Cougar Mountain Trails Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 10.25 miles/2,398 vertical feet.

Through Hiked: Spouse dropped me off while on errands and I hiked back to a stashed bike.  It's really liberating not having to go back to where you started.

Parking Lots: Plenty of parking at the Newport pull-out, Red Town, and Sky Country.

Weather: With the wood smoke, more autumnal than vernal, but still lovely hiking in light gear; doesn't feel at all like winter.

Trail: Mostly clear with good traction.  There is a little more mud than there has been recently, mostly in boggy areas or where the soil has a lot of clay.  Nothing you can't go around.

Tree Obstacles: Drifts of sawdust are the remnants of the massive King Country effort to clear the trails.  There are still trees down, but I could just step over all but one.  If I were taller, I could have stepped over that one.

Wildlife: Singing birds, croaking frogs, chirping squirrels; things are really waking up.

We decided to do a loop hike from the Sky Country Trailhead parking lot. Note the Sani-Can is full with no tp. The trail starts by going through the former US Army Nike missile base that closed back in 1963. This was one of several Nike bases around Puget Sound in case USSR Bear bombers were coming into Seattle during the cold war. After the base closed, the property went to the Issaquah School District. They brought in portables for an elementary school that lasted one year, then the property was sold to King County Parks. Along the Old Miners Trail a short distance from where it begins, on the left side of the trail is a small A-frame building. This was part of the kennels for the guard dogs at the Army base. Further along this trail is a large conifer tree down over the trail to get through. Then we hiked up to Fred's Railroad Trail and turned up the East Fork Trail. There were several trees that had blown down, but have been cut out. Some new turnpikes were constructed since we had last hiked this trail. Then we got to Jerry's Duck Pond where the trail goes around it and becomes the Mine Shaft Trail. When we arrived at the mine air shaft we took a snack break. This air shaft goes down 1,200 feet to the Primrose Mine. That is like two Space Needles stacked on top of each other. A large fan was on top of the shaft to get clean air down to the miners because of bad gasses like methane, CO and CO2. Coal was mined from Cougar Mtn. from 1863 to 1963 with 10.1 million tons removed. When we got down to the Clay Pit Road we walked up it to get to Tibbetts Marsh Trail. The clay from the pit was used to make bricks at the Newcastle Brick Works. Twenty five million bricks a year were made with 900 million made during the 50 years the plant was in operation. The bricks in Red Square at the UW in Seattle came from this plant. 

We then headed down the Tibbetts Marsh Trail and crossed Tibbetts Creek on a good log bridge. This trail took us up to the Million Dollar View for lunch. Great view today up to Mt. Baker, along with Pilchuck, Three Fingers, Big Bear and Liberty Mountains. You also have a great view down to Lake Sammamish. There are three picnic tables at this spot. After lunch we headed west over to the Lost Beagle Trail. We walked through the former Army anti-aircraft gun site that was used prior to the Nike missiles. There are two covered picnic shelters in the grass field. Hiking the old concrete sidewalk and stairs, we got to the Lost Beagle Trail. Going down it there was one fallen alder tree before getting to the Klondike Swamp Trail. We turned right to get over to the Coyote Creek Trail. There are two fallen hemlock trees over this trail, with one that we had to climb over. Then it was down hill to the parking lot to complete our loop hike.

Not too many other hikers out on this sunny day. We did see lots of gnats flying around enjoying the sunshine. Except for a few fallen trees and a few muddy spots, the trails we hiked were in good shape. Check out the back of the trailhead kiosk for info on the old Nike base with some interesting photos.

Cougar Mountain Trails Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 4.65 miles/628 vertical feet.

Parking: Plenty of Sky Country parking at about 4 PM on a partly-cloudy Friday.  Port-a-potty on lot.

Weather: Spring-like, complete with a warm breeze welcoming me back to the car in the half-light.

Trail: Much of this path is dry with solid traction, near summer levels.  Mud appears occasionally, but is very manageable.  Most of the trail is clear of debris.  In some places, you find a lot of light debris from last Sunday.

Obstacles: Other than those in the pictures, there are a couple other notable downed-tree obstacles on Deceiver.  If you can crawl under and climb over things, you'll be fine.

Wildlife: Some very interesting bird calls.

Ran Cougar Mountain this morning starting from Sky Country TH. A little lingering snow made some of the trails quite muddy, though the snow itself posed no issue.

More significantly, there are dozens of small to very large trees down across the trails listed above (the photos provide a sampling). Some of the downed trees were difficult to cross (crawling over/under logs, unstable footing, tripping hazards, etc.) and may pose issues for small children, individuals with mobility challenges, or those who just don't feel like climbing over logs. I imagine clearing will begin soon, but be careful out there in the meantime! 

WINDSTORM UPDATE: All our Cougar Mountain is basically a debris field from Sunday morning's wind storm.  There are five significantly blocking trees down (1 on Old Man's Trail, 2 on Coyote Creek Trail between the Radio Peak and Klondike Swamp intersections, 2 on Cave Hole Trail).

SUNDAY EVENING UPDATE: At 9 PM there is snow accumulating above 500 ft in elevation on Cougar Mountain.

Cougar Mountain Trail Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 3.12 miles/157 vertical feet.

Parking: Sky Country was pretty full this morning; probably people with their power out getting outside.  Port-a-potty on lot.

Trail: The trail is damp with mud here and there and standing/running water very rarely.  However, the trails are no longer clear; all of Cougar Mountain is basically a debris field after Sunday morning's wind storm.

Obstacles: Countless trees are down over the trails, but on the loop I hiked five large downed evergreens posed significant obstacles (1 on Old Man's Trail, 2 on Coyote Creek Trail between the Radio Peak and Klondike Swamp intersections, 2 on Cave Hole Trail).  Getting past them requires that you are able-bodied and agile (e.g., passing the trees downed on Coyote Creek requires winding your way through 30 feet of clawing, jagged branches).

Wildlife: Birds calling, frogs, ground mammal alert calls.  Things are really waking up.