We chose the Wilderness Peak Trail on Cougar Mountain for a winter hike on a snowy day. The directions were accurate, and the roads were easily accessible. The trailhead is just on the side of the road, with a widened shoulder serving as the "parking area"--just be aware of that. I have included a picture in the report for reference. The trail is in good condition, though slightly slippery with snow. We did not need poles or traction devices. Snow is no more than 1/2 inch thick. There was mud on the trail in places, though not problematic. There were a few easily passable blowdowns. There were a couple other hikers out, but otherwise the only sounds were birds, rushing water, and gentle snowfall. We followed the signs on the trail that directed us to Wilderness Peak, rather than taking the loop suggested in the guidebook. We did take a slight detour to take pictures of Wilderness Creek on the way up. Interior views were the main reward, but this is a beautiful winter hike! Total hike time: 2 hours.

This was my first full hike since moving to Washington and I enjoyed it thoroughly. We started at the trail head off of 900. The trail starts out fairly steep through the creek canyon. There was a decent amount of running water through the creek, which can be seen numerous times and can be heard when it's out of eyesight. After going up a small series of switchbacks, we came up to first bridge crossing over the creek, continued across and came upon the first split in the trail. We continued left. There are some large moss-covered boulders on the trail. We hiked the switchbacks up the mountain and split left to go up to the Wilderness Peak. Following the peak, we made a left back onto the trail to continue the loop. We headed down Wilderness Cliffs. The trail down had a decent amount of water on it and a few slightly muddy spots - all of which was easily traversed. We stopped at the first lookout for a few minutes and then continued downward looking for the second lookout. The trail to the second lookout is easily passed due to a large tree down. We continued down and back onto the wilderness creek trail, crossed the bridge and proceeded out onto the trailhead. This was a great first hike for me up in the Northwes - great scenery, a fast moving creek, giant moss-covered boulders and a challenge. This was a great way to end the year.

Beautiful hike. I went with my nephew, friend, and her daughter (age 4). The old growth trees and large bouders were breathtaking. There wasn't a lot of fall colors yet but am looking forward to going back to see them when fall arrives in its time. It was a fairly easy hike without much debris on the trail. Some patches of mud and slipperly bridges but all manageable.

This hike is wonderful since it's so close to the city. There is lots of greenery and the majority of it is shaded. Lots of wildflowers and for the most part there are not too many other people around. If I had visitors coming into town I would recommend this hike to take them on.

I decided to try a different side of Cougar Mountain and avoid the usual weekend crowds at the Red Town trailhead. No luck-the parking lot at Wilderness Creek was full when I arrived around noon and I had to wait a few minutes for a parking spot. The trail itself is a fairly steady uphill climb to Wilderness Peak with some switchbacks. The trail is also in great shape and the creek can be be heard bubbling down the mountain almost the entire way up. There are bridges across the creek and a couple of benches along the trail as well. At the intersection of the Wilderness Creek and Shy Bear trails, I decided to take side trips to Long View Peak (misleading name)and Doughty Falls via the Deceiver Trail (nonexistant at this time of year). I backtracked to the intersection and came down via the Wilderness Peak and Wilderness Cliffs trail, thus completing the loop trail. All of the trails I hiked were in great shape. The beauty of Cougar Mountain is that a a hike of almost any length can be created with all the connecting trails. I would suggest bringing a map of the area with you if you hike here. Here is a link to a map from the King County Parks website: http://your.kingcounty.gov/ftp/gis/Web/VMC/recreation/CM-bw_2009.pdf