Seattle's Child

Your guide to a kid-friendly city

Hikes: two boys in raincoats holding their hands up next to the Snoqualmie river

Nikhil and Simon threw so many rocks in the river, their hands were dirty. Photo by Jasmin Thankachen

3 Magnificent hikes on the Eastside

Hikes that kids will enjoy, no sunshine required.

Hiking is a welcome escape and distraction for my family, and these three hikes on the Eastside are a great way to experience the natural beauty of this area.

When writing this article, my sons were 9 and 6 and, despite our cold weather challenges, agreed that it was an adventurous winter excursion.

Here are 3 winter hikes that you don’t want to miss.

Hikes on the Eastside: Farrell-McWhirter Farm and Park, Redmond

We arrived at Farrell-McWhirter Park on a cool, dark afternoon with a light drizzle. (A little rain doesnā€™t stop us!)

Along with nature trails, the park has a childrenā€™s farm. It’s open daily with horses, pigs, chickens, and a donkey who “hee-hawed” occasionally. The farm area offers short walks to the animals, horseback riding with advanced registration, and an outdoor nature school.

We walked past the red barn and the farm to enter the park. Bathrooms and washrooms were available near the front of the park. Walking up the paved path, we were immediately covered by a canopy of tall trees. We veered off the path onto the first trail, one of five different trail loops ranging from .03 to 0.5 miles. We spent the whole afternoon and hiked three of the five loops.

Address: 19545 NE Redmond Rd, Redmond, WA 98053

A little hail doesn’t stop us!

Each walk takes you over creeks and boardwalks in a very dense forest. We veered off the path a few times to splash in streams, throw rocks, shimmy across large fallen logs, and balance on tree stumps.

It began to hail at one point during our hike. We stood and tried to catch the balls of ice in our mouths.

Photo credit: Jasmin Thankachen

On wet weather days, raincoats are necessary for this trip. So are boots. You go through lots of soft ground, dirt and mud. The trails are relatively quiet, with few people hiking. On the east and west sides of the park, there are places to rest for a picnic, ride on the tire swing, pump our legs on the swings, and run in open pastures.

We had a fantastic end to our outing. We raced across the field, jumped into piles of leaves and climbed trees.

 

Hikes on the Eastside: Redmond Watershed Preserve, Redmond

A magical place, Redmond Watershed Preserve is a beautiful choice for a winter hike. With over seven miles of trails on four different paths, an adventure awaits for even the littlest of legs.

Despite the pouring rain (a lot of rain doesnā€™t stop us!), we met up with friends to walk the Trillium Connector Trail, which loops around and veers off to the east, to connect to Silerā€™s Mill Trail (about 3 miles). It was a wet, cold, muddy up-and-downhill walk. We made our way through a mature forest, wetlands, and a fern-carpeted forest floor. The trails are well-maintained and used by hikers, bikers, and horses.

The most unexpected part of our nature trip, in late fall/early winter, was the dozens upon dozens of mushrooms we saw along the way.

Photo credit: Jasmin Thankachen

We stopped to examine them, ā€œThis one looks like a Mario Brothers mushroomā€ and ā€œThat one looks like a shaggy umbrellaā€ were a couple of observations. We counted but never touched and were in awe of these beauties.

Address: 21760 NE Novelty Hill Rd, Redmond, WA 98053

Time for hot drinks

Walking over many roots and sploshing in slippery mud tired us all out by the last mile. We counted beetles that crossed our path and discovered many leaves of all shapes and sizes.

Back at our cars, we poured hot chocolate (for the kids), spiced chai (for the adults) and snacked on yummy treats. We were drenched, but no one complained.

(Check out the Trout Loop Trail (.06 mi) and the Tree Frog Loop (.05 mi) trail for shorter hikes, with gorgeous, lush green landscapes, boardwalks and a lookout point to the Redmond Watershed lake. Both are hiker-only trails.)

Picnic areas and bathrooms are open and located by the parking lot.

Photo courtesy of WTA.org

Hikes on the Eastside: Tolt River-John MacDonald Park, Carnation

Located in the Snoqualmie Valley, the Tolt River Park is an adventure your family will never forget!

This winter hike will start you off at a large parking lot across from the community sports fields. Walk into the park, and you are immediately challenged to one of the trip’s highlights ā€“ the 500-ft long suspension bridge hanging over the Snoqualmie River.

The skinny, wobbly bridge swayed back and forth as we crossed and stood to admire the swift-moving river below. In the distance, we saw fishermen wading in waist-deep in the water. ā€œWhat if we fall in?ā€ was one of the concerns my kids asked, but we made it across safely.

Address: 31020 NE 40th St, Carnation, WA 98014

Fun with sticks and paper boats

On the other side is a campground with yurts, picnic tables and a Ranger Station. We headed east on a gravel path into a mature forest grove. We traveled off the main path, through the woods, to the rocky banks of the Snoqualmie River. You could see the mist rising off the river. Hungry for lunch, we sat on large boulders (bring a blanket) for our picnic, then continued down the shore and back onto the main path.

Many little creeks and rivers lined the trail. The kids stopped to float sticks and leaves through large pipes to see if they would reach the other side.

 

Photo credit: Jasmin Thankachen

Heading further down the trail, we took the Cottonwood Loop Trail. We walked through a fantastic display of lush green forest with yellow and orange colors all over the ground. The trail led us to a gravel bar by the river. We spent over an hour exploring the land, skipping rocks and taking in all the brilliant colors of the forest.

My husband made paper boats from scraps in my purse and helped our kids float them downstream.

The best part of the day? ā€œEverything!ā€ sounded off Simon and Nikhil. Weā€™ll be back to explore this park again, for sure.

 

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About the Author

Jasmin Thankachen

Jasmin is the Associate Publisher at Seattle's Child and an Eastside mom of two boys. She enjoys parenting with lots of love and laughter. Co-Founder of PopUp StoryWalk, she also loves children's picture books, essay writing, and community stories.