- Plenty of Sky Country parking at 5 PM on a Wednesday
- Coal Creek Falls is dry (see picture below)
- The trails are just beautiful - especially in the amber, rising/setting, wild-fire sun - but bugs abound
- The trails have a real late-summer feel, even though it is still arguably mid-summer, because during the dry spell many trees lost leaves
- Bring a bear bell or otherwise be sure to make noise. I saw four piles of bear droppings and heard some suspicious crashing off in the bushes. No doubt they are black bears - and so relatively harmless - but you want them to know you are coming.
Per Garmin, 3.87 miles/528 vertical feet.
Caution: Blind corners and drivers disregarding traffic directionality create Sky Country parking lot hazards. Every stretch of the figure-8-shaped lot is a one-way (see the attached picture). Directionality is indicated with traffic signs and pavement arrows. However, people frequently drive against the one-ways. We’ve all disregarded parking lot traffic signs, but the lot has blind corners that are only safe when directionality is followed. I have seen people charging excitedly into the parking lot and around blind corners with the confidence they have the right-of-way to the whole lane. I have also seen people in a hurry to get home drive furiously around the same blind corners the wrong way. At some point, people will collide. So, do not be one of those people; recognize that, once you are in the parking lot, Mad Max rules apply and drive cautiously around every corner assuming someone could be hurtling against the one-way toward you.
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