This was a quick little hike after work to get a bit of exercise. Nice length ~3.5 miles and about 500 feet elevation gain from the trail head. It would seriously benefit from having some of the trees cleared out at the top to get some better views but not sure if that could ever happen.

Took advantage of the sunny and dry weather to check out Taylor Mountain. I started out on Holder Creek trail. A warning: there is an unsigned fork in the trail about 0.92 miles from the kiosk. Taking the left fork takes you onto an unofficial trail that parallels Highway 18, and peters out / becomes very steep as it goes. It appears that this may end up on private land. The official trail goes right at the fork and down to Holder Creek. However, the creek was running high enough that I did not attempt to ford it, since the water was more than ankle deep. 

Instead, I turned around and headed to the Holder Knob trail. I think the WTA description of this trail having views of Rainier is outdated. The trees have grown up enough that the views to the south are peekaboo at best. I followed the left section of the loop and connected to Road A to get back to the trailhead.

In the beautiful weather today, there were a lot of wildflowers blooming, including bleeding heart and trillium. I saw many butterflies, the usual variety of birds including a bald eagle, and 2 garter snakes. I saw only 2 other groups of hikers and a lone mountain biker, but probably half a dozen groups of equestrians, which was not surprising since I counted 16 horse trailers in the parking lot. 

This was a great hike with very achievable climbs. The trails were in great condition, no blowdowns and only a few muddy sections. I will be back to explore more of the south end of the park. The solitude on such a beautiful day was quite welcome. 

We hiked the Holder Ridge and Holder Knob loop trail but returned on Road A.  The driving directions are written coming from Seattle.  If your are driving north on H-18 and exit onto 276th Ave SE, the parking lot in barely 100 feet on the left.  The trails were very good, only a few, slightly muddy spots.

  The map is slightly confusing as some parts of the trails are actually abandoned roads (but don't look it).  If you go to the King Co Parks website and search for Taylor Mt Forest, then scroll to the bottom of the page, there  are several very interesting maps: Road Maintenance and Abandonment Plan, Proposed Loop Trail map, and Landscape Areas (Streams and wetlands).

Our group today, given the very hot weather forecast, chose to do a close-in loop on this holiday-traffic weekend, on trails largely in shade.   Former view spots, with Mt Rainier views, have become overgrown.  The loop included a crossing of the creek, at low level during the current drought.  My few photos from this hike here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nordique/albums/72157685800683480

We shared the trails today with horses, so we were reminded of what horse traffic does to trails, making them much more rocky and V-shaped than hiker trails, and of course with plentiful horse chestnuts.  It's been at least five years since we've hiked on Taylor Mt and it might be longer before we return.