For kids, pick short trails with a clear payoff such as a lake, waterfall or beach, plan for about half your usual pace, and keep children close near cliffs, canyons and fast water.

tips

• Choose a trail under two hours with little climbing to start.
• Give each child a whistle and teach them to "hug a tree" and blow it if lost, as AdventureSmart's Hug-a-Tree program teaches.
• Bring snacks, layers and dry socks.
• Turn around while everyone is still having fun.

trails we mark as kid-friendly

• Quarry Rock (North Shore, easy)
• Lynn Loop (North Shore, easy)
• Lynn Canyon & 30 Foot Pool (North Shore, easy)
• Rice Lake Loop (North Shore, easy)
• Capilano Canyon & Cleveland Dam (North Shore, easy)
• Dog Mountain (North Shore, easy)
• Cypress Falls (North Shore, easy)
• Lighthouse Park (North Shore, easy)
• Stanley Park Seawall (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Pacific Spirit Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Burnaby Mountain Trails (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Jug Island Beach (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Minnekhada Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Lower Falls (Golden Ears) (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Bridal Veil Falls (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Hayward Lake Railway Trail (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Shannon Falls (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Murrin Park (Browning Lake loop) (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Four Lakes Trail (Alice Lake) (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Brandywine Falls (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Mystery Lake (North Shore, easy)
• Killarney Lake (Bowen Island) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Admiralty Point (Belcarra) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Burnaby Lake loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Deer Lake loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Smuggler Cove (Sunshine Coast, easy)
• Skookumchuck Narrows (Sunshine Coast, easy)
• Whistler Train Wreck (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Nairn Falls (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Othello Tunnels (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Hicks Lake loop (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Mundy Park loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Colony Farm Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Pitt-Addington Marsh dikes (Grant Narrows) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Kanaka Creek: Cliff Falls (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Derby Reach and Edgewater Bar (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Campbell Valley: Little River Loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Tynehead Regional Park loops (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Redwood Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Crescent Beach and Blackie Spit (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Boundary Bay dike (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Richmond West Dyke Trail (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Queen Elizabeth Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Camosun Bog boardwalk (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Fisherman's Trail (Seymour River) (North Shore, easy)
• Maplewood Flats (North Shore, easy)
• Seaview Walk (North Shore, easy)
• Ambleside to Dundarave Seawalk (North Shore, easy)
• Sasamat Lake loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Port Moody Shoreline Trail (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Barnet Marine Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Central Park (Burnaby) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Burnaby Fraser Foreshore Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Spanish Banks to Jericho Beach (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• False Creek seawall loop (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• White Rock Promenade (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Delta Nature Reserve (Burns Bog) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Deas Island Regional Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Stanley Park: Beaver Lake (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• South Dyke Trail (Finn Slough to London Farm) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Yew Lake and Bowen Lookout (North Shore, easy)
• Pitt River Greenway (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Rolley Falls and Lake (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Semiahmoo Ramble (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Aldergrove Regional Park (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Fort-to-Fort Trail (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Vedder River Trail (Fraser Valley, easy)
• Heather Trail (Manning Park) (Further afield, easy)
• Sea Island Dike (McDonald Beach) (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Peace Arch Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Delta Watershed Park (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• George C. Reifel Bird Sanctuary dikes (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Mud Bay / East Delta Dike Trail (Metro Vancouver, easy)
• Porteau Cove viewpoint trail (Sea-to-Sky, easy)
• Whistler Valley Trail (Further afield, easy)
• Portside and Burnaby Heights trails (Metro Vancouver, easy)

More on the kid-friendly list.

sources

• AdventureSmart (checked October 24, 2026)
• AdventureSmart Hug-a-Tree (checked October 24, 2026)