Steph was in Portland and BC only had half a day of school, so I picked him up and we headed to Cougar Mountain Park. It’s a nice little patch of ground considering how close it is to a major urban area. We decided we wanted to see Coal Creek Falls.

The parking lot was fairly empty which meant we beat the rush. Yay for us! On all of our previous jaunts, I’d worn running shoes, so my hiking boots were very happy to hit the trail.

BC wasn’t sure which way he and Steph had gone the year before, so we went the opposite way he thought. As we started up the gentle slope, flowers and wild roses started to appear.

Just before the intersection of Red Town Trail and the Quarry Trail, there is a meadow restoration in progress. BC didn’t want to see it until he caught sight of the old, rickety bridge across the stream. Oh to be eleven again! We took a quick look around and snapped some shots of the wild flowers growing in and around the meadow.

We hit the Quarry Trail and immediately saw giant rocks that formed a bit of a natural bridge. BC, being 11, was intent on exploring. But the curmudgeon in me was worried about weather and time, so we saved it for another day.

Soon enough the trail started to get steep. The elevation gain here is about 450 feet in half a mile. Nothing major but it’ll surprise you if you aren’t prepared. More and different flowers started to show themselves through this part of the trail, along with some horse tracks.

After a few switchbacks, the trail leveled out again and we were pretty sure we were approaching the intersection with the Coal Creek Falls Trail. We made a few left and right turns, jumped over a few banana slugs, and arrived at the next trail.

This one headed down, and we could just hear the sound of the falls. The trail passed through what I’m pretty sure at some point was a meadow, either natural or man made, I can’t say. This little spot was full of wild roses! Hundreds of them, ten feet tall, all just starting to bloom. I’ve never seen so many roses in one spot. Steph asked me later if they can be raised from a clipping. Don’t know about that…will have to ask my green thumb friend.

The trail heads down a slight slope and then makes a right along a steep slope. From here you can see Coal Creek. A few hundred feet further takes you to the falls.

The falls are thirty or forty feet high with another four or five foot drop at the bottom. The base is easily and apparently frequently accessed from the trail. There is also an unofficial trail along the left side of the falls. That one looks a little unsafe for kids, though BC said he saw kids on it the last time he was here. We scrambled over some logs and rocks to the base and took a few pictures. Then it was time to head for the car.

In all, we spent a hour and a half hiking two and a half miles on a trail less than ten miles from downtown Bellevue on a Wednesday afternoon. We saw tons of flowers, a pretty waterfall, three dogs, and four people. Pretty sweet if you ask me!

The trailhead is easy to find with plenty of room for several cars to park. The trailhead kiosk has a trail map posted and trail maps available to take on your hike or you can print one before you leave home. Visit: http://www.kingcounty.gov/[…]/cougar.aspx

The advantages of this hike are the many options to take several different trails. Today the goal was to visit the falls. All intersections leading to the falls were well marked with trail names and distances. The trail was muddy in few spots but not a problem.

This is a wonderful family hike. The trail is wide for a majority of the time, the trail is a short one way distance of 1.25 miles and upon reaching the falls you are rewarded with a surprisingly nice close up view of the small, yet three tiered, waterfall next to a bridge providing a picturesque sight.

Snuck out of the house early for a little birthday walk. Weather was supposed to be good but by the time I arrived at the Red Town trail head it was raining pretty good. I had never done any of the hikes from this side of Cougar. I took the Cave Hole trail up to the Coal Creek Falls trail, down along the Quarry trail then back to the trail head via the Red Town trail making a nice little loop, (grab a map at the trail head and just keep turning right.)

The falls isn't super huge but still definitely worth seeing, especially when it's big in winter and spring. There is a neat boulder wall along the Quarry trail before it runs into the Red Town trail. A bunch of spring birds are out already - lots of Robins looking for breakfast and a bit annoyed I was following them down the trail. The entire walk is in the area between Cougar and Newcastle proper so it's really quiet - no road or neighborhood noise. Even though it was raining much of the way, the trail was in good condition and easily passable even for little ones. Sorry no pics since it was so wet out.

A rare sunny day in February, so I decided to explore the upper reaches of Coal Creek. I started out from Red Town trailhead, following the Red Town trail to Indian Trail, then out to Far Country Falls. Not much of a "falls" - just a series of small cataracts flowing down and around mossy rocks. From the Far Country lookout, I doubled back to the Quarry Trail, climbing up to the cutoff for Coal Creek Falls. There was still a bit of snow in the woods, though none on the trail. Spent some time photographing the falls before continuing along the Coal Creek Falls trail to connect with the Cave Hole trail, then back to the Red Town trailhead.

The trails were in generally good shape. A bit muddy in patches, and in places some water over the trail, but that's to be expected this time of year, and nowhere were either of these a problem. A few blowdowns had obviously recently been cleared.

The main purpose of my trip was to photograph Coal Creek Falls. I visited Far Country Falls first, on the off chance that it was worth a photo or two, but mainly, I was after photos of Coal Creek Falls. The falls was flowing quite vigorously, and I arrived after the sun had gone behind a hill, so there were no issues with harsh lighting.

The Quarry Trail portion of the hike was a bit strenuous (I am over 60 and have asthma), but manageable. The rest was relatively easy, and would make a nice day hike for a family.