An afternoon exploring Camp Long - should have been an easy jaunt except for misinterpreting the "primitive trail" signs to mean that we were actually following a primitive trail and not just random paths to nowhere or the golf course. At least all the misadventures included ripe blackberries.

We arrived just after 10 AM on a sunny Thursday.  Even though hundreds of girls were having an event at the camp, we managed to find lot parking.  The additional link is Seattle's Camp Long trail map (note North is off to the left).  Not all trails are named on the map, so it can be challenging to orient yourself at some trail intersections.

The hike is a lovely walk through fairly mature woods.  There were old growth trees but fewer than we had hoped.  Most of the trail is well-shaded; we weren't in direct sunlight.

Bugs were not a problem until we neared the northwest corner of the parade grounds, where there is a small swamp.  Away from the swamp, non-biting flies seemed fascinated with my eyes.  But, we hit mosquitoes near the swamp itself.  We hurried past it and as soon as we put dozens of girls between swamp and us, we were not harassed.

The old stone buildings and pavings are absolutely beautiful and worth a visit on their own; like a little slice of Pioneer Square nestled in forest.

Caution: Probably this is true everywhere in Seattle, but keep your children near at all times.  We overheard one of the camp staff calling the Seattle Police to file a report because someone found a disturbing note along one of the trails about wanting to capture, etc., a young girl.

Per Garmin, our loop was 1.23 miles.

With circumstances bringing us to West Seattle such a nice day couldn't go to waste.  A quick decision brought us to Camp Long.  We secured a map at the Environmental Learning Center and were on our way.

First stop was Pollywog Pond where we stepped across rocks to the little island and I immediately slipped on the mud and went down with a thud.  It provided a good chuckle and off we went.  Next we checked out the Stone Compass where we practiced the names of the directions.

From there we proceeded along the service road to the Ridge Trail and took that left and down to the Middle Loop Trail junction.  We went right from there to the turnoff to Schurman Rock where we practiced our rock climbing skills.  Then we looped back to the other end of the park and out.

Spring is starting to show itself and we saw many Yellow Hummingbirds.  This is definitely an 'if you're in the neighborhood' destination.  We did see flyers about environmental education programs this Summer for kids.

 

This was a first visit for us and I do think it's a good place for an urban hike or nature walk. Some areas were really lovely and starting to feel like fall. We saw two pulsates woodpeckers. Wish Seattle Parks & Rec were given some more budget to do a better job with signage. Got a bit off trail and in an area that was not as nice.

We walked a messy loop taking in both the Camp Long and Seattle Chinese Garden trails on this beautiful Easter Sunday morning. Starting at Camp Long and doing the big loop there first we then headed around the north end of the West Seattle Golf Course up 35th Ave SW, over on SW Genesee then followed Delridge Way, 21st Ave SW Dawson and finally 16th Ave SW to the Seattle Chinese Garden. After walking those trails we headed back around the south end of the golf course back down 16th, Dawson, 21st Ave and Delridge Way then over on SW Brandon to get back to Camp Long. Total combined mileage is a shade over 7 with gross vertical over 600 with all the ups and downs. No issues with any of the trails and all surface streets can be safely walked. Camp Long suffered quite a bit of blowdown this winter though it is nearly all bucked up and out of the way. The forest there is interesting - mostly open deciduous second generation growth including maple, red alder, chestnut and madrone. There has been a bunch of volunteer work done to pull invasives - looks nice. The Schurman climbing rock is still open to everybody - good practice for an alpine scramble later in the season! The Seattle Chinese Garden and appurtenant traditional arboretum are beautiful - worth a trip by itself. Note that the interior courtyard is closed on Mondays and has other regularly scheduled events. Don't miss the rock garden in the northwest corner of the arboretum. Lastly, the walk over includes some super nice views of downtown from the Rotary Viewpoint along 35th Ave. https://www.seattle.gov/parks/reserve/event-space-rentals/camp-long http://seattlechinesegarden.org/ http://www.southseattle.edu/arboretum/