This was my first time in years hiking on Cougar Mountain, and my first time ever in this section. I parked at the Newport Way Big Tree Ridge trail head where there was room for perhaps 3 more cars if they blocked the gate. Not sure if that would be permissible, but there were no signs indicating that it wasn't allowed. There was a large information sign with a map, and a covered tray containing maps of the park and its trails for the taking.
Started hiking at 11 AM. The well shaded trail starts off wide with a gentle slope upwards, and soon gets into dusty switchbacks as it climbs up the mountain. The trail surface ranges from dusty dirt to gravel, to dirt with gravel or small rocks. Overall, throughout the park the trails were in good to excellent condition - our tax dollars at work! In fact, with the exception of only three intersections, all of the trails were signed with distances to other connecting trails in the park.
Upon reaching Shangri-La Trail, the trail switched from hiker only to one where horses are permitted. The trail was as wide and as smooth as a gravel road, and was still very pleasant. No evidence of horses having been there in the past couple of weeks was found.
My lunch stop was at "Million Dollar View", aka The Pergola. Besides the picnic table in the pergola there are two other tables nearby. This area is also reachable by car, with a sizable parking lot nearby, and a Port-a-potty as well as a restroom in the nearby field.
When I arrived at the Pergola a bicyclist was using that table, so I used one of the others. He left soon afterwards, and I had the place to myself for about 20 minutes before a family walked over for their picnic.
Continuing onward to the west portion of Shangri-La Trail I found that this section was much more like a hiking trail than a road. Just before it reached the park border it intersected with Coyote Creek Trail, which is a wider trail at this point. Again, this trail is mostly shaded as it heads southward.
The cave holes along Cave Hole Trail are just a short distance from the intersection with Bypass Trail, so I went to see what it was all about. Imagine some deep depressions covered with foliage with fences and signs telling people to keep out and that's pretty much it.
Fred's Railroad Trail was another pleasant road-width and road-smooth trail. About midway down its length on the south side I saw the skeleton of an old multi-story tower off in the forest. I'm not sure what it had been used for, but it was probably left over from the WWII days.
The East Fork Trail was the first place I encountered some bugs as well as a small fallen tree across the trail. It also looks like this trail could get muddy in other seasons. Otherwise, the hike to the mine shaft was pretty uneventful. The mine shaft (formerly used as an air shaft for the coal mine) was covered by an immense rebar grate. A sturdy wooden bench put there by an Eagle Scout makes this a great place to stop and have a snack. An information board next to the trail described the coal mining activities as well as the purpose of the shaft.
Heading to Tibbetts Marsh Trail one is on the Clay Pit Road for a short distance. That road ends at the clay pit, where one can find another informational sign describing how the clay from the pit was used and why. The area is being reclaimed as parkland and nature is gradually taking it over.
Tibbetts Creek Trail travels along the edge of the steep ravine in which the creek runs. I didn't actually see or hear the creek; perhaps it has dried up at this time.
Returning to Shangri-La Trail I then headed over to No Name Trail, Surprise Creek Trail and, just for a change of pace, decided to try to take the Precipice Trail as it appeared on the map to rejoin Big Tree Ridge Trail. Well, the map is wrong. Instead, the trail ended up at the Harvey Manning Trail at Talus by a small park with some very nice playground equipment.
Looking at the County Park map revealed no way other than retracing my steps back up the mountain to take the other trail. Google Maps, however, showed a Precipice Bottom Trail that would take me where I wanted to go. So, off I went on the unsigned trail.
This trail was in quite good condition, with a number of small bridges and generally followed the contour line. However, the western section climbed up and up and up, finally reaching the Big Tree Ridge Trail at an unsigned intersection. The rest of the way down was anticlimactic, but I was happy to have brought a pair of walking sticks for the more slippery sections.
With all the stops for pictures, lunch and snacks I ended up at the car at 4 PM, having walked 9.8 miles with a little over 2000 feet elevation gain.
So far as traffic is concerned, I encountered about a dozen folks on the way up Big Tree Ridge Trail, including a couple walking their leashed cats and another couple shortly afterwards walking their unleashed dog. Other trails were either entirely devoid of people or had two or three other encounters. In general, it was pretty quiet considering this was a weekend in an urban area.
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