: 1. Explore a Rainforest  The Pacific Northwest is the only place you can find temperate rainforests in the U.S., complete with their massive ferns and old-growth trees dripping with moss. There are four rainforests within ONP: Hoh, Quinault, Queets and Bogachiel rain forests. Search for nurse logs and the rare Roosevelt Elk on this family-friendly trail through the intensely green Hoh rainforest. Hall of Mosses Trail in the Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park 2. Head to the Beach ONP protects more than 70 miles of coastline including numerous gorgeous beaches. From Shi Shi Beach in the far north to the Kalaloch beaches in the south, you can’t go wrong taking a family hike to the beach, tide-pooling, or catching a beach sunset (check out this gorgeous hike down to the second beach for an epic sunset). Insider tip: the tidepooling is best at Ruby Beach, Kalaloch’s Beach 4, and Rialto Beaches’ famed “Hole in the Wall”. Second Beach, Olympic National Park 3. Hike to a Waterfall There is little a kid likes more than to find a towering waterfall in the forest. Regardless of where you visit in the park, you are bound to find a waterfall nearby. Check out this list of waterfalls within the park. For a family-friendly option, here is a hike in our Family Trail Guide to Marymere Falls from Crescent Lake. 4. Visit Crescent Lake This deep, brilliant blue lake was carved from glaciers during the last Ice Age and boasts amazing mountain views. Kayaks and rowboats can be rented to explore the lake in the summer months, and various hikes start from the lake. A gorgeous, jogging-stroller friendly option is the Moments in Time interpretive nature trail that leads through the forest, a meadow, and lakeshore giving historical and ecological information on the area. Insider tip: the Lake Crescent Lodge serves delicious coffee, hot chocolate, and lemonade. 5. Search for Wildlife in the Mountain Regions Marmots and goats and bears, oh my! The open mountainous portions of the park provide excellent wildlife viewing. Check out this trail on Hurricane Ridge that is great for all ages (the lower loop of the trail is wheelchair and stroller accessible), and don’t forget the binoculars. Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park 6. Become an Ocean Steward or a Junior Ranger ONP has two programs to help inspire kids to learn about, explore, and help protect the ecosystems within the park. Just pick up a copy of the Junior Ranger and Ocean Stewards Booklets, follow the instructions to complete the designated number of pages (it differs based on child’s age), turn it back in and receive patches to get “sworn in” as a Junior Ranger/Ocean Steward of ONP! 7. Take a Dip in Natural Hot Springs Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort offers 3 mineral hot springs pools along with a freshwater pool available for use from March 20 - Oct. 26. The temperatures vary between the pools, with two of the pools safe for all ages. Check here for rates and hours.  8. Borrow a Discovery Backpack Get the most out of your family visit and help your little explorer learn about the area by borrowing a discovery backpack from one of the ONP visitors centers. Each backpack includes field worksheets, interactive games, six photo field guides, binoculars, a hand lens, and other goodies. A suggested $5 donation is appreciated to keep these backpacks updated. 9. Tubing at Hurricane Ridge Looking to visit the park in winter? Head to the Ski, Snowboard, and Tubing area at Hurricane Ridge for tons of snowy fun. Kids 8 and under can sled or tube at the Small Children’s Snowplay Area at no cost (bring your own sled/tube). For bigger thrills, the Tubing Park within the Ski Area is open to all ages (you must use their tubes in this area). Check here for their rates and hours. 10. Visit Quinault Valley Also called “Valley of the Giants” Quinault Valley is home to the Quinault rainforest which boasts some of the largest Sitka Spruce, Hemlock, Douglas Fir, and western red cedar trees in the world. It borders the gorgeous Lake Quinault and offers a variety of hiking trails along with swimming and boating opportunities. Located in the southwest portion of the park, this area also happens to be one of the less busy (though equally beautiful) portions of the park. Do you have a favorite activity in the Olympic National Park? Share in the comments. Join a community of like-minded parents and caregivers with a shared mission of connecting families with babies and young children to the outdoors and each other. Learn about Hike it Baby membership options and join the fun today! ABOUT OUTGROWN OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to create a world where everyone can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We are focused on creating opportunities and removing barriers to access so families with babies and young children can take their first steps outside. We believe all families have the right to connect with nature, benefit from spending time outdoors and be inspired to a lifelong love of nature. Since its grassroots inception in 2013, OutGrown is a growing community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Branch Ambassadors. More information on all of our programs can be found at WeAreOutGrown.org    EDITORS NOTE: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from OutGrown. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.

Created in partnership with  You may have heard about the Leave No Trace movement, but what does it mean to “Leave No Trace”? Is that even possible when you have kids in tow? The answer is yes, sort of. The mission of Leave No Trace is to educate and inspire everyone to protect the outdoors by teaching people to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. It isn’t about leaving zero trace; it’s about reducing our environmental impacts whenever and however possible. That may seem like a daunting task when you are attempting to wrangle a toddler on a trail, but we are here to help! We have listed each principle below along with some tips and tricks for following them when you have little ones in tow.   Photo by Jessica Human Principle 1: Plan Ahead and Prepare – Know Before You Go Getting lost on the trail or getting caught in a storm while hiking can be a stressful experience. Add in a few little ones to the equation and things can get downright harrowing. While these experiences aren’t always avoidable (like an unexpected rainstorm), a little planning ahead can help you avoid most of these stressful experiences. Here are some tips to involve your kiddos in this step: Have your kids check the weather forecast with you and help them decide what clothing they should wear. Look at a trail map with your kiddos (a paper map, an online map, or a phone app) and decide together which route you want to take. If they are old enough, let them pick out their own snacks to bring along. Older kiddos can pack their own adventure pack to take along with things like a snack, water, and adventure tools (like a journal and a pocket microscope). Principle 2: Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces – Stay on the Trail Keeping kiddos on the trail can be challenging. They are natural explorers and want to investigate every little thing they discover. However, exploring off trail can lead to trampled vegetation, increased erosion, and damaged animal habitats. A durable surface includes established trails and campsites along with areas with rock, sand, gravel, snow, and dry grass. If you need to go off trail (like for potty breaks that just can’t wait), seek out these durable surfaces whenever possible, and walk lightly avoiding as much vegetation as possible. Here are some tips for keeping kiddos on the trail and decreasing your impact on the trail. Take a potty break as soon as you get to the trail to reduce the number of off-trail excursions. Play silly games with kiddos with the main goal of staying on the trail. For example, you can pretend that the vegetation on either side of the trail is lava, and they have to stay as close to the center of the trail as possible to avoid the heat. You can also play the “ninja” (sometimes referred to as “secret spy”) game where kids have to step as lightly and quietly as possible and disturb as little as they can to avoid “detection”. Have a conversation with your kids about what happens when a lot of people go off trail. Point out signs of erosion and destroyed vegetation along the trail. Photo by Jessica Human Principle 3: Dispose of Waste Properly – Pack it in, Pack it Out Kids are messy creatures. Aside from their affinity for mud puddles, there are also spilled snacks and the occasional diaper explosion. It’s a good thing to remember that anything that wasn’t found in nature (like the mud) should be packed out. This includes spilled snacks. It may seem harmless, but those snacks usually end up in the stomachs of wildlife. This can lead to illness (I doubt any animals have fishy crackers as part of their natural diet) and increased dependency on humans. Once animals depend more on humans, they lose their fear of humans, which can be dangerous for both them and us. Here are some tips for disposing of waste properly with kiddos in tow. Always have a bag on hand to collect your trash (and any other trash you may find) along the way. This could be as simple as a plastic grocery bag or a specific reusable trash bag. Anytime you stop for a snack or meal break, have everyone use their “owl eyes” to find any trash left behind before you head back out. Principle 4: Leave What You Find This is another tricky principle to follow with little ones. Especially if you have a rock collector like I do! While taking natural objects, picking flowers, carving on trees, etc. may seem harmless, it can damage the ecosystem, especially when a lot of people are doing it. Rocks, sticks, flowers, and even pine cones serve as shelter and food sources for a variety of organisms. If the plant you pick happens to be invasive to the area, you could be inadvertently spreading the species as you transport it. That being said, you don’t want to stifle the curiosity of a budding geologist or botanist. Here are some tips and alternatives for keeping your nature collector happy while leaving nature in nature (or at least most of it): Use “do” language to help little ones understand how to interact with nature. Use statements like “let’s be nice with the flowers” or “touch softly”. Encourage your kiddos to use their senses to experience the object IN nature. For example, let them take a few minutes to feel, see, and even smell the object. You can talk about it and then have them replace the object where they found it. Take along some paper and crayons to they can do some leaf or bark rubbings. Have them draw a picture or take a photo of the object. When all else fails, allow them to choose one or two favorite nature finds to take home and replace the rest where they found them. Photo by Jessica Human Principle 5: Minimize Campfire Impacts  Improperly tended campfires are one of the leading unnatural causes of wildfires. If you are camping be sure you know the local regulations on fire and seek out established fire rings when possible. If you need to gather wood, use dead and downed wood that is no larger than the diameter of your wrist and can be broken easily by hand. When leaving, douse the fire with water until it’s cool to the touch. A better alternative would be to use a camp stove for heat and cooking, or a simple lantern for light. Here are a few tips for minimizing campfire impacts with kiddos: Keep flammable objects far away and out of reach from curious hands, and don’t allow kids to play with sticks near the fire. Have children help collect firewood. You can make it a game to see who can be the first to find 5 pieces of dry, downed firewood no larger than the diameter of their wrist. Photo by Deanna Curry   Principle 6: Respect Wildlife Observing animals in the wild is fascinating for both adults and kids alike. Whether you see a deer dash across the trail ahead of you or a woodpecker busily searching for food, there’s just something awe-inspiring about watching wildlife. To keep having these encounters safely, we need to teach our little ones how to respect wildlife. That means keeping a safe distance, never feeding wild animals, and storing food and odorous objects securely while camping. Here are some tips for teaching our kiddos to respect the animals they encounter on their outdoor adventures and to keep the wildlife wild. To help young ones understand what it means to keep a “safe distance”, have them stand with an arm raised to shoulder height with their thumb pointing up. Then have them look at the animal with one eye closed and try to cover it with their thumb. If they are a safe distance away, their thumb should completely block sight of the animal. Remind your kids that insects are wildlife too, and we need to be careful not to harm them. We can admire an intricate spider web or a long line of ants without destroying what we find. Bring along some adventure items such as binoculars and a magnifying glass so that kiddos can observe wildlife safely. Contrary to popular belief, bird feeders can follow the Leave No Trace Principles IF they follow the Audubon Society Guidelines. These include avoiding seed mixtures and cleaning the bird feeders at least every season. If you want to attract a variety of bird species, it is best to have different bird feeders at different heights with different types of seed/food in each of them. Principle 7: Be Considerate of Other Visitors Respecting other people you meet on the trail helps ensure that nature can be enjoyed by all. Modeling and encouraging behaviors such as staying to the right on the trail to let others pass or taking breaks on durable surfaces away from the trail goes a long way to preserving the experience for other visitors. Other good practices include avoiding talking on cell phones or making excessively loud noises while on the trail (when possible). Here are a few tips we use to encourage being kind to others on the trail: If your kids are like mine, they like to pretend to be wild animals when they are on the trail (particularly howling wolves). This can get extremely noisy, so I started challenging them to be quieter animals, such as a bunny or squirrel, or pretend that they are sneaking around like a cheetah. Practice “moving to the right” with your kids while on the trail or on a neighborhood walk. When you practice ahead of time, it can avoid confusion when you ask them to move to the right to let other people or cyclists pass on the trail.   It is important to note that these principles are GUIDELINES, not strict rules. As parents, we know that it is extremely unlikely that we will be perfect at following these principles all the time, and that’s okay! The point is not to strive for perfection all the time. It’s to decrease our impact on the environment whenever and wherever possible and to teach our children to do the same. The tips above can help your family make fewer environmental impacts. You can also check out these other fun resources from Leave No Trace to help your kiddos understand the impact their actions can make on the environment:   Fun Resources from our friends at : Learn the Leave No Trace Hand Motions to help kiddos remember the 7 principles. Check out the Leave No Trace and Bigfoot Activity Booklet for some fun, education activities for older kids. This Trash Timeline Game can be played with kids (and adults) of all ages. Here is a free Online Awareness Course for parents and caregivers who want to learn more about Leave No Trace.   How do you practice the Leave No Trace Principles with your family? Let us know in the comments below!   ABOUT OUTGROWN OutGrown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to create a world where everyone can enjoy the physical and mental benefits of spending time outside. We are focused on creating opportunities and removing barriers to access so families with babies and young children can take their first steps outside. We believe all families have the right to connect with nature, benefit from spending time outdoors and be inspired to a lifelong love of nature. Since its grassroots inception in 2013, OutGrown is a growing community of 280,000 families and over 300 volunteer Branch Ambassadors. More information on all of our programs can be found at WeAreOutGrown.org    EDITORS NOTE: We hope you enjoyed reading this article from OutGrown. We’re working hard to provide our community with content and resources that inform, inspire, and entertain you. But content is not free. It’s built on the hard work and dedication of writers, editors, and volunteers. We make an investment in developing premium content to make it easier for families with young children to connect with nature and each other. We do not ask this lightly, but if you can, please make a contribution and help us extend our reach.