Lake Sylvia State Park — Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2025

What a surprisingly delightful trail that had a nice variety - flat gravel road along the lake, rolling trail through the woods, walking across a bridge over the lake as well as its dam, and a waterfall.  Parking plentiful; bathrooms easily accessible from many areas in this state park due to the campground and day use areas.  I've been fighting a cold for a few weeks now and this was my first hike in a while - and it was the perfect length and elevation gain to be a good fit for my conditioning - enough that I was tired at the end of the hike but not exhausted.  There were a couple of downed logs to step over but nothing difficult.  While we saw many people at the campground and fishing at the lake, we saw no one on the trails.  A variety of ferns and big trees were today's highlight; I could see evidence that wildflowers would have been spectacular about a month ago at their peak.  If this trail were wet it could be slippery in a number of areas, but today's conditions made for good footing.  Salmonberries were plentiful but tart; thimbleberry and blackberry are in process.  We saw/heard many birds and saw a few Douglas Squirrel.  I'd love to do this hike again this fall for the colors and next spring for the wildflowers.