Another Tuesday morning adventure with the kids. This week we tried out the Redmond Watershed Preserve. I discovered this place over the weekend while driving out to the Cherry Creek Falls and thought that it looked like a great place to explore. From the road, it has all the makings of a great place to be namely, dense forest. 

The view from the road really lived up once we got on the trail! From the parking lot off of NE Novelty Hill Road, we hiked the Trillium Trail. From the outset, it was cool and damp and that usually means slugs. We saw two in the parking lot, helping them to the side to avoid being squished. This set the tone for the adventure. We walked through dense forest until the second major intersection. We hooked east and met the Pipeline Trail headed back towards the parking lot. 

Where the Trillium Trail packed in the trees, the Pipeline Trail offered breaks in the woods where the pipeline must be buried. In these areas, soft grasses were present and made for some fun sightlines up and down the edge of the trees. 

The elevation changes are nothing to really write home about. The kids handled them well. They were so busy counting slugs, I don't think the hills  even registered. By the time we returned to the parking lot, we had counted 41 slugs. Incredible! 

Like most regional parks, not a place you drive 2 hours to visit, but great for a Tuesday morning jaunt with the kids. 

Last thing of note, beware of the horse poop. There was A LOT of it out there. 

I love The Redmond Watershed. So well maintained, such nice trails. Even the parking lot and bathrooms are beautiful. :)

We took the Trillium Trail to the Mill Pond Trail. There were hundreds of trillium and skunk cabbages blooming. Quite a few trees down but nothing really obstructing the trail. 

The parking lot was pretty empty as were the trails. We passed 3 people on the way in, 2 older couples on the way out.

In all we did a little over 4 miles. There is a nice bench now that looks out over the pond as it feeds naturally into the creek. 

There were several horses and riders in our group today at the “Red Shed.” The parking lot for horse trailers is smaller—we filled it up with our trailers. Lovely, well groomed trails and well maintained small wooden bridges that our horses had no trouble crossing. All the dogs we encountered were on leash. Runners and hikers we encountered were extra nice. 

TRILLIUM ALERT!!

I have looking for the first trillium of the season but had to come back to suburban hiking to find them.  The Trillium Trail at this area has tons of trillia, trilliums, or whatever the plural is.  There were also a smattering of other wildflowers starting to pop up.  These include bleeding hearts which I assumed were still confined to the Wallingford District - that was intended as a compliment; I like the Wallingford area.

We did a loop trip returning on the Pipeline Trail.  The trail has a few muddy spots and lots of horse poop but was OK.  Try to avoid this area next weekend since there was a notice for a trail run on one of the weekend days.

Also, there was an interesting downed tree configuration that you will have to see to believe on the Pipeline trail.

Great spring hike. Lots of trees, beautiful creeks and lots of green around!