One of our favorite trails to take our toddler and preschooler hiking or biking (pedal or balance) is LeGrande Cannon Trail on the west side of Helena, at the intersection of LeGrande Cannon Blvd and Silverette Street.
It is flat, wide, provides fun destinations for the kids (more on that below), and gives the feel of being in the mountains. If you have a stroller, you can even use it here! I wouldn’t suggest running with the stroller as it is pretty rocky and bumpy for that.
We started taking our oldest here to hike before he was 2. And now both boys hike this trail (or part of it anyway). It is easy hiking for even the youngest hikers as there are not any hills on the trail (although there are hills nearby that are fun for kids to climb and run down, too). Once our oldest got the hang of his balance bike, this was a perfect trail for him to go “mountain biking” on. And now with his peddle bike, we still use it.
Approximately 200 yards from the trailhead is an old bridge that my boys and their friends always like to stop at to throw rocks.
The trail winds a bit, so there is always something to see around the next corner. Or lots of large logs and stumps to sit on for breaks.
This is also a fun trail to pull young ones in a sled. It can be quite the workout, but something our kids have enjoyed. And they tend to want to get out and run sometimes anyway, so it’s really not too strenuous.
A few other notes about this trail. There is quite a drop off on one side of the trail, but we’ve never had any major problem with it. It is a dog friendly area. The trail is well-used. We’ve always run into other people whenever we’ve gone (morning, afternoon, weekend, weekday).
Have you enjoyed LeGrande trail? Let us know!