Gold Creek was my first hike of the new year, and it was a pleasant one. I arrived to the parking lot around 1330 on a holiday Monday, and it was almost completely full. I managed to find a spot easily due to the time and crowd of people finishing their hike. I estimated around 50 cars/trailers.
There are bathrooms at the bottom and the top of the trail. The trailhead bathroom was stocked with toilet paper.
The trail itself didn’t feel too busy. I didn’t see any motorized vehicles or horses. The first 1/4 of the trail had water running under or next to the path, but the trail was surprisingly dry or only mildly damp in most spots, likely due to the beautifully clear days prior.
If you’re planning on doing the loop mentioned in the hike description, I recommend taking Plummer trail out and then circling back on the Gold Creek trail. I took Plummer on the return trip, which added an extra mile (25ish minutes) to my hike, and would’ve been preferred on the way out. If you prefer to return to the trailhead via Plummer as I did, it connects to Gold Creek trail via the Beaver Pond trail. This was slightly disorienting for me, but I managed to find the aforementioned loop by looking at Apple Maps. Eventually, Beaver Pond connects to the well-signed Plummer trail, which brings you back to Gold Creek.
The Beaver Pond portion had more frequent loose stones and was a bit muddier, so I’d recommend hiking boots if you’re using that connector.
The view of Seattle at the top was pretty, but I felt like the view of the Olympics near the junction of Gold Creek/Beaver Pond was even better. While there are picnic tables at the end of the trail, I’d recommend stopping at the bench at the junction instead for snacks or a break. Doing this hike on a clear day was definitely the way to go, and coming from Seattle, it was a nice change of scenery from the mountain views in Issaquah or North Bend that I see more often. I can’t wait to explore more of the Kitsap Peninsula.
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