Our group of senior hikers met at Redtown in Cougar Mountain Park for a hike on the Coal Creek and Primrose Trails. We crossed over Lakemont Blvd. SE to begin our hike. There is a kiosk nearby that shows some photos of the area during the coal mining days with some maps of the area. We passed by the site of the former 65 room Coal Creek Hotel (later changed to the Newcastle Hotel). Further along we came to North Fork Falls on the north fork of Coal Creek. The Coal Creek Trail goes up hill as it stays on the old railroad grade used by the coal trains. The are interpretive signs along the trail with the history of the area. At the first main junction we turned right and headed down the Primrose Trail which came back down to Coal Creek. The trail follows along the creek and crosses over it two times on heavy duty foot bridges.
When we got back to the Coal Creek Trail, we hiked it passed another big bridge over a side creek that has a waterfall. We turned around and hiked back to the junction with the Primrose Trail and turned right and headed up hill through some switchbacks. The Coal Creek Trail comes out below some apartment houses before getting to a side trail going the local YMCA. Further along we found some fallen trees for a lunch time seat. The sun had come out with the temp at 55F. After eating we headed back to Redtown to complete our hike. We met a few other hikers and one couple whose dog went for a swim in Coal Creek at North Fork Falls. Made for a nice hike between rainstorms.
For old-time photos, maps and history of the area, see the book, "The Coals of Newcastle, A Hundred Years of Hidden History", by Richard K. McDonald and Lucille McDonald. This book gives the history of coal mining on and under Cougar Mtn. where coal was mined for 100 years from 1863 to 1963. Eleven million tons of coal was taking out of Cougar Mtn. George
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