So many trails to choose from when starting at Helena’s Beattie Trailhead! Because there are so many that are great for any level of hiker, I’ll be posting several loops (all uncreatively named). 🙂
What I’m calling Loop #1 is a nice, short, shady hike that even the youngest hikers can walk by themselves. When our oldest was 2, he would hike this loop. The hike ranges from .5 – .75 miles. On the map below, you’ll see several different ways you can make a loop. Sometimes we’ve planned for a longer one, but circumstances just called for a shorter one last minute 🙂 , and it was easy to do!
Even on hotter days, this hike is not only doable, but enjoyable. Depending on how much your little one likes to wander and take in the surroundings, the hike has lasted us 30 minutes up to an hour and a half. There are plenty of stumps and logs and trees to have a little snack on or under if necessary.
If you hike this loop in the spring and summer, you’ll be treated with a variety of wildflowers – pasques, yellow bells, Wyoming kittentails, shooting stars, arrowleaf balsamroot, Rocky Mountain Douglasia.
Need a winter outing? Because you stay down on the lower trails for this loop, you can even hike it with your littles during the winter!
I don’t know about your little ones, but our boys love to jump from rocks, run downhill, and climb stumps. And this loop offers all of that! Granted, the jumping from the rocks means the rocks on the trail; so very low jumps, but they have fun!
What do your little ones love to do or find while out hiking?