This loop of trails made 5 miles. The trails are in great shape - a bit of mud here and there, but easy to get around. Coal Creek Falls was full of water. Lots of Bleeding Hearts along the trail as well as other flowers I don't know the names of.

This was my first time doing this hike. We went there intending to go to De Leo Wall but the web of trails was just too confusing for us. So i grabbed the map and decided i wanted to Coal Creek Falls. When we decided on our route we made our way. It was raining for the most the day but in let up for me and my fellow hikers. Coal Creek falls was a sight to see and it made the trip worth it. I plan to do this hike again on a nicer day.

Despite the hyperventilation of snow-crazed local T.V. weather forecasters, today was quite a nice day for hiking. Starting at the Sky Country trailhead, I rambled around Cougar Mountain and visited all three of the park's lovely waterfalls (Coal Creek, Doughty, and Far Country) and various other highlights. The air was dry and brisk, a light dusting of snow flocked the trees, and the frozen soil of the trails crunched crisply underfoot...what could be nicer? Two of the waterfalls have gotten a makeover--Doughty Falls sports a new overlook and the formerly elusive Far Country Falls has a new access trail to its base. The conditions of the trails was generally excellent, with a few minor blowdowns here and there being the main problem. Often I will do a trail-by-trail breakdown of maintenance problems in my trip reports, but there is no need here at Cougar Mountain. Not much snow, ice or mud anywhere. Some general issues deserve a mention: The Vista Points--Long View Peak and Far Country have become grown over and don't offer much of a view anymore. May I suggest that King County do a little tasteful tree removal to improve the view? The Holly Menace--Something has to be done about the slow motion invasion of holly trees through out the park. They are everywhere! Otherwise, in 20 years, the trails in the park will be viewless tunnels through thickets of those scratchy shrubs. The Renton Fish and Game Club--Somehow, even though they are about 3 to 4 miles south of Cougar Mountain, they are blanketing the park in gunfire noise. This problem seems to have gotten much worse in recent years. They need to build higher berms and walls to mitigate the noise. For now, I only hike at Cougar Mountain on mondays and tuesdays, where they are closed. Ah, blessed silence!

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.

Cougar Mountain has many more interesting trails than I thought. Thanks to an article in Washington Trails magazine, I decided to try some of them. First was Coal Creek Park. The trail is signed "primitive" and "at your own risk" for some odd reason. You can roll a toddler's pram down it blindfolded and hardly hit a bump. There are interesting artifacts from coal mining days down there. On the east side of the road we explored the old townsite and mining relics. Lots of good signs with interesting historical information and old photos which add a lot to the visit. In fact, all the trails we found had excellent and frequent signs at every intersection. You still need a map, however, just like on Tiger Mountain, because there are so many trails lacing back and forth. We took a walk on the Wildside Trail up to Far Country Viewpoint. The viewpoint is overgrown, underused, and you can't see anything. From there we hiked the Shy Bear trail and ran into Mike's WTA crew having lunch. They've done some excellent trail refurbishment all along the Shy Bear trail. Long View Peak offered not much view and only a wobbly mossy half log to sit on for lunch. We returned via the Quarry and Coal Creek Falls trails and then down Cave Hole trail back to the car. There's lots more to explore on Cougar Mountain and it makes a great close in destination on which to keep in shape for the summer high country.