This is a loop series of trails about 7 miles long with about 1300 to 1500 feet of elevation gain/loss over a series of ups and downs.

My first destination was Coal Creek Falls from the Sky Country Trail Head. The route to the falls had lots of folks with dogs and is a nice down hill walk for the most part. Not much water in Coal Creek and the falls were silent to my ears. Trees are leafy and grass is very high after a cool wet summer so not much in the way of views on any of the trails.

From the falls I headed to De Leo Wall via the Marshall Hill trail, on parts of the trail you could see a sharp drop off but no real views due to foliage. All the trails are in good shape with no mud. As most of my hiking in the area has been in fall/winter/spring this was a welcome change.

I passed Far Country falls but again could not see or hear the falls from the trail. The rest of the walk was a nice amble through a shady green forest.

Weather the last two Sunday's has been muggy and warm so I am glad I took extra water with me.

This time I decided to check out some of the trails on the west side of Cougar Mountain. First I rambled along the wide, easy-strolling Red Town Trail to the ballfield meadow. After relaxing by the rushing waters of Coal Creek for a bit, I continued roaming along the Indian Trail, freshly improved by the WTA and in great condition. A brand-new side trail led me down to an overlook of Far Country Falls, which is quite a lovely sight with its multiple streams of water tumbling down mossy ledges. This spot is destined to become a Cougar Mountain favorite.

I then backtracked on the Indian Trail and headed west on the De Leo Wall Trail. This old school trail is narrower and muddier than many on Cougar Mountain, but pretty nevertheless. The trail rambles on an up-and-down course through open forest along the south hillside of Marshall's Hill, crossing several ravines with little brooks. At a junction, the official De Leo Wall trail takes off uphill to avoid private property. To see the viewpoint, I continued straight ahead, following an unsigned but decent trail. This path soon reached the brink of the cliff and views picturesquely framed by madrona trees, which thrive on this extremely dry site.

The trail picked a precarious route along the cliff before arrive at a knot of trails coming together at the far west end of Cougar Mountain. New trails constructed by the Issaquah Alps Trails Club and the city of Newcastle continue west from here. I followed the "Cross Town Trail" for a bit, then ascended a new staircase to a subdivision. A short stroll among some high end homes took me to an access road to a water tower, and led me back into Cougar Mountain Park.

At this time, the few gleams of sun I was enjoying abruptly ended and I was assaulted by a sudden storm of hail, rain and thunder. The shelter of the trees in Cougar Mountain Park was quite welcome! The rain never let up until I got back to my car.

I Followed the Marshall's Hill trail for a long stretch--more pleasant walking on a good tread with just touches of mud in places. Eventually it joined the Wildside Trail, which I followed back to Red Town Trailhead. The Wildside Trail has some bad mudholes that need work.

For pleasant and easy hiking close to Seattle, Cougar Mountain never fails to please.

This series of trails forms a nice clockwise loop starting at the Red Town TH on Cougar.

Blue skies, sun, no wind, and temperatures in the mid-forties. The Coal Creek Falls are quite pretty right now, with a light dusting of snow on the surrounding area. When I got to the De Leo Wall trail, I decided to take the extra loop out to the “lookout spot”. This section of trail is narrower, more overgrown, and in rather poor condition, and the lookout was just a view of the suburbs to the SW. I’d skip it next time and just enjoy the climb up the main De Leo Wall trail. There were some blowdowns on the Marshall's Hill trail, but not too difficult to get over.

5 miles round trip, approx 1,100' elevation gain.

Went on this hike on a spur of the moment decision and hit the trail at about 5:00pm. Very easy hike with a few uphill spots but nothing this out of shape guy couldn't handle. The view from the De Leo Viewpoint is ok, I was hoping to see Ranier but there were trees in the way. It is a nice little place to sit and eat a snack before finishing the trip, though.