A great way to get some exercise in a beautiful location without having to drive out to the forest. Trails are wide and well maintained. Do watch out for horse manure. We did the Coyote Trail and noticed in the NE section of the park there are signs saying that parts of the trails are closed due to aggressive owl attacks. There is no mention of this at the trail head, but only when you are over 2 miles in on the Coyote Trail. Lots of cars and horse trailers in the parking lot, but we only saw a few people and two horses the entire time.

Nice little urban walk that is easy to get to and great for getting a taste of the outdoors without having to go too far or work too hard. Trails are easy to follow and have good footing, just be aware that there are likely to be horses on the trail and to give them way when you encounter them. We did the 1.7 mile Trillium Trail.

Walked the big loop around the exterior of Bridle Trails State Park on a drizzly Sunday morning. A convenient walk in the woods. Good for families as it is nearly all flat and there are some nature interpretive signage. Do not take the horse riders frequently curt instructions personally - they are just telling you what to do so you don't spook their animals. Parking is abundant in the lot off 116th Ave NE but you do need a Discover Pass.

A great hike so close to the city and yet has good amount of trees that makes you feel like you are out on the woods. There are hikes all over the park with lots of branching. Three of these hikes are well marked at each junction. We did two of these hikes, a 1 mile and 1.6 mile - was a nice quick hike. The trails are good for the most part except few places where it was muddy. We came across many joggers and few folks riding on horses.

Another report in my Suburban Safari© series. When the snow won't melt in the mountains, do a Suburban Safari! Bridle Trails is a good sized (482 acre) park located in north Bellevue. Within the park, there are over 28 (!) miles interlacing the dense forest of douglas fir, cedar and hemlock. You could spend all day wandering around in there. What's the bad news? Well, as you may have guessed, this park is all about horses. And you know what that means: trails trampled into a sea of mud, manure everywhere, not to mention close encounters with the finicky 1000 pound beasts. I recall a visit to Bridle Trails in the late 80's on a wet day: after slogging through one gigantic mud hole after another on some trail there, I quickly turned around and resolved to never come back. And then there's the problem with the terrain, or more specifically, lack thereof. If anything, Bridle Trails is more boring topographically than the notoriously dull Soaring Eagle Park, a similarly sized park to the east in the city of Sammamish. The forest cover at Bridle Trails is continuous and there are no big views at all -although a power line corridor cutting through the park provides a little light and sun, along with a vista of high tension wires. Nor are there any significant creeks, and only vague little ridges to provide a touch of exercise here and there. Given all that, I enjoyed my short little visit to Bridle Trails today, the first since that soggy hike many years ago. Over the years, many of the trails have been hardened with gravel and the mud is not so overwhelming now (although a lot of glop can be found, especially on side trails - don't bring dress shoes here). I walked the 1.6 mile Trillium Loop and admired some large firs (some are 250 years old) deep in the dark, quiet heart of the park. Along the trail, I enjoyed reading a series of interpretive signs that describe forest features. Midweek, few horses were to be seen, and no hikers either. They must have been out there somewhere, but were lost in the 28 miles of trails. I also hiked portions of the Coyote Loop, for a total of 4 miles of walking in the park. The weather was nice, the birds were chirping - what more could one ask for in a forest located only a few minutes from downtown Bellevue? Oh yes, what about the horse apples? One would expect the trails here to be covered with them. Yes, they are there, but less than I expected. I'm not sure where the horse apples go - perhaps the poop eventually gets ground into the trail bed by horse hooves. Maybe it's better not to know... Here's a map of Bridle Trails: http://www.bridletrails.org/Trail_Map.html A Discover Pass is required to park at the main entrance on the east side of the park. Maintenance needs: most blowdowns are cut. Continuing efforts are needed to drain and/or harden trails to reduce mud. It would be great if a winding, picturesque 4 or 5 mile hiker- only trail were constructed in the park.