Rainy day hike at Cougar starting from Sky Country Trailhead- this is what I call my 5 mile, 2 waterfall" loop (you can add on Deceiver Trail/Doughty Falls to make it a 7 mile/3 waterfall loop). This goes past Far Country falls which are super sweet looking as they run through a mossy hillside - look sort of zen. Also past Coal Creek Falls - which look more like a real waterfall and were definitely running strong today. Total stats on this loop are about 5.6 miles and 1100 feet of gain. Nice little hike close to town. 

Saturday's weather called for rain, so my friend found this loop hike at Cougar Mountain to do. She found this hike via Alltrails titled, Longview Peak and Far Country Lookout Loop. 6.5 miles/1085 ft gain.

Trailhead start and end: Sky Country Trailhead. Lots of parking Saturday.

The trail: There were a lot of junctions so we had to reference our map quite a bit. We saw 3 different waterfalls, the main big one was Coal Creek Falls. Not much gain in the first few miles. More gain towards the end of the hike we felt. We wore rain pants and gaiters, prepared for the rain and mud and were happy we did. No views from Longview, just lots of trees and ferns in the way of any kind of view. Good hike for a rainy day! Saw lots of trail runners. 

While I love to look over maps and create my own loops in a place like The Issaquah Alps...it’s wonderful when someone has done that. Surfing thru All Trails, I stumbled upon ‘Long View Peak and Far Country Lookout Loop’, and somewhere saw it also called  ‘The Waterfall  Loop’. It was a perfect choice, less than an hour drive from Lynnwood, no bumpy access roads, and a clean, stocked porta potty in the free to park lot. Thank you King County Parks Dept, our trip to Cougar Mountain was great on Friday, Nov 19th.

Although all intersections were well signed, a few are rather old ‘n moss covered, it was handy to have the paper Green Trails 203S and King County maps, and the map on the phone, for the answer to ‘where exactly are we’.

From the start at Sky Country trailhead we headed clockwise and enjoyed a mostly level and obstacle free trail for the first 2 miles. The trail was a nice ramble thru the woods, evidence of cedar logging as well mining rather abundant. Several of the mining cave holes were filled with water. Caution signs very clear! Just west of Long View Peak it starts a gentle down for the next two miles delivering us to lunch spot at Far Country Lookout….which unlike Long VIew Peak view spot had a nice westward territorial view toward Eastgate. The multitude of trees still sporting their golden leaves added to the view.

Waterfall # 1 was Doughty Falls, just a wee .1 mile off the main Deceiver trail-worth the jaunt. Waterfall # 2 was the  multi-tiered Far Country Falls, also just a wee bit off the main Indian Trail. Hold onto to the kiddos at both spots. 

Earned some cardio points on the uphill Quarry Trail to reach waterfall # 3, Coal Creek Falls, it was flowing fairly fiercely given all the recent rains. Waterfalls can be so mesmerizing to just stand and gawk at, even the ones like these in the 15-30’ tall range.

The forest was glowing with the cottonwoods now being lit up by the sun under blue skies. Yea the forecast was spot on. Overcast HAD turned to partly sunny and remained dry. The last push back to the trailhead earned a few more cardio points.

Arrived back to the start, to find King Co SAR still on site conducting a search; hope they found the missing person-we thanked them for all they do. 

Stats: 7.5 mile loop with about 1300’ gain. Not many folks out on a Friday; several two’ somes, some solos, some pooches, and just one group of 8. Check it out. No Girl Scouts yet on our hikes, we'll get them out soon.

Parked at Red Town and did this 12 mile, 2500 ft gain loop run.  Really lucky to have these well-maintained, accessible, snow-free trails so close.  Beautiful fall foliage, waterfalls, and vibrant greens.

There was some puddling and running water on the trail as we went up to wilderness peak.  Other than that I was pleasantly surprised at how dry the trails were.  Not too muddy either- our trail runners didn’t get waterlogged or anything.  Dry feet at the end!

One downed tree area on Wilderness Creek trail, easy to go over.  ]

Used GPS watch and Gaia to navigate- can be a little tricky with all the possible trail options.  We aren’t super familiar with the area.  Easy parking and not crowded on a weekend.  

My favorite section of the day was the Gumbo wilderness cliffs.  Super cool hillside to run down!  

We have been running this loop every week for years: Cave hole —> Fred’s Railroad —>Shy Bear —> Indian Trail —> Cave Hole.  4.6 miles and 1000 ft gain

Announcement:  The leaves are freshly blown (as of today) on Cave Hole and Fred’s.  So clean!!  Still in the process today.  

Trails are mostly dry.  Some mud on Sky Bear and some running water on Indian.  Water is running in creeks now.    

Fall foliage is the BEST