{"id":334929,"date":"2026-05-27T21:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/334929\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T21:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:07:07","slug":"family-friendly-hikes-in-sacramento-trails-and-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/334929\/","title":{"rendered":"Family-friendly hikes in Sacramento: trails and tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Looking to pass along a love for hiking to your children but don\u2019t know where to start? The Sacramento Bee gathered information on five family friendly hiking trails<\/a> in the Sacramento area according to All Trails.<\/p>\n

Additionally, we added what to bring along before heading out with your kids along with a list of local hiking groups to surround yourself with a community of like-minded people.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know:<\/p>\n

Use this easy hike along the San Juan Rapids Trail to spark a love of hiking to your children, according to All Trails<\/a>. The hike is about 3 miles long with minimal elevation gain of just 69 feet and takes about 1 hour and 26 minutes to complete.<\/p>\n

Address: 3820 Bannister Road, Fair Oaks<\/p>\n

Parking: The trail has convenient parking along with free three-hour parking for trail users.<\/p>\n

Enjoy a moderate hiking loop along the American River. The hike is 6.69 miles long with an elevation gain of 65 feet and can be completed in about 2 hours and 43 minutes.<\/p>\n

Address: 5700 Arden Way, Carmichael<\/p>\n

Parking: Parking is available at this trail for a fee<\/p>\n

Take an easy hike on the McKinley Park Loop. The hike is 1.31 miles long with an elevation gain of just 4 feet and takes 31 minutes to complete.<\/p>\n

Address: 601 Alhambra Blvd, East Sacramento<\/p>\n

Parking: Street parking is available near the park.<\/p>\n

Go on a short family-friendly hike at Effie Yeaw Nature Loop. The hike is 1.6 miles long and 36 feet of elevation gain and takes up to 1 hour to complete.<\/p>\n

Address: 2850 San Lorenzo Way, Carmichael<\/p>\n

Parking: A parking lot is available at the center<\/p>\n

Enjoy a short hike at William Land Regional Park. This hike is 2 miles long with 19 feet of elevation gain and takes 30 minutes to 1 hour to complete.<\/p>\n

Address: 3800 West Land Park Drive, Land Park<\/p>\n

Parking: The park features multiple off-street parking and a paved parking lot.<\/p>\n

Hiking groups in Sacramento<\/p>\n

Looking to join a Sacramento hiking group? Here are Sacramento hiking groups:<\/p>\n

What to bring before going hiking with kids<\/p>\n

Before you head off on a great adventure with your children here is a list of items to bring in your backpack in order to have the best time, according to Raising Hikers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bring snacks: Make sure to bring snacks that are easy to carry and provide energy and long-lasting fuel such as oranges, fruit snacks, almond butter packets and granola barsBring enough water for everyone; A good general recommendation<\/a> is about one half-liter of water per hour of moderate activity in moderate temperatures, according to REIWarm hats and gloves if hiking during the fall or winterExtra socks for all hikersExtra clothes including jackets, sunhat and sunglassesTake a trail map and a compass and understand how to use themDriving directionsHand sanitizer, wet wipes, tissues and doggy poop bags in order to pick up any litter; Remember: \u2018Pack it in, pack it out\u2019<\/a>Bug spray and first aid kit that includes tweezers, waterproof Band-Aids, blister pads, disinfectant spray, Ibuprofen and allergy creamEmergency kit including pocketknife and a rain poncho. For longer trips -water treatment tablets, matches, a whistle and emergency heated blanketMake sure to bring a charged phone and ID<\/p>\n

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Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado is a service journalism reporter at The Sacramento Bee. She previously worked at the Star Democrat in Annapolis, Maryland. Veronica graduated from Georgetown University with a master\u2019s degree in journalism.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Looking to pass along a love for hiking to your children but don\u2019t know where to start? The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-334929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}