A Guide to Hiking in the Adirondacks

There are few activities as wholesome and healthy as a group hike. The Adirondacks has a number of family friendly trails and areas. Gurney Lane Nature Trail offers a 1.3-mile (2.1-kilometer) educational nature walk through a wilderness park, complete with info kiosks and viewpoints. The end reward: a trout-stocked pond for fishing.

Sawyer Mountain is a good hike for beginners or families with children. A little over a mile (1.6 kilometers), it leads to a real summit of a moderate elevation of 630 feet (192 meters). Go past the forested summit a bit to find a rock ledge with great views of the area. With Panther Mountain, the ascent is fast and the peak less than a mile away, making it an ideal, morning-long hike for any family. Round trip, it's a little over a mile and a half (2.4 kilometers).

Roaring Brook Falls has family activities as well as family-appropriate hiking. In addition to shorter trails, there's a waterfall, which older family members can hike up via a steep rock face. The trail that leads to the falls is wide, flat and easy for children.