OVERVIEW:

1. Margaret's Way, West Peak, and Bullitt Fireplace trails to Central Peak
2. Down Old Griz to East Side Trail
3. West to junction with Bullitt Fireplace
4. Up Bullitt Fireplace to close the loop at West Peak trail
5. Back down Margaret's Way

Total about 10.6 miles and 2550 feet.

Plenty of parking at the trail head, but beware the huge potholes at the edge of the roadway. Portapotties in good condition.

Most of this route is smooth sailing on very well-maintained trails. The West Peak segment is a little more rugged, narrow and loose than Margaret's Way, and is where I encountered the only trail-blocking blowdown of the day. It's also where I saw an owl perched not very far off the trail. It was staring straight at me, and I was surprised it stayed put long enough for me to change lenses on my camera and take a few photos.

Old Griz is like a different world, which I didn't know existed (though there are some excellent previous trip reports; I just hadn't done my homework). Along this trail, extensive swathes of large mature trees were blown down by the bomb cyclone in November 2024. Maddy's report of May 26 has photos that show the scale of damage better than mine. But thanks to heroic efforts by I don't know how many people, the trail is clear. It's definitely more rugged than the rest of today's route, but quite hikeable. Note that if approaching it from the East Side trail, the junction is no longer at the old sign post on the East Side; it's about 50 yards west of there and marked by orange tape.

Several muddy trail sections especially between Central Peak and Bullitt Fireplace. A few areas of treefall but easy to climb over or go around. Snow & icicles on vegetation & trees started at ~1500’ but by the end of our hike (around 12noon) snow melt dripped from the trees. At intersection of Central Peak trail and Old Griz Trail, posted sign says it is still closed.

We started from a trailhead in the Forest Rim subdivision that connected to the Bullitt Fireplace trail. From there, proceeded to Central Peak→Bullitt Fireplace→Perimeter trail→West Peak→Chybinski; then, back to our vehicle. A good route for a conditioner due to the interval-training-like profile of the up-down-flat-up-down-up-flat-down-up-down trail … sounds like a dance step and almost felt like that as we enjoyed the sun dappled, snow sprinkled forest as we tromped along. 6 miles, 1500’ gain, 3 hours

Took advantage of a second clear weekend in a row to take a walk on the mountain. Started from the Mountainside Dr. trailhead and took a multiple trail loop to hit Central and West peaks. Trivial dusting of old snow in a few spots but so little I had to look close to be sure it wasn't just very thick frost so marked as snow-free.

Very impressed how much work's been done to clear the debris from last fall's storm both on county and state parks maintained trails—there was loads of evidence of recent work and with the exception of one less developed cross-connector trail everything was clear (and even there there were only a few step-overs and one duck-under, nothing difficult). That said per the same 1/13 flyer posted on a previous trail report Old Griz and East Ridge upward to Phils Creek are still unusable (and the turnoff for Old Griz was signed off), also at the junction of Coal Mine and West Access continuing West there's a newish-looking sign noting that a bridge on West Access Trail has been removed due to damage.

Hi everyone, Jeno and I did not hike all the trails I listed but we saw a sign dated 1-13 in one of the kiosks up there this morning that showed the status of those trails so I listed them. (See my photo).   We're not sure what SMAT is referencing.  We wondered if they are referring to the Sycamore Access trail?  Bottom line plan accordingly if you're on the east side of Squak Mt. given some of the trails are closed.

As for our hike we made a short loop going up the Bullitt Fireplace trail to the fireplace and then down to the Central Peak trail which we took back to where it connects with the Fireplace trail.   

When we started at 6:00 AM it was a frosty 28 degrees.  We ran into our friend Mike and his three dogs within the first 1/4 mile up the trail then didn't see anyone for a long time.   Both the Fireplace and Central Peak trails are clear of trees with everything cut up and pushed aside.  The latter looked to have had more damage from the storm based on what we saw.

We saw one runner on Central Peak who upon seeing us turned around and took off in the other direction.   Jeno said we must look scary and I said or we smell.    :)   

Other than the runner and Mike we only saw one other hiker this morning on our return to the cars.  Trails were in good shape with some slick spots (very minor) in places. 

Stay safe everyone.  See you on the trail.   SR 

Linked a bunch of trails together on Squak Mountain today to make a 6.7-mile route with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Along the way, we stopped at the Bullitt Fireplace and Central Peak. 

THE ROAD / PARKING 

We got to the May Valley parking lot around 8:45 this morning, and the lot wasn't even half full, so it was easy to find a spot. 

When we returned around 12:30, the lot was nearly full, but there were still a few spots around.

One of the vault toilets is open, and it's in great shape. There's a light in there, and there's plenty of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. It seems like the trash cans are also being serviced right now, and the pay station at the trailhead is also functioning, in case you forget your Discover Pass. 

THE TRAIL

Most of the trails we hit up today were in good shape overall. Near Central Peak, the trails were pretty muddy in some places, and my trail runners got mud all over them. My socks got slightly wet too through my shoes. That said, nothing was a big issue. Trail crews have done an excellent job clearing the trails after the bomb cyclone.

When we were heading up to Central Peak, we heard a chainsaw in the distance, and shortly after, we passed a couple of guys with one, so we're guessing crews are still actively working on the trails even as we speak. We passed the junction with the Old Griz trail, which is very clearly signed as closed (so we didn't venture in that direction). 

MISC. 

It was a very quiet day for us — we saw a few folks here and there, but mostly got the hike to ourselves. 

We saw evidence of the bomb cyclone everywhere. There's debris flanking the trail all over, but trail crews have done incredible work to make the trails we hiked on today hikeable once more. Thank you so much, trail crews!