Hi friends! Question? Hiking, do you love it or hate it? Well since you are here reading this post I am going to safely assume that you love it. This year Dayjhan and I have been big on going hiking together. We have already been more than four times since the year started and we really enjoy it. Though hiking together is fun we decided to do something crazy and mix it up. Yep! we decided to take the girl’s go as a family. As you guys know Aria is 5 and Ivy just turned 7. While our kids are not the most adventurous they’re always up for a fun challenge. We were a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect but when we ventured out to go hiking at Lands End Trail In San Francisco.
Lands End Trail.
Lands End Trial in San Francisco, CA is one of the best places in the city for a good hike. The trail is 3.4 miles and loops around some of the most beautiful scenery in Northern California. The trail is partially paved and has a ton of stairs in most spots. Though the trail is also great for dogs, running, walking, and historical site views. But for us and many parents reading this the most important thing is it’s kid-friendly. When we did our research on hiking with our girls we wanted to make sure a kid-friendly trail was at the top of the list. Along with beautiful views and room for social distancing Lands End seemed like the perfect hike. Dayjhan and I had already been here a few weeks prior so we felt comfortable taking the girls.
Lands End Labyrinth
Though the trail is long we choose to hike down to Lands End Labyrinth. This is down near Golden Gate Recreational Area which is in the northwest part of the city. When many hike this trail they tend to park near Sutro Baths 680 Point Lobos Ave. But we like to park right outside of the Golden Gate Recreational Area sign. If you can find street parking it will save you a ton of time especially with little ones. This hike is only about 1.5 miles long and will take you down to Mile Rock Beach trail. There you will hike straight down to the beach and even grab a nice view of the Lands End Labyrinth lookout.
Our Hike.
We arrived at the trail around 12:00 pm with two backpacks. Dayjhan carried our lunches in his and I carried all the water bottles in mine. He and I both hiked in cozy bottoms and t-shirts. While for the girls we opted for leggings and short sleeve shirts with light jackets. This hike can be a bit windy it can also be a bit hot once you’ve been hiking for a while. So the girls had the option of wrapping their jackets around their waist if they got hot. Note: your kids will definitely get dirty! We started down the hill and the girls actually did very well. It wasn’t until we reached the stairs that it was a bit hard well at least for Ivy. We stopped to take frequent rest and a few sips of water. We even stopped to look at flowers and take photos. Some parts of the trail have cement benches so it made it easy on us to let the girls sit down for a break while staying out of the other hiker’s way.
Once we were halfway to Mile Rock Beach we took a right turn and headed up to Labyrinth lookout. Typically there is a beautiful maze of rocks at the bottom. But unfortunately, it looked as if someone had maybe moved some of them. It was hard to tell if they had been moved or if they had been covered in dirt. Either way, the girls were only interested in heading down to the beach. A kind stranger took a few family photos of us and even got the lighthouse behind us awesome capture. Before we headed to the beach we gave the girls something to add to a hat someone had left in the middle of the maze. Sort of like a make a wish, good luck thing. You know like when you toss a penny in a fountain. It was cute.
Mile Rock Beach.
Mile Rock Beach is fun. It’s not a typical beach where you go and make sandcastles. But more of a beach you to explore. As soon as we got to the bottom the girls ran around looking for rocks to climb and treasures to find. I found us a spot on a log to have lunch. The kids Lunchables, Dayjhan, and me sandwiches. After lunch, the girls walked around collecting rocks as Dayjhan tried to stack his own. Imitating the rocks someone had stacked high around the beach. I looked on and took it all in, the waves were crashing loud that day, the wind, blowing, the kids giggling and running with their dad. It was the end of a great hike. The four of us hiked back up which took us a little longer because the kids were more tired going up, but we made it. We told the kids how proud of them we were and they fell asleep on the way back home. We are definitely looking forward to our next hike with them.
P.S Whoever said little ones can’t hike, they were wrong.
To learn more about Lands End here.
Happy Hiking with those kiddos!
