This is for the regulars that know all the trails, and want a new challenge. Decided to do a little brushwork on the Ridgeside Trail today, and it sure needed it! In fact, towards the bottom, someone felt the need to flag the route through the brush. Totally embarrassed; as I have neglected this trail too long! So today, I made amends...

You've seen the new maps, and wondered about the Ridgeside. It heads down the ridge from the Westview Loop and meets the Meetcutter at the bottom. The entrance is hard to spot; and it has always been overgrown. It's not used much for one reason : for a trail to be used, it has to be useful. This one is not. Unless! - you want to make a big loop of the Park's westside trails. This trail then becomes an important link in the chain.

Started at the closed Startup Trail, and headed up the hill. Wait! No I didn't - it's closed! Umm ... so anyway, at the top I took the not-so-secret shortcut over to the Rogue Knight Trail. (used to be Second Spring) They've done some nice work on this one - it was in danger of disappearing not too long ago. One of my favorites. Popped out at the Westview Trail and soon came to the start of the Ridgeside. Here the fun begins...

To sum it up in one word - nettles. And Oregon Grape. Ok, that's two - but you get the idea. One stings you, and one pokes you. (Oh, and those stupid little vines that instantly wrap around your ankles, leaving a sticker rope burn ... I guess that's three. Anyway, don't wear shorts.) I did enough to make the trail passable again, but watch your step. What it needs now is more boots. That's where you come in -

There is no reason to do this trail by itself. But at the bottom, if you take the Meetcutter to the River Trail, and then take the Riverview Trail to Beaver Lodge Lake, you can hit the Midway and complete a big loop back to the TH. I would still call it a primitive trail, and wouldn't recommend kids or old dogs. There is one good sittin spot where the trail turns left at the top of the ridge, but not much else to see on this one. Still, it's on the map now, so check it out. It just may come in handy some day.

Just wanted to let everyone know, there is a wasp nest at the beginning of the midway Cutoff trail. Entering in by where the horse trailer parking lot is.

Loved this trail! Hiked with 3 kids (5yo, 3yo, 4mo) in the pouring rain and had a blast! It's was fun to navigate the trails and even where over grown the kids enjoyed trying to get through the foliage. We will be back to choose a new trail and adventure again!

A lovely mostly-flat set of trails in a great wild park/forest/meadow/swampy area, full of wildflowers, ripe berries (salmonberry, thimbleberry, red huckleberry and native blackberry). We were looking for a dose of forest without the crowds and without too much elevation change (one of us is recovering from a back injury). The hike options exceeded our expectations. Not too many people out even on a Sunday morning. A couple polite mountain bikers and courteous horseback riders, a few mosquitoes--not a big deal though for the trade-off of a rather quiet and peaceful several hours of romping in the woods. Trails can be a bit confusing (there are so many) so take a good photo of the map and then just roll with the junctions! Recommended for those with kids, creaky knees or desire to avoid the selfie-crowds at Rattlesnake-type hikes. 

We did a lovely hike today (2 adults, 2 young kids, 1 dog), but BEWARE:

There's a hornets' nest on the ground (!) on the northwest trail side of beaver pond. They were very aggressive. We managed to get the kids out of there, but my spouse got several stings. We encountered folks on our way back who were also stung. Lots of trails to choose from; just avoid this little section.