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| Hiking | 4.99 Miles |
100 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.99 Miles | 2 Hrs 20 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 100 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Family was up in Bellevue Washington for a wedding. Looking for some nearby trails to hike I came across this system of trails just on the outskirts of Bellevue...literally under 15 minutes from the hotel I was staying at. Going into it, I wasn't overly excited to be hiking in this park (Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park). I was thinking "city trail", and even worse, short city trails. There are 52 designated trails that make up this system, and the average length for these trails is under 1 mile. That being said, they were conveniently close and I was budgeted on time so off I went.
Got on the Red Town Trail a little before 3pm. And it was just as I feared: the "city trail" turned out to be a gravel road that headed into a forest. Even though the trail itself was less than engaging, the terrain surrounding the trail was enchanting. Being a desert dweller I'm not used to such a lush, vibrant forest with thick undergrowth and so the mundaness of the trail was mitigated by the surrounding views. This trail connected to quite a few other trails. I made note of these trails as I passed them, but I wanted to do Red Town completely first, and then take it from there. Towards the end of the RT, there was a short side trail that led to meadow that was being restored. There were some benches and info boards there, but not too much to see. The RT trail ended about .8 miles in. (I was close to 1.1 miles with the side trail to the meadow). I had a couple of options when I reached the end of the RT Trail. Having pocketed a trail map from the trailhead, (I highly recommend grabbing a map before you venture out to allow you to plan as you go), I had already decided that I was going to make a loop and hit some of the trails that were located between where I was and the trailhead. So I took a portion of the Wildside Trail north, back toward the trailhead and in doing so I came across and did the Steam Hoist Trail, the Rainbow Town Trail, the Bagley Seam Trail and the China Creek Trail. The average length of these trails was .3 miles  But these trails were very nice! Much more intimate and engaging than the RT Trail. There was some info boards in various spots talking about the history of the area and several bridges which were cool, but unnecessary since a drought has left even Washington parched. Overall, I was very impressed with what I saw today. No wildlife. Saw a handful of hikers. Temps in the 70's  |
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