Gold Creek Pond — Monday, Aug. 1, 2022

This was our first visit to Gold Creek Pond, and I can’t believe it took so long. This is one of those easy hikes we’ve been hearing about repeatedly in eleven years of living in the Seattle area, and thought “oh, I’ll get there eventually.” But, trust me, go as soon as you can. It is highly underrated and you won’t be disappointed. Made it past the potholed forest road just fine in my small SUV. Arrived mid-morning today (Monday) to sunny blue skies, a mostly empty parking lot, vault toilet as squeaky clean as can be - and that’s saying something! We encountered a grand total of only six people on the trail the entire time. This is the ideal flat trail for little ones to grow their hiking legs. My kids (8, 6, and 2) were all fine but my 2 yo especially did the trail with no issues, and they were all entirely taken in with the views, turquoise blue waters, wildflowers, and all the delicious wild strawberries we encountered. No bugs, just a handful of brazen yellow jackets. (Thimbleberries will be ripening any day now!) We would love to come back and experience it in other seasons too. Go! You won’t regret it.