High Sierra Topix

I agree with tim wholeheartedly. The exception depends on how tough your kids might be. My 2 kids loved "death marches" (I NEVER did) from the time they were 7 or 8. Our 1st trip we went to Laurel Lake. The 1st day we hiked half way there starting at about 4PM. The 2nd day we hiked to Laurel Lake by an early lunch time. They thought it was sooo easy. My sons just had a tougher mentality than I did (relative to their age). They didn't catch up to me in absolute terms until they were about 12. By then I had backpacked 300+ days and we were even and they were 12. At 12 I was not very tough (not compared to them).

We took our son on his first backpacking trip when he was 2 years, 9 months up Lyell Canyon and at least once every year after that until he was in college. Here’s some tips from what we learned.

The suggestion to make it at least a 2 night trip is good idea. My son liked layover days when he could play around the campsite and take a short dayhike to somewhere interesting. Let your kids bring along toys to play with. My son had a bandaid box filled with his little “guys” (Dupplo and Leggo figures mainly). When hiking, come up with some distraction to take the mind off the walking. I would make up a running story for a trip (with my son offering his own plot line suggestions). Also, bring along a favorite book for a bedtime story and a deck of cards if you get stuck in the tent due to rain. And be prepared with alternative plans. Between weather and fatigue, the day’s destination can change.

In terms of places, we mainly did east side trailheads. West side ones included Polly Dome Lakes in September, which was a great trip. We were the only people there. Early in the season, mosquitoes can be pretty bad there. We also did Joe Crane Lake out of Granite Creek. We spent the first night at Cora Lakes, then two nights are Joe Crane. It’s my understanding it’s a popular packer destination, but we saw no one. The other west side places we went didn’t allow fires.

Most of the east side places we went had fire restrictions. But some suggestions anyway for future trips if you find your kids don’t need fires are Sabrina Basin (3 miles to Blue Lake and the lakes further up are all spectacular), Little Lakes Valley, Big McGee Lake (6-7 miles), Bishop Pass trail to Long Lake and the lakes further up, Piute Pass Trail (lots of nice campsites by the lakes and if you can get over the pass into Humphrey’s Basin for a longer trip, off-trail travel is easy - my son did this at age 7).

Here's a post of one of the lakes out of the Carr/Feely TH. The names are coded to confuse the rifraf. PM me if you can't figure them out.

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Hey Strollin. I seem to recall that you are in the same neck o' the woods as me (Rocklin/Roseville area). I second the suggestion for the Grouse Ridge area of the TNF. I've been up there hiking with my kids, and hope to do a backpack this summer.

There are lots of access points, but Carr Lake is a good choice. The hiking from there is relatively flat, and lots of lakes within just a few miles. No fire restrictions, and not terribly crowded. Lack of moving water is the only bummer, but the lake fishing is supposedly decent to good, although I have not been able to crack it in my time up there.

Another option: two summers ago, I took my son (then 7) on his first backpacking trip up Wolf Creek near the East Carson. Perfectly flat, fun playing along the water, again no fire restrictions. It was October, so the fishing in Wolf Creek was pretty lousy, but the East Carson is right there. We didn't fish it on that trip, but I've had epic days on that river the past.

I've compiled a list of trips I've done with my kids. Some are more adventurous than others. It's all in this google map.

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They aren't west slope, but would be easy for kids and give you the water you want:

Eagle Falls on Emerald Bay of Tahoe to Eagle Lake. It's really crowded though.

Leavitt Meadow to Roosevelt Lake and Lane Lake with The West Walker River right there as well. It's short and flat, not going to tire them out and good chance you'll have some solitude.

No fires at Eagle Lake; don't know about Roosevelt. I built fires when I first started backpacking 45 years ago. Truthfully, they're dirty, smokey-trigger asthma, take a lot of work and extra cleaning. The grime left behind from cleaning pots and pans after cooking on a fire draws small rodents and insects to campsites; that includes chipmunks that carry fleas that carry Yesinia pestis i.e. Bubonic Plague-no joke. Modern stoves are so much faster, cleaner, easier. For the nostalgia of a fire, a candle lantern really is almost as good. Ethically, fires are not a good thing. It depletes the natural decomposing timber, scars the rocks and ground, and creates a danger of setting off forest fires. I understand that people who car camp are used to the romantic notion of a fire and those type campgrounds usually have fire pits and you bring your own wood. Very few backpackers build fires any more. I truly do not intend to be unkind in saying this, nor do I mean to be offensive, but fires are just not part of the modern wilderness ethic. You will be amazed at how much easier life without a fire actually is. Best wishes for a marvelous experience with your family. I hope it is a trip your children will remember forever.

You did not put a distance/driving time restriction on your request.

So I offer Lassen Volcanic NP and area, particularly the east 1/2 and adjacent Caribou Wilderness. The terrain is flat to rolling with a zillion lakes and cool geology for a kid (lava flows of bizzare shapes, black and red sand beaches, rocks that float ).

Downside: the sandy trails can be a bit more tiring to hike in for a child, and massive mosquitoes early in the summer.

Upside: A lot fewer people than the central Sierra.

I admit I am partial to the area. Some local bias.

Another spot that comes to mind is Silver Lake trailhead near Quincy. Hike into Gold Lake (there are two Gold Lakes in Plumas NF, this one is in the Bucks Wilderness). Camp the first night at Silver Lake after the long drive, then head to the smaller Gold Lake the next day.

Nobody has mentioned Kibbie Lake....took my granddaughter there when she was 4....

1. A very popular first time backpacking destination is Round Top Lake off of Carson Pass, or WInnemucca Lake. You can do a loop, allow a day layover to scramble to the top of Round Top. It gets fairly windy at Round Top and that keeps the mosquitoes away. I think it is only 2 1/2 miles from Woods lake, 3 1/2 if you start at the pass.

2. I took my daughter last summer on a trip out of the Wrights lake trailhead off of Highway 50. There are several excellent choices from there. We went over the Rockbound Pass which might be a bit much for a first trip, but Maud Lake or Twin/Island Lakes are more manageable possibilities.

3. Kibbie Lake is also an excellent choice from the Shingle Springs trailhead near Cherry Lake. It is probably the most scenic of these possibilities from my own tastes. It also helps that it has the advantage of being available and mosquito free earlier than higher elevation destinations. Of course, if you hit any of them just wrong they can be buggy. Kibbie is 4 1/2 miles and not all of the approach is scenic--there is a burn area. And the road from Cherry Creek dam to the trailhead is very rough, although I have gotten a passenger car over it.

Frankly, there are a couple of trips very close to the road in Yosemite/Mammoth that are faster to get to for me (Bay Area) than many of the west side trailheads. Those would open up a lot of possibilities depending on your driving concerns.

Note: I frankly don't remember anything about fires. I haven't had a fire in decades, and so I don't tend to notice specifically where they are legal.

My own favorite is the Little Lakes Basin out of Mosquito Flat. Instead of camping at Long Lake, head over the easy bump to the south of the outlet to camp at the unnamed lakelet. The hike in is easy, and there are pleasant and easy day hikes.