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5 Best Kid-Friendly Hikes in the San Francisco Bay Area
By Ann Marie Brown, author of Moon 101 Great Hikes San Francisco Bay Area
Looking for a family-friendly adventure in the Bay Area? These five easy hikes are great for traveling with kids and feature attractions like bridges, lighthouses, elephant seals, and more.
Kids love walking across the mini-suspension bridge to this historic light station, and adults love the Marin Headlands’ chart-topping coastal scenery.
2. Cascade Canyon, Marin
Youngsters will find plenty of watery entertainment on this easy walk along a Marin County creek that ends at a charming cascade.
Your budding marine biologist can explore the reef at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, where 30 acres (12 hectares) of tidepools reveal mussels, crabs, barnacles, urchins, sea stars, anemones, snails, and limpets.
4. Año Nuevo Point Trail, the Peninsula and South Bay
The whole family will enjoy the spectacle of massive elephant seals hauled out on the beach from December to March on this remote San Mateo County beach.
5. Uvas Canyon Waterfall Loop, the Peninsula and South Bay
Plan your trip for soon after rainfall so your family can enjoy this easy walk past a collection of small cascades in a leafy canyon.
Local author Ann Marie Brown reveals the best Bay Area hikes, from the wildflowers of the South Bay to the redwood forests of Marin. Get a breath of fresh air with Moon 101 Great Hikes San Francisco Bay Area.
Ann Marie Brown made her first solo trip to Yosemite at age 22. Like many first-time visitors, she was immediately inspired by the Valley’s sheer granite walls and shimmering waterfalls. Parking her car at the first trailhead she saw, she set off on the Four-Mile Trail. Carrying nothing but a water bottle, she intended to hike only a short distance but was so wowed by the scenery that she kept on walking. Two hours later she found herself at Glacier Point, considered by many to be the grandest viewpoint in the West. Scanning the scene, she noticed tourists dressed in everything from high heels to a nun’s habit, and realized that she could have driven to Glacier Point instead of walking. Ann Marie vowed she’d never again go hiking without a map.
More than two decades later, Ann Marie has gained substantially more outdoor savvy and is a dedicated California outdoorswoman. She hikes, camps, and bikes more than 150 days each year. She is the author of 13 Moon guides, including several outdoors titles, like Moon 101 Great Hikes San Francisco Bay Area, and is the co-author of Moon California Hiking with Tom Stienstra. Her work has also appeared in Sunset, VIA, and California magazines.
