His daughter Alice was just a toddler when Reese Liggett started taking her on family hikes. Sometimes he'd carry her in a backpack but when the trail was easy to manage, he would let her roam for a few hundred yards.

The family regularly explored the trails around O'ahu and now, almost a dozen years later, still works hikes into busy youth soccer and basketball schedules.

The experiences were priceless.

"It's great to go to open country where you can hardly see other people or buildings or cars," said Liggett, a longtime member of the Sierra Club's Hawai'i chapter. "It is great exercise and you are together, and the child learns it is important to huff and puff and sweat to get to someplace."

With at least 20 family-friendly hikes around O'ahu, hiking with your children can be a great summertime activity. The state's two most prominent hiking groups — the Sierra Club and the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club — offer group hikes. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources also manages Na Ala Hele, a trail access program with online printable maps.

Look for hikes that last about two hours, preferably with a view at the halfway point where you might want to stop for lunch, said Liggett, who leads hikes with the Girl Scouts.

It's important to give young hikers an idea of what they're going to experience — the effort, the view, the fruit along the trail — and to push them through the first 10 minutes, after which most will find their second wind, Liggett said.

"Setting expectations is really important when you lead kids," he said.

His favorite family hikes include Maunawili Trail, Wiliwili Nui Trail and Mariner's Ridge, which takes hikers to a view atop the Ko'olau, just above Sea Life Park. He also recommends the book "Hikers Guide to Oahu" (University of Hawai'i Press) by Stuart M. Ball Jr.

A good hike can be a great educational tool, said Aaron Lowe, O'ahu trails and access specialist for DLNR's Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

One of Lowe's favorite hikes, the 2.5-mile Makiki Valley Loop, which starts near the Hawai'i Nature Center, includes nine interpretative stations geared toward younger hikers, he said. Children taking this popular hike learn about the science of a watershed, invasive plants and animals, Hawaiian culture and even what a small forest fire can do, Lowe said.

"Part of the reason I do this job is to provide a venue for people to understand and get in touch with nature," he said. "In the long run, I feel it is the first step toward being more environmentally conscious."

Ralph Valentino, a longtime member of the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club, said many trails offer a glimpse of history. Valentino has hiked past abandoned coffee farms, Hawaiian ovens carved into lava rock and ancient petroglyphs.

Valentino often took his son on hikes, starting when the boy was 8. But it wasn't always an easy sell. One of his tricks for getting his son interested was to allow him to invite a friend, Valentino said.

"Like many young kids, if you bring them out with adults, it isn't what they want to do," he said. "But if you brought another friend with them, they are not tired anymore. They are almost running the trail and laughing and having fun."

TIPS FOR A SAFE, ENJOYABLE HIKE