A successful first backpacking trip with 2 is ages 5 and 8. We stopped and set up camp at the first Greenwater Lake, and found a great campsite up the hill from the lake toward the newer vault toilet. It was a bit quieter, away from the rushing water, and had 2 decently flat spots for our tents and a great little fire area with logs to sit on. The kids loved a bouncy log that straddled the 2" deep creek that was like a seesaw for 1. The water in the lake was icey, and neither kid thought it was swim able.
The hike was not as flat as I thought it'd be, but the rolling hills were short and very doable for us on our first trip.
We did not see or hear any bears or deer. Banana slugs, a vulture, little birds, and a brave little chipmunk were the only wildlife we saw.
The following day we took a little hike to the 2nd Greenwater Lake. It was beautiful too, though we didn't explore enough to find any good camp areas. There were some spots where the trail hugged a cliff, but it was wide and felt safe.
The trail was good and passable. There's 1 bridge with a wobbly hand rail, and the bridge to the camping areas of the first lake has a pretty large drop off/step (maybe a rock or log tumbled away) but the little one did it with help. The trail was a bit muddy in spots but my feet didn't get wet, so not too bad.
This was a great first trip with kids.
We hiked back to the car on Saturday morning and the trail was much much busier with both day hikers and backpackers. When we got to our car at 10:30 am, the parking lot was full and people were parking on the sides of the road.
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