Best LA Hikes For Younger Legs
Now that most trails and natural areas in LA County have reopened, it’s your chance to explore! Be sure to follow guidelines like wearing a face covering, staying 6 feet apart from other groups, and planning ahead in case bathrooms and water fountains are unavailable. All of these areas are open as of now, but be sure to check before you go.
From toddlers on up, here are some of my family’s favorite spots to explore nature in Los Angeles. Some of these are a bit of a drive, but they’re all in LA County. Especially now, no one wants to be stuck in hiker traffic in Runyon Canyon!
While it isn’t a true hiking trail, this is an amazing place to dive in with your littlest adventurer. Check the tide chart and plan your trip for right around low tide (it happens twice every 24 hours). Then, venture out around the rocky outcropping beneath the lifeguard tower to explore sandy caves. Peek into tide pools and find sea stars, anemones, hermit crabs, and maybe a fish or two.
In the Santa Monica Mountains above the Malibu coastline, this can be a quick stroll or a longer trip. At the first intersection, take a left and walk uphill to get to an incredible view of the whole LA County coast. There’s benches to picnic on and a stone labyrinth to walk through. Or, take a right and walk to the eucalyptus grove, where you can catch some shade and build a fort.
Placerita Canyon Waterfall Trail
This trail is pretty flat and only about 1.2 miles round trip, but it has a great payoff: a small creek to jump across and a year-round waterfall. Look for squirrels in the oak trees and lizards running through the grass. Plus, Placerita Canyon State Park has a raptor (the bird, not the dinosaur) rescue center just next door where you can get an up close look at owls, hawks and other birds of prey.
Vasquez Rocks is truly one of the weirdest places in SoCal for young explorers. You can see the San Andreas Fault at work in the huge, 25 million year old rocks jutting out of the desert floor. Stay on the 2 mile, flat loop trail for a full view of the park that anyone in the family can do, or scramble up to the highest peak you can for a lookout over the valley.
- Andy Kimmelman, aka “Outdoor Dad”
Owner & Director, Tumbleweed Day Camp
