I was surprised there were not more people on this trail.  It is a very nice out and back short and easy trail....maybe 3 miles RT.  My group got a late start, so we were starting right around 10:30am on a sunny day.  So i was surprised we had the trail almost to ourselves.  It was great!  The hike starts out uphill, so bring poles if you have bad knees or just need some extra help.  Trail was a little muddy in places, but still passable.  Other than that, such a great trail....with a beautiful falls at the end.  Hard to believe you are so close to the city!

Personal best 13 trails in one day!

I did a loop from the Sky Country trailhead over to the east side & back to the west.  I was expecting an 8mi hike, but it ended up being 9.6.  Got to trailhead around 8:30, lot was maybe 1/3 full.  Seemed to mostly be trail runners.

Options - Tons of choices in this park for making your loop as long or as short as you want.

Signs - Every major fork in the trail that I crossed had great signs pointing you in the right direction.  But note that there are a LOT of trails in this park.

Views - I don’t recall how many waterfalls I saw on this hike…4 or 5 maybe?  A few required short side treks (like .2mi) off the main trail.  But otherwise, not much in the way of views, just some unique trees. 

Trail Conditions – There were trees down on almost every one of these trails.  The vast majority of them look like they’d been down for years, but seemed like a few fresh ones too.  Some of them are rather large or are up off the trail, but they weren’t too difficult to get around/under.

Wet -  Shouldn’t be a surprise, since it’s been raining so heavily the past few weeks (though there wasn't a drop of rain for the bulk of my hike today).  Again, on every trail, there was some standing water that you would definitely have to step into to get across.  Can’t recall if it was the Indian Trail or Coal Creek Falls Trail, but there was basically a river that crossed the trail that was 6-8ft wide.  For the most part, they aren’t deep, but I did have to cross a few where the water covered my toes.  I’m about 5’11”…if you are shorter, likely that you’re going to have to step through more water.  On one of the other trails (think it was coming up the Whittaker fork of the Wilderness Peak trail), I thought maybe I’d missed a turn because the “trail” in front of me was now all water rushing downhill.  That didn’t even cover the toes, and it was a pretty short section and I eventually found the trail again when I got past it.  Just a head's up to warn you that you're probably not lost.

Wilderness Peak Loop: Choose Wisely – You have a choice of which way you want to go up or down.  I happened to take the Gombu trail down & the Whittaker trail up, and I felt I made the best choice 😊  Both had a moderate/steep grade, but Gombu seemed worse (or better, depending on your POV).

I was hesitant to write this trip report as its repetitive, my third trip to Coal Creek Falls this year, also that its a easy & sweet, suburban, popular, straightforward trail. The trail itself is all that again today, so nothing novel to write here.

Three things that made me still go ahead and document my trip then are (1) The last report (which I did read before I headed to the trail this morning) is from a couple weeks ago in March. (2) The falls are milky white and in full flow now than I've seen in my previous trips. (3) I find WTA an optimal way to give back for anyone looking for information on (everyday to extraordinary) trails as well as a nice repository to document (and track) one of my 2018 intentions - to get outdoors to trails on a consistent basis.

Started at the Sky Country TH, walked over 4 miles to the falls and back. Pretty busy with hikers of all ages, but it was a great day for a walk in the woods. Trails were in good condition despite muddy spots along the way which of course my son had to walk through every one of them. There was a bit snow at the beginning of the trail as well, but nothing on the trail itself. The falls were beautiful and serene despite the number of people around. The privy at the TH needed tending too, didn't smell awful, but not great either. No sanitizer, so bring your own. No picnic tables at the parking lot we were in, but a number of good sized boulders to sit and have a snack. 

Went for an easy 6 mile loop on Cougar Mountain. Started from the Red Town Trailhead, down to Coal Creek Falls, up to Quarry then Shy Bear, down Deceiver to the falls (the name of which I forget), back to Shy Bear, down to Indian, back to Red Town Trail, then back to the trailhead.

Arrived in the parking lot at 10 am; there were a few spots left in the main lot. While waiting for a couple friends to show up, the main lot filled up and folks started parking in the overflow lot. When we left later (1:30-ish?), the lot was about 2/3 full.

Weather was brisk and cloudy. The trail's in fine condition, clearly maintained very well, no blowdowns, and there were only a couple squishy sections but nothing to worry about, at all. We encountered no snow on the trail (and only miniscule traces here and there at the higher points on our route).  

For an easily-accessible trail, the payoff per effort ratio here is pretty darned good. 3 hours, 3 (small) waterfalls ? Sounds good to me!