The trail description is quite detailed and accurate.  So, just to add a few minor updates.  Worth a trip to the mine shaft.  There is a bench at the end of Clay Pit Rd that is worth visiting.  The view is great.

The trail was in excellent shape.  A few very shallow mud patches.  The day was cloudy.  Yet, visibility was pretty good.  Could not see Baker, though.

It was a cold, but nice day to do this hike. I went in the morning and the sunshine was very pretty. There were a few people leaving when I arrived, but I didn't see anyone while hiking the trail. The trail was in perfect condition other than a few mud puddles here and there, which where easily avoidable. There wasn't a clear summit as it was more of a loop, so there weren't any great views. The hike itself was pretty easy, but still warmed me up.

This is a really easy hike, there a part of the hike is a switch back which was pretty tiering for me. Over all the trial was very well maintained. I would watch out for little mud puddles if it had rain the night before, but the puddles were little to none. I would do this hike again, it was really nice!

Trail was clear of snow and obstacles. It was a cloudy day and I couldn’t see Mt Baker. The view of the lake was still breath taking. Very little traffic on the way up and saw barely 3 other hikers.

On September 20, 2014, I first discovered the Big Tree Ridge Trail off Newport Way NW.  Everything seemed pretty new.  There was a formal trail with comprehensive signage introducing this trailhead and the trail it served, and there was limited, but clear off the main road parking.  A couple of years passed and then a major housing development was started on the north side of Newport Way and then Newport Way itself was being rebuilt and rebuilt in a major way. The obvious parking disappeared, but there were a few spots you could get into, then those disappeared.  About this time, signage appeared indicating that a formal trailhead with designated parking would be available spring 2021.  During Covid, I unraveled for myself many of the old trails that existed near or that intersected the Big Tree Ridge Trail, especially those on Military Ridge.  Later, I discovered that Yean Kim, a member of Boy Scout Troop 336 electronically mapped and signed much of this older trail system for his Eagle Scout project (Figure 2).  In a trip report by me on November 6, 2022, I voiced disappointment regarding the failed promised trailhead.

When I brought a colleague today to Cougar Mountain, we parked at the Harvey Manning trailhead and set off in an easily pasted together set of trails that formed a figure eight with a top end tail from the parking area to the peak to Newport Way NW.   There was lots of new signage especially on the  lower part of the figure eight loop.  When we clambered over the big basalt blocks just as one of the older, unmarked trails was reaching Newport Way, I saw immediately to my left that there was a new trailhead.  Not new yesterday, but within the last couple of months, but new.  In a November 16, 2023 trip report by AlpsDayTripper, he noted “the Big Tree Ridge trailhead, 30 parking spots, 2 port-o-pots, …” is present.  If I had been more diligent, I would have read that before leaving Seattle and we would have parked there.  However, I failed to do that.  Because of my failure, I was rewarded with this incredible visual change – from unfulfilled promise to this major parking area and newly re-established trailhead Figures 1 and 3).  Only photographs do this change justice. The new trailhead parking connects with a graded switch-back to the bike path on Newport Way (there is one of those on-demand lighted crossing areas from the north sidewalk and bike path to the trailhead).  There are places to lock your bike.  The two-porta-potties (clean, but not hospital clean) were functional, and people were using the parking lot.    

By the way, by knowing all of the main and side trails, hiking on Cougar Mountain can be very diverse in terms of types of trails, forest habitat types, peak-a-boo views, etc.  We enjoyed the cold, windy, moisture laden clouds on the upper 300 or 400 feet of this mountain (‘peak’ is at 1,486 ft) and the much less windy and warmer air on the lower two-thirds.  All streams had strong, but very clear flowsl

When I first began using this trail system, rarely except in the upper part of the figure 8 (easily accessible from the Harvey Manning Trailhead), would I encounter someone.  When I did, they were often as surprised as I was.  Now this new trailhead, and access from other locations in addition to the Harvey Manning Trailhead, will assure far greater use. Ideal.  A selfish loss for me, a huge gain for everyone, and for my and other’s carbon footprint a gain.  Good nearby hiking accessible by bus in the summer, and may be year round.