I'd read another trip report that Cougar Mtn waterfalls are in peak flow right now, so I mapped a run to hit Coal Creek Falls, Doughty Falls, and Far Country Falls - they were beautiful! 6.5 miles, about 1,500 ft elevation gain.

Red Town Trailhead parking was about 1/2 full when I arrived at 8:15am, and was full when I finished around 10:30.

The trails were in good condition, no blowdown, light mud here and there, no snow. Weather/temps were great. Spotted some skunk cabbage blooms. And, did I mention the falls were amazing? 

We accessed Cougar Mtn Park via City of Newcastle trails on a dumbbell shaped route (see picture). At the north end of the route, we paused at the kiosk for some interesting Ford Slope Mine history and vintage photos of the hey day of coal mining. While returning to the TH on City of Newcastle trails, we passed a large area tagged for tree removal (some big trees 😭) and demolition of a ruined structure. A passing worker said the area is being developed for another subdivision of housing. Despite lots of rain within the past week, all trails were mud-free. Two large blow-downs but not difficult to climb over.  See pictures.  Trail along the wall section of DeLeo Wall trail is sometimes sloped & eroded.

We had a beautiful winter hike from Lake Boren Park today!  After 3+ inches of overnight snow the parking area and lawns were bathed in shimmering snow. All the surface streets to drive there were bare and wet.  It was 32 degrees with blue skies when we started walking.  Many families and kids were sledding down the sloped park before the eventual melt out.  Our 6.4 mile hike went north around Laken Boren and up surface streets to the Crosstown Th opposite Beit Tikvah Temple. There was more snow out in the open at Lake Boren than up in Cougar Mountain and the DeLeo Wall View Point Trail. Thanks to whomever is widening and maintaining the Crosstown Trail, evidence of your work and little pink flags were everywhere.  Bravo!!! As temperatures started rising we kept being pelted by melting snow blobs all through the trees.  By the time we reached DeLeo Wall View Point (no view- clouds moved in from the south) our clothes were soaking up moisture.  After grabbing a short snack we continued south and took a right on the Cougar Access Trail.  It was disheartening to see all the trees tagged with pink construction tape, bulldozers to the north in the woods plus wide swaths of the forest being cleared.  I thought this area was saved by the “Save the DeLeo Wall” movement a few years ago.  Evidently not, it appeared that area was being groomed for large scale development.  With snow cover and new roads being punched through I had to rely on All Trails to get down to the Highland Trail and routes I recognized. Trail traffic was what we expected, solitary.  We only saw one other person out in the woods.  The birds on the other hand were every where. We saw large groups of robins, juncos, sparrows in the underbrush and low canopy.  Crossing over Coal Creek Park way we followed the May Creek and Waterline Trails back to Lake Boren.  Another fantastic day out in the woods.

It's hair ice season! Did a big loop around Cougar Mountian with our two newish doggos. Lots of hair ice and other frosty things to see. Trails are not just maintained but I'm pretty sure they are raked too. We got there at 9 and there were maybe 5 cars, which surprised me on a sunny Sunday in January. By the time we left the lot was packed. There are some devastatingly bad pot holes in the lot, so drive careful.

Our group of five senior hikers met at the Red Town parking lot at Cougar Mtn. Park for a 6-mile loop hike. We started on the Wild Side Trail with a stop at the Ford Slope coal mine entrance. The bottom of the mine shaft is below sea level. There is a kiosk here with some photos and history of the mine. Coal was mined under Cougar Mtn. for one hundred years from 1863 to 1963. During that time 11 million tons of coal came out of the ground.

We continued on the Wild Side Trail, then took the Marshall's Hill Trail that went up and down to reach the paved service road that goes to a large water storage tank in the woods. Along this trail are several blown down large trees. Some have already been cut out, while others you need to climb over or crawl under. So, more tree cutting for the King County Parks crews. After crossing the service road, we got to the junction with the East Cross Town trail and the De Leo Wall Trail. We headed up the De Leo Wall Trail where we found more fallen trees to get over. Going back downhill with several switchbacks we came to the junction with the De Leo Wall Viewpoint Trail. We stayed on the main trail to get down to the Indian Trail. Going south on the Indian Trail we took the Shy Bear Trail up to the Far Country Viewpoint for lunch at the bench. There were a few fallen trees on this trail to get around. The fog had dissipated so we had a view west to Seattle. The Olympic Mountains were still covered in clouds.

After eating we headed back down the Shy Bear Trail and hiked the Indian Trail back to the Red Town Meadow area. This was the site of the former coal mine baseball team's baseball field. We then followed the Red Town Trail on the old road back to the parking lot. Made for a nice loop hike on a sunny day. On our trip we met a few dog walkers, hikers and runners. Some of the trails we hiked had a lot of fallen limbs, so we use our trekking poles to get some of them off. While hiking on the Wild Side Trail we spotted a large basket filled with fruit and corn, a bottle of wine and some candles. George