The giant bridge ahead and the distant roar of loud car engines were telltale signs that we were arriving at I-405 in Southcenter. Though instead of zooming toward an onramp at 70 miles per hour, we were floating lazily down a river at approximately two miles per hour.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, my wife and two boys, ages five and three, set out for an urban outing that felt like a true adventure. The four of us canoed a short section of the Green River, from Van Doren’s Landing Park in Kent to Fort Dent Park in Tukwila. Equipped with a backpack full of snacks, sunscreen, and a sense of wonder, we weren’t entirely sure what was in store.

Our canoe trip was a micro adventure, a term popularized by 2012 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Alastair Humphreys. The beauty of these types of exploits with kids is that they can be just as exciting as more grandiose adventures. Paddling together down a river we’ve never been to — despite it being surrounded by shopping malls and shipping centers — felt somewhat extreme. We went through similar highs, lows, and unknowns as we have taking our kids on multiday backpacking trips, but this time we were only gone for a few hours.

Throughout the four-hour journey, we saw a plethora of wildlife: blue herons, bald eagles, ducks, and beaver dams. There was also a surprising number of abandoned shopping carts sticking out of the water, tarps that had blown from who knows where, and small tent encampments hidden under bridges. The scenery was both serene and gloomy at the same time.

The river water — which indeed looked green — was no longer something I’d want to swim in. The pollution was evident. Yet, it was easy to imagine a time when it had been pristine. If it hadn’t been for the occasional warehouse building sticking up along the banks, or the steady stream of bikers passing by on the Green River Trail, it would have felt like we were alone in a wild place.

One big surprise was a very short section of “rapids” we encountered — enough to freak our boys out a bit. Otherwise, the river chugged along at a leisurely speed, and we were able to slide the boat onto a sand bar for an occasional break to get our land legs back.

Anyone with a little paddling experience can go urban canoeing, kayaking, or floating on the multitude of rivers near Seattle. The Green River becomes the Duwamish, which flows into Elliot Bay. The Cedar River winds its way toward Renton, ending in Lake Washington. Further north, the Sammamish River spills out near downtown Kenmore. Exploring nearby rivers doesn’t cost a fortune, and solitude is easy to find among the craziness of city life.

As we neared the takeout point of the family jaunt, our kids were finally starting to settle in. Our little one had even fallen asleep at one point. While urban canoeing isn’t something that we’ll start doing every weekend, it’s nice knowing there are easy-to-access places in nature that take us outside of our comfort zone and give us the sense that we’re farther away than we really are.