Got to the Squak Mountain Trail parking lot around 10:30 this morning. Didn't realize there was an Evergreen Trail Run happening at Squak today, so parking was pretty limited -- we got the last spot after almost heading out to try to find parking elsewhere! 

We followed the instructions in the description to get to the access road. Easy enough and super easy to follow (you just take the road all the way to the radio tower). Pretty easy hike! No parts are too steep and there really isn't anything on the road that would be an issue for anyone (I mean, we saw plenty people trail running the thing all morning). Took us about an hour or so to get to the radio tower/summit. No views of Seattle today! Honestly, I love Squak as a rainy day hike because it's so green, and if you're not expecting views anyway, it's a great nature adventure.

We decided to take a slight detour to the Bullitt Fireplace to check it out. All you have to do is continue on the trail as if you aren't turning into where the radio tower is and look for a left turn that should look like it's pointing to the Old Griz trail. That'll take you to Bullitt Trail, and take a left turn to quickly hit the Fireplace.

No snow or anything, just decently muddy. Excellent rainy day hike! 

I see lots of people complaining about the view from the summit.  There isn't one really.  The secret is to take an off shoot trail about an extra mile round trip out to Debbie's View.  That's where all the action is.  Linking relevant material in the trip report.  I definitely recommend a map or app of some sort to track all the offshoot trails in the area as there are quite a few.  (I use AllTrails. The pro version lets you download nice trail maps.)

I was the first one at the trail head around 6:30am for a solo hike on this amazing Saturday.  I did the May Valley Loop counter-clockwise so I would have the sun peaking through the trees on the East side as I ascended.  The trails were basically clear except for a few patches of icy snow around the summit.  Easy to navigate without micro-spikes, then again I hike in boots with pretty aggressive tread.  I did not encounter any bugs on this hike, still to early in spring I think for them to be bad.  Glad I started early as the parking lot was overflowing by the time I got back to my truck 3 hours later.

I arrived just before 4pm Wednesday and parking lot was nearly empty. We hiked the "double peak" loop clockwise (start just to the right of the interpretative trail), hitting both West Peak and Central Peak and then descending via the access road. We hiked around 8 miles in three and a half hours. 

The hike is typical of this corridor -- mostly forest, not many views. Debbie's View offers the best viewpoint and I'd recommend taking a short rest there. Otherwise, this is a good conditioning hike and/or suitable for children. There aren't any maps around the trailhead, though, just signs along the way so know where you're trying to go beforehand. We came down the access road because we wanted to save time; note that the access road is steep and gravel (read: can be slippery).

Late afternoon hike on Memorial day, parking lot on the May Valley side of Squak had plenty of parking available.  The road up was dry, but is very steep in places.  Took the pace pretty fast and made it up in 40 minutes.  No clear view at the top during spring- fall, I know that you can see Seattle and the Olympics when the foliage is thinner.  Highly recommend this if you want a quick training hike.