Today in the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, we did a 2.5mi multi-trail loop hike to Coal Creek Falls via the Sky Country Trailhead. This area is easy hiking on wide trails with low inclines. It was a great day to be outside and there were some spring wildflowers in bloom! We saw white trilliums (Trillum grandiflorum), Pacific bleeding hearts (Dicentra formosa), candy flowers (Claytonia sibirica), and salmonberries (Rubus spectabilis). Trail Hazard: There is some stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) growing along the edges of some of the trails, so watch where you step!
The waterfall and its bridge were nice, too. There are some bugs in the stream and the wet areas around the waterfall, but they aren't too bad until you stop moving. As of this writing, there's a small cedar tree that has fallen across the lower part of the waterfall. The tree isn't blocking the flow of water, but it is masking most of the view of the waterfall. Hopefully it will be cleared soon so we can see the full view of the waterfall.
To get to the waterfall from the trailhead, we made it a loop in this order:
- Sky Country Trailhead
- Old Man's Trail
- Cave Hole Trail
- By Pass Trail
- Fred's Railroad Trail
- Quarry Trail
- Coal Creek Falls Trail
- Waterfall
- Cave Hole Trail
- Nike Horse Trail
- Sky Country Trailhead
Comments