The Cedar River Trail in Renton offers a flat, easy walk or bike ride with views of the Cedar River, fall color and parks along the way. This stretch also offers three locations to view spawning salmon. These areas are staffed by docents from the Seattle Aquarium in October weekends through the 29th from 11-4.

To start your adventure, park at Maplewood Roadside Park and head up the hill to the left of the bridge. Cross the bridge and then hit the trail.

The trail is wide –and on a Sunday afternoon– was moderately busy with walkers, strollers, joggers and bikers. We saw beautiful fall foliage and peek-a-boo views of the river.

Soon you will come to Riverview Park and you can see the blue tents from the Seattle Aquarium from the trail. 

Join the volunteer docents at the tent and learn all about the Cedar River Salmon Journey, the salmon life cycle and pretty much anything you could ever want to know about salmon! They even loan out disposable polarized sunglasses  for easier viewing– kids loved these! Stand on the bridge and docents will point out the bright red and green fish in the water. There is also a public bathroom at this park.

Once you are done spotting salmon, continue down the trail to the Cedar River Park, which is just before the highway 405 overpass. On the way, you will pass the Cedar River Dog Park– perfect for giving your furbaby a break from the leash. Once you arrive at Cedar River Park, again, just look for Seattle Aquarium’s blue tent. We got the best views of swimming salmon at this site. This location also features a fish weir, a sort of a holding pen that captures some fish for the hatchery and allows others to pass through which is pretty cool to see. There are restrooms here, too. 

You can choose to make a U turn here or continue on to the Renton Library for another staffed fish viewing location and a fun park. To continue, cross under the highway overpass and then pass Liberty Skate Park and Liberty Park, which has a play structure if kids need to get some wiggles out. Continue on to the Renton library for yet another look at salmon in a more urban environment. For more salmon spotting adventures check our guide here:

Let’s Go Salmon Spotting: Where to Take the Kids to See Salmon Returning to Spawn

Even if you go after the salmon spawning season this 3 mile, flat walk is a beautiful outing in any season.

Nolte State Park offers an easy, 1.4 mile trail that is family and dog friendly. With an elevation gain of only 52 feet and peek-a-boo views of the lake, this loop makes a lovely walk.

To park in the lot you will need a Discover Pass.  At the entrance there is a booth with an attendant, so be sure and have your pass ready. You can also purchase a day pass for $10, but at $30 per year, an annual pass is a darn good deal.

The trail head is located in between the restrooms and the play structure and is clearly marked. We noticed that they have a receptacle for micro filament recycling (the white container in the picture) –pretty cool!

The gravel path is pretty wide and you could definitely take your all-terrain stroller on this walk, and we saw folks riding bikes, too. There are occasional offshoots from the trail that go to picnic tables or the shore of Deep Lake.  Just stay on the widest path. There are a couple of small hills, but otherwise it’s pretty flat. We saw lots of huge trees, root balls with hanging moss, butterflies and dragonflies.

Although the trail takes you through the forest, you will catch glimpses of the lake.

The trail takes you right back to where you started, and the whole 1.4 loop took us about 40 minutes to walk, with plenty of breaks when the kids were checking out trees or wildflowers or chasing butterflies…  Now that you’ve gotten in some exercise, enjoy a swim in Deep Lake, go fishing, check out the play set or grab a snack at the picnic tables.

The restrooms were really clean and parking was plentiful. This is a great walk for the whole family and an excellent starter hike.

Nolte State Park   36921 Veazie Cumberland Rd SE, Enumclaw, WA 98022

Check out our park and swim report for Deep Lake

This is a great family hike at Olallie State Park in North Bend. There are plenty of shady areas on the trail, places to stop and play by the river, a giant tree, huge rocks, wildflowers and of course– waterfalls!

To get there, take exit 34 from I-90. Turn right onto 468th Ave SE, then left on SE 159th st. This road ends in the Twin Falls trailhead parking lot.

You’ll need a Discover pass to park at the main Twin Falls trailhead parking lot, but if you don’t have one, there is street parking along the road before the entrance. The trailhead offers a restroom and a map kiosk, it’s a good idea to take a phone picture of the map in case you need it later.

Start out on the main trail which runs alongside the river. You’ll go through a swampy area that has lots of different plant life including skunk cabbage and –when we went in May– lots of wildflowers. Along the river part of the trail, you’ll see lots of smaller paths going down to the riverbank. If you ever want to make it to the waterfall, do what I did and tell the kids you’ll go to the river on the way back. If you stop, they might have so much fun playing that your hike will end there!

You’ll cross a wood bridge, then the trail heads away from the river and into the forest.

The trail winds through the woods until you come to a giant rock at the base of a hill. After you pass the rock, the trail continues up, up, up in a series of switchbacks.

Your first break will be a scenic viewpoint of the lower falls. There is a bench there, but as of my last visit, no trash can- so come prepared to pack out what you pack in. The falls are fairly distant, but still impressive! This is a perfect spot for a water or snack break. You can choose to turn around here or continue to the next, closer view of the falls.

View of lower falls from “The Benches”

From the benches you will continue down a hill where you will find Big Tree.  I found out after I took this picture that you aren’t supposed to walk around the big tree, whoops! There is no fence or sign, but I read that hikers walking around the tree compacts to soil, which isn’t good for the tree. So don’t do what I did- don’t let your kid go right up to the tree.

Big Tree

The Upper Falls

After you’ve enjoyed Big Tree, take the trail up a few more switchbacks. When you come to a short wooden bridge, you are almost at the next stopping point. You will see stairs off to the right that descend to a wood platform and an amazing view of the falls. The deck is pretty small, so on crowded days, you may have to wait.

We turned around after the second view of the falls, but you can continue up the hill to a bridge which offers a third view of the upper falls. To get back, go back the same way you came. On the way back, we stopped to relax by the river.  We saw a few people playing in the water, but of course, keep a close eye on your kids– the river runs deceptively fast and it is cold!  

Need more kid friendly hiking?  SFM loves the new edition of (my affiliate link)  Best Hikes With Kids.

For still more ideas, see our round up of favorites here! Note you’ll need to wait until summer for many of these; we always recommend checking trip reports at the Wta.org site for latest conditions and tips.

Tiffany Doerr Guerzon

If you’ve never hiked in Black Diamond Open Space,  you should check it out! There are miles and miles of trails shared by pedestrians, bikes, and sometimes even horses. ** This hike is an easy one and is more of a nature walk, suitable for younger kiddos or folks that don’t want too much elevation. This trail is called the Lake Sawyer Railroad Company Trail, but it is nicknamed the “Fairy Trail” because there are fun fairy doors on the trees.

Here is a good trail map. As always, we suggest you prepare for your hike by packing the Ten Essentials.

** Keep in mind that this is a multi use trail, and you should be ready to yield to horse or biker riders.  We heard from one reader who was concerned about hikers with young ones not being able to get out of the way of bikes, so keep that in mind if you decide to try this one.

The parking area is located off of Highway 169, at the north edge of Black Diamond near Maple Valley. If you are driving south on Highway 169, there is a small, gravel parking lot on the west side of 169 soon after you pass 288th street in Maple Valley. There is no sign. If you reach the larger parking area on the other side of 169 (like I did) you’ve gone too far. Just turn around and go back.

To find the trail head, take the trail that starts just past the Port O’ Potty. You won’t see any signage or trail markers until further in. When you come to the first intersecting trail, stay straight. At the next intersection, you will see the Lake Sawyer Railroad Co sign on a tree.

Turn left onto Lake Sawyer Railroad Co trail. Once you are on the path, keep your eyes peeled! These fairy doors are tiny, only an inch or two in size. They are stapled onto the trees. Be sure to look high and low! This is a short stretch; once you get to the next trail sign, just turn around and go back.

I’d heard that there is sometimes fairy furniture too, but we didn’t see any. Unlike the Gnomes Trail, which has actual gnome statues, here you will only find the doors to fairy homes. I guess fairies are shy!

We found several painted rocks too!

Just FYI, other than the aforementioned portable potty, there are no facilities. We brought our dog, but there were no trash cans or waste bag stations. The trail is not gravel, so there are roots and rocks, but overall it was a pretty easy walk. If you want to walk a bit more, one offshoot from this trail goes to Ravensdale Creek. (Marked Ravensdale Creek). It will add about a half mile to your trek. As always, make sure this hike is a good fit for your hikers and their needs and abilities.

Enjoy!

Tiffany Doerr Guerzon

PS If you like this hike, don’t miss the Gnome Trail!