Humans have been trekking through this Cougar Mountain forest for ages. Native Americans wandered the slopes for as long as seven thousand years, and after the new Americans moved west, trappers, prospectors, loggers, and traders pushed goods through the wagon traces along the slopes above Coal Creek basin. Today, hikers and horse riders can enjoy the cool forests and gentle trails year-round, even November through May when the high-country Cascades are locked in snow.

Red Town. Coal Creek Town. Rainbow Town. There's a lot of American history here, going back nearly 150 years. Of course, the Native American history goes back much farther. Local tribes hunted these woods, gathered foodstuffs in the meadows, and harvested cedar for various uses.

As you hike the Wildside Trail (W1) you'll cross the clear waters of Coal Creek in a deep gorge, striding past an old homesite (the Wash House). Stay left at the junction with the Rainbow Town Trail to continue a scenic woodland walk to a high old mine site, where you'll find a massive concrete piling. Once, a massive cable nearly a half mile long was used to haul ore-laden containers up the steep slope below--this section of trail, dubbed the Steam Hoist Trail, is named for the massive coal-fired engines that powered that ore-hauling cable system.

The trail continues past this bit of Americana to Curious Valley--a U-shaped gorge carved by glaciers at the tail end of the last ice age--before it loops around the upper flank of Marshall Hill. An old millpond still sits, cool and dark, in the woods on Marshall Hill. Its waters once rushed down an old closed flume system to power lumber mills down in Coal Creek valley.

Past the pond, the trail leads across the spine of De Leo Wall. Here you'll find views from the open madrona forest atop the wall. Leave the spine of De Leo Wall by descending gradually toward Newcastle Hills to rejoin the Wildside Trail in the Coal Creek valley near Redtown Meadow.