It was a short family hike in Redmond watershed preserve, we hiked Powerline trail. There are snow patches all the way down the trail, it was a great experience to our kid. Typically the place is crowdy near the parking lot, but after the first 4-way intersection people disperse and you have more solitude. Great place for a short nature watching walk.

 Video report: https://youtu.be/baHxay5bqaI

Walked the full exterior loop of the Redmond Watershed area from the northern trailhead parking lot off NE 133rd Saturday morning before the rain showed up.  With a couple out and back excursions to the various ponds the total mileage was a shy 5 miles.  The trail crew folks keep this place really nicely maintained with no trail issues, super kudos.  The restrooms at the main south lot are open but there are no facilities at the north lot.  Link to current covid19 status here - https://www.redmond.gov/1356/Covid-19-Coronavirus-Information

Pretty much all the fall color is gone now - settling for winter.  We were hoping to spot some mushrooms but there seem to be hardly any this year - much fewer than the last couple years.  Must be a cyclical thing or something.  We did get to see a mamma doe with a couple yearling fawns up in the northeast corner and there were some ducks on the ponds.  One other item of note - there is what appears to be a scrape tree along the eastern side - it is dead so probably not bear, maybe cougar?  (Maybe just a super aggressive woodpecker?  Mysterious climbing beaver?  Who knows..)   A nice little forest walk with lots to see.

This was a nice little trail, not too many people on the trail, and when we did encounter people they immediately put their masks on and moved as far as possible away, saw lots of nice scenery, and it was a clear, nice little trail!

A nice park that is not too far from Seattle with a lot of easy trails through wooded areas. 

There is Autumn color, but nothing too spectacular. 

I didn't encounter to many people, but when I did they had masks or got out of the way. 

I saw two mini decorative pumpkins along the trail.  There might be more.

Today six of us enjoyed a delightful hike through the Redmond Watershed Preserve. Along with wearing masks, we stayed in groups of 3 and 3 or 4 and 2 to be in compliance with our current state of “openness.” We passed 8-10 people, all masked, and 1 cyclist.

I highly recommend this year-round destination. As advertised, the bathrooms (that open at 9 am) are modern, with warm-air dryers and the information board had a supply of maps.  The various trails are well-marked at junctions. 

We walked 5.2 miles in a little under three hours on trails in excellent condition with easy grades throughout. Two can walk abreast everywhere; in places there is room for three. The walk we took (on Pipeline Trail, then Silers Mill, then Trillium) goes through lovely lowland forest, with the typical variety of trees and shrubs, ferns, fungi, and banana slugs. We were pleasantly surprised by the sparcity of horse poop on the Trillium Trail. It was not a particularly birdy area but we occasionally heard Steller’s Jays, Pacific Wrens, and Song Sparrows along with enthusiastic Tree Frogs and a few Douglas Squirrels.

By mid morning the early fog gave way to clear skies and then to bright sunshine. The light filtering through moss-draped trees and big leaf maple leaves that were turning golden illuminated amazing spider webs.