We accessed the wildlife refuge from the Dike Trail rather than from Hwy 14 and did the Gibbons Creek Wildlife Art trail, using the Dike Trail to make it a loop.  The eastern section of this trail is closed October - April for wintering birds, so it would be an out and back hike during this period.  The trail is in great shape, we saw the regulars: heron, ducks, geese, and Osprey.   There was a notice posted confirming a cougar sighting on 8/5/2018, though we saw no mammals, cougar or otherwise on this visit.

#hikeathon

This was a beautiful trail. Dog bone, so straight out with a loop at the end. Conditions were perfect. We saw tons of birds species, baby ducklings, a few turtles and a vole. The trail is flat and easily hiked. The trailhead is not, however, begin at 14 Washougal River Road. It actually begins 2.3 miles East off of Highways 14. I entered "Gibbons Creek Wildlife Trail" to get to the trailhead that begins the Gibbons Creek Wildlife Art Trail. The 14 Washougal River Road, doesn't even put you on the correct side of the highway.  But if you do go to the south side of highway 14 from 14 Washougal River Road, I think you you can walk down the dike road that runs along the Colomnia that will lead you into the Refuge and you can do the loop once there. It is best to look at an arial map before heading out. I liked starting at Gibbon's Creek because there are bathrooms and a nice big parking area. There are no dogs allowed on the Gibbon's Creek Trail, but there are on the Dike Road.

This was a nice diversion on our drive back to Seattle. Being a wetland area it's pretty much entirely flat, with around 3 miles of walking trails, which at this time of the year are all open. During the week it wasn't particularly crowded - just a few birders and a few parents with small kids. Though mid-day isn't an ideal time to see wildlife, we were pleasantly surprised. There were nutria out and about (well... maybe that's not so great...) ducks, geese, tons and tons of turtles sunning themselves and small birds a plenty. Just take some binoculars and a bit of patience. Stand still for a little bit and they seem to magically appear. 

We opted for something close based on the weather conditions.  We hiked from Steamboat Landing to Steigerwald NWR.  It was breezy and rainy when we started but fortunately the rain ceased allowing the headwind to dry our soaked front sides before our turnaround point.

We saw 3 bald eagles along the Columbia River and had a close encounter with a blue heron inside the refuge where we also saw many of the expected ducks and geese.  In all we walked about 7 miles.