We began our loop hike from the Sky Country Trailhead by the former US Army Nike missile base where they had Ajax missiles to protect the Puget Sound area from incoming USSR Bear Bombers during the Cold War. We headed out on the Old Miners Trail passing the A-frame building from former Army guard dog kennel. On the Bypass Trail we saw that the North Fork of Coal Creek was completely dry. We had never seen that before, as there was always water running in the creek on our past hikes. We went south on Fred's Railroad Trail to the junction with the East Fork Trail and took that one to get to Jerry's Duck Pond. When we got to the pond, it still had water in it with lots of Alge, but no ducks. After passing the coal mine air shaft, we got to the Clay Pit Road. We hiked east out to the clay pit and found a big rock for a lunch time seat in the sun. There were views east to the Cascade Mountains, plus "The Snows of Tiger Mountain". You might have read the book and seen the movie. It is snowier now after the Weyco clear cut done this year.

The clay pit was used by the Mutual Materials Company for 50 years in making bricks at the Newcastle Brick Works. The clay pit was last used in 2015 then the brick works closed down. During that time, they made over 900 million bricks at 25 million bricks per years. Their bricks were used in many buildings in the Puget Sound area, like Bellevue High School, at the U of W Kane Hall and Red Square, and at T-Mobile Park (formerly Safeco Field). King County parks restored the clay pit and planted scrubs and trees.

After lunch we hiked down the Tibbets Marsh Trail, then took the Cougar Pass Trail out to the Klondike Swamp Trail. King County Parks has been doing some drainage work on the Cougar Pass Trail, so should help this trail when the heavy rains begin. We hiked the Klondike Marsh Trail north, then took the Coyote Creek Trail to the Clay Pit Road and back to the trailhead parking lot. Made for a nice loop hike.

We could see that King County Parks had been out with leaf blowers getting the leaves off the trails we hiked today. Any fallen trees had been cut out. We met a few other hikers on our trip and had a nice chat with two senior womans hikers at the Clay Pit. The only wildlife we saw were some gnats out enjoying the sun.

Today I hiked a great 6.8 mile loop on Cougar Mountain from the Redtown trailhead.  Ten cars were in the lot when I pulled in at 1:15.  It was 44 degrees with partially cloudy skies.  In a clockwise loop, I followed Military Road, Sky Country, Nike Horse Tr., Old Man’s Tr, Cave Hole, Coyote Creek, Klondike Swamp, Cougar Pass, Tibbett’s Marsh, East Fork, Fred’s Railroad, Quarry, Coal Creek, Cave Hole and Redtown Creek Trails.  Some trails seemed spotless (leaves blown off and side drainages diversions dug out) and many others were covered with a nice cushion duff of fallen maple and cottonwood trees.  There were several downed dead wood tree

Today I hiked a great 6.8 mile loop on Cougar Mountain from the Redtown trailhead.  Ten cars were in the lot when I pulled in at 1:15.  It was 44 degrees with partially cloudy skies.  In a clockwise loop I followed Military Road, Sky Country, Nike Horse Tr., Old Man’s Tr, Cave Hole, Coyote Creek, Klondike Swamp, Cougar Pass, Tibbett’s Marsh, East Fork, Fred’s Railroad, Quarry, Coal Creek, Cave Hole and Redtown Creek Trails.  Some trails seemed spotless (leaves blown off and side drainages diversions dug out) and many others were covered with a nice cushion duff of fallen maple and cottonwood leaves.  There were several downed dead wood tree trunks / branches to step over on Military Road, Sky Country Tr and the biggest a fir tree on Cave hole trail just past Redtown Creek Trail. I pushed off and cleared smaller branches that were easy to lift  in many places.  The last of the fall foliage color change still looked respectable on the Klondike Swamp Trail.  When I passed Sky Country Th just before 2:00 the lot looked 3/4 Full.  What I love about Cougar Mtn trail system is that there are so many trails it disperses all park users.  On the day I encountered 28 hikers and walkers.  The most being in the last 2 miles on the Coal Creek Trail loop. Wildlife sightings included: a Douglas squirrel, towhee, creeper and a woodpecker was tapping but not seen.  The water level is still extremely low and barely a trickle was flowing down below Coal Creek Falls.  At falls the headwaters on the East Fork Trail above the duckpond there was no standing water anywhere.  Every drop coming from the sky seems to be soaking into the soil.  A very encouraging territorial view at the clay pit. All the Cascade Mountains to the east were snow covered including Tiger Mtn summits. When I arrived back at Redtown at 4:20 22 cars were in the lot.  Another fantastic day to be out in nature. 

Our group of six adults, three children, and one dog, did a 3.5-mile loop from the Red Town Trailhead up the Cave Hole Trail. We turned onto the Coal Creek Falls Trail, then left onto the Quarry Trail, followed by another left onto Fred's Railroad Trail which led back to Cave Hole Trail. We took Cave Hole back to the trailhead.

We passed four or five blowdowns from the recent storm, but fortunately all were pretty easy to cross. The trail was in great shape otherwise, just a little muddy from rain. This route isn't too steep, but enough to feel like we were getting some exercise. There is still so much green in the forest here. Together with the yellow maple leaves, it creates a beautiful fall landscape.

Coal Creek Falls was only a tiny rivulet, but this section of the hike is nonetheless beautiful. There isn't much to see at Cave Hole, which is blocked off for safety reasons, although the kids still found the warning signs entertaining.

All in all, this is a wonderful year-round place to hike near the city. For a full review and many more photos, please visit the website linked below.

Today was my first time hiking on Cougar Mountain Regional trail system since April.  We planned a 3 waterfall loop hike from the Redtown Trailhead.  Summer’s drought made for a “NOT” waterfall hike!  Six cars were parked at the TH lot when we hit the trail at 9:10.  It was 46 degrees cloudy skies, with rain forecast starting in earnest at midday. The Porta Potties were recently cleaned and stocked with supplies. Our 7 mile loop followed the Cave Hole, Coal Creek Falls, Quarry, Fred’s Railroad, Shy Bear, Deceiver, Indian and Wildside Trails. The entire trail system is now wet but not saturated.  There were 4 tree blown downs you had to step over or go around.  Maples and Vine maples have started their color change. A few mushrooms and fungi have started to emerge. One person in my group snagged a couple great looking oyster mushrooms.  All 3 waterfalls (Coal Creek, Doughty and Far Country were nonexistent.  This was shocking to see the extent of the summer’s dry spell.   Trail traffic was super light and we saw only 3 other people on the trails.  We stopped at the Far Country Lookout bench and had a short snack / rest break at 11:45.  Once the rain started falling we packed up headed back to Redtown.  Ten cars were in the lot when we pulled out just after 1:00.  Another great day to be out in nature with friends.

This was the longest hike I’ve done on Cougar Mt.  In the past when I’ve seen trip reports with a big string of trails I’d think, “No way, I’d never be able to figure out a hike like that.”  But the signage is SO good I think it would be very difficult to get lost. I’m an older woman who hikes mostly solo and almost all of these trails required little exertion.  Shy Bear had some ups and downs but was so beautiful it was worth it! Quarry Trail is pretty steep and I was pumped when I finally made it to the top.  My plan had been to just hike the lower section of Quarry then head out Coal Creek Falls. Coal Creek Falls is currently closed though so there was nowhere to go but up 😂.  It was very cool to watch the tree canopy change as I got closer and closer to the top.  Mosquitoes were an issue on some sections. The trails were all in great shape - my thanks to the trail crews! I parked at the Sky Country Trailhead at about noon on a Monday afternoon; parking was plentiful and the port-a-potties were well maintained.