“I don’t like hiking,” my 4-year-old daughter told me recently.
“Oh, really,” I said mildly, while trying to contain my horror.
If my own daughter doesn’t like hiking, I’m failing as a parent. And it’s going to be a long childhood for her. We do a lot of hiking.
So, when I had a free day, I told Hazel we were going on a picnic. She was instantly on board. It turns out 90 percent of parenting is just effective marketing.
For our “picnic,” I wanted an easy hike with features that would interest a kid.
I asked around for suggestions and settled on Beaver Lake, which is 9 miles south of Darrington.
It’s a perfect spot for convincing a kid that hiking — excuse me, I mean picnicking — is fun.
The trail is on an old railroad grade, so it’s nearly perfectly flat. Round trip, it’s a smidge over four miles.
It begins at a new parking area, which was completed last year. There’s even a new privy, which still looks brand new.
The trail heads upstream near the Sauk River. After just a few minutes’ walk, a small trail turns off to the right. It leads to a stream monitoring station and a kid-friendly beach.
This is a perfect spot to stop and play — either as part of your trip or the final destination. The trail down to the river is rough, but extremely short. Hazel was able to navigate it on her own. There’s a nice sandy area, as well as many rocks for throwing in the river. I chose to stop at this spot on the way back. I knew if we stopped here first, we might be stuck for the entire day.
The trail continues on, in and out of trees. You’ll soon get good views of the peaks of Monte Cristo and Mount Pugh. A short section of trail was destroyed years ago when the slope slid. The trail here is narrow and the slope below it is steep. Hazel needed some help to cross it.
Past the slide, the trail carries on through the trees. When we were there, butterflies were everywhere. The salmonberries are just starting to bloom and the skunk cabbage flowers are at their peak.
Before long, you’ll reach Beaver Lake, which is more like a pond. We didn’t see the resident beavers, but did admire their handiwork. The reflections in the still water are lovely. A few geese and ducks were floating on the pond and we could hear a number of smaller birds singing in the brush. There’s one nice, long bridge that’s a great place for kids to play.
This would be an excellent spot to turn around. Or walk on for about five more minutes. The trail dead ends at a large old slide. You can take a big step down to a small, rocky beach. We chose to have our actual picnic here. And because I’m bribing my daughter to like hiking, the picnic was mostly cake and candy canes. While I can’t recommend that as a standard lunch, it works great if your kid has two miles to run off the energy.
On the way back, there was a bit of complaining about being tired. I bribed her with a piece of gum and a promise of more time throwing rocks on the river.
Just at the point she was about to give up, we reached the trail to the beach we’d passed up earlier. She found a sudden reservoir of energy and charged ahead of me. We spent a happy half hour throwing rocks and drawing in the sand. It took some convincing to pull her away for the short walk back to the car.
On the drive home, Hazel asked me “Mama, are you happy?” And I said yes, I was very happy. “I’m a good hiker,” she said.
Maybe I’m not totally failing at this parenting thing.
If you go
To get to Beaver Lake, head south on the Mountain Loop Highway from Darrington. It’s about 9 miles ahead, on the right just after you cross the Sauk River. There’s a privy at the trailhead. You’ll need a Northwest Forest Pass to park. Consider visiting at dawn or dusk for the best chance of seeing the beavers and other wildlife.
Another fun spot to stop is the White Chuck boat launch. The entrance is directly across the road from the Beaver Lake Trailhead. The launch is where the Sauk River meets the White Chuck River. It’s a pretty spot with a picnic table. It also has a beach that kids would enjoy playing on.
The trailhead for Beaver Lake is just before the pavement ends on the Mountain Loop. To extend your day, you could return home via the rest of the loop, which takes you to Barlow Pass and out to Granite Falls. It’s a lovely drive, and snow-free all the way already.
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