Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park
Image: Will Austin
The Forest Maze
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park
Gets You From Trailheads west of Issaquah to a wooded preserve (and hopefully back again)
Best Traveled By foot, in mud-ready shoes, throughout the year.
Road Blocks There is no shortage of trails in the 3,100-acre Cougar Mountain area, but don’t try to trace just one. Grab a map at the trailhead—yes, it looks like a toddler had a field day with crayons—and wander the labyrinth of 0.25-to-2 mile stretches.
Stops and Sights Try to reach any of Cougar Mountain’s landmarks—sunken cave holes left from coal mining days, the thundering Coal Creek Falls, a coal mining exhibit, Klondike Marsh—and you’ll likely take a wrong turn somewhere. Rather, park at the Red Town Trailhead (Lakemont Blvd SE, 3 miles south of I-90 exit 13) or the Anti-Aircraft Peak Trailhead (SE Cougar Mountain Dr) and take a relaxed stab at wayfinding. The well-signed web will deliver something good, even if it wasn’t the mining relic or viewpoint you were expecting. kingcounty.gov
Published in the City Trails issue of Seattle Met.
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