Great short hike connected to the various trails on cougar mountain. The trailhead has a great parking lot with lots of space, even for larger vehicles. 

Please note: both sky country and red trailhead parking lots are closed at the moment. There is parking along the road at sky, and parking down the road at red

Trails are muddy and wet, but so is everything else in Seattle :) 

It was one of those cold winter days where we just had to get out of the house. We intended to make it to the waterfall but as usual my 3 year was getting tired so we headed back to the car before making it. It's not really about the destination for us. The trail here is well maintained. My son loved the warning signs for the old mines.

Trail work refresher and instruction techniques for Assistant Crew Leaders!

This all-day course was very cool in several ways: WTA providing excellent recurrent training to crew leaders, many dedicated assistant crew leaders volunteering an entire Sunday to improve trail work skills, and top-notch WTA trainer Jay with a challenging hands-on curriculum.

Implementing WTA and Forest Service standards for trail maintenance, and communicating best practices for volunteer leadership, combined with hands-on outdoor scenarios, made for a relevant and rewarding experience.

After instruction, the ACLs performed trail maintenance tasks and prioritization. Then the fellow ACLs provided critiques and suggestions. This allowed for better understanding and thoughtful learning.

This is another classic example of WTA doing an outstanding job of promoting safety and developing volunteer leadership.

UPDATE: At 2 PM on 2/4 at 1,100 elevation on north side of Cougar there are 7" of snow and it's 16 degrees F.

From 2/3:

Highlight: Snow.  See it before it melts.

Cougar Mountain Trails Map

Hike GPS data for Google Earth viewing

Per Garmin, 2.03 miles/206 vertical feet.

Parking: Only a couple other cars at Sky Country lot on a snowy Sunday @ 5 PM.  Port-a-potty on lot.

Trail: Snowy and muddy; a winter wonderland.

Wildlife: Hopping birds.