Very beautiful hike. Today was clear and in the 70's.  Down hill trail to the picnic area close to the water. Nice and breezy and view of the water.

The Fitness Challenge Trail was a got workout because the trail starts out with sand and pebbles and goes straight up hill. This one is a butt blaster. Better than exercise equipment!  Once we got to the top,  oh what a beautiful view of Mt.  Rainer and the glistening Puget Sound! 

Trail is a gravel road that goes from 12 car parking lot down to a covered picnic area where you can then get to the beach. beach is very rocky as one would expect in Washington. Trail is pretty steep. My back is killing me from boxing so perhaps it seems worse than it is. One porta-potty at the bottom of the trail which had liquid all over the seat so I wouldn’t use it. Wonderful weather today. not too cold and a gentle sea breeze. We saw both a bald eagle and another bird of prey - hawk??? - as well as various other small birds. Several other groups out some with kids and/or dogs. We brought our lab.

We initially went into the trail further west than the actual trail head. The trail head is next to the overlook. Going down, there were options to do switchbacks or go straight down. The straight down was steep and rocky, prime for slipping. The views on the sunny day were beautiful!

Vashon Island offers so many great parks and nature trails we had a lot of run exploring as many as we could in our 3-day weekend visiting at the end of April. Here are some specifics: 

Island Center Forest
10 miles of trails in the center of Vashon, accessible near the town center
Almost killed a raccoon driving to one of the entry points
The second day we entered at the south of the forest by the Vashon cemetery
Some of the trails close to the creek were closed, likely due to flooding
Grinder trail is a great trail for running because of its length and steady incline
If you’re looking for a varied trail system to keep you busy for the better part of an afternoon, Island Center Forest offers up 10 miles of trails to explore. They’ve even got a trail for runners with a serious incline called Grinder Trail. These trails are also used by equestrians.

Beautiful and beachy with 10 acres of shoreline to traverse, Point Robinson Park & Lighthouse offers amazing views of the Sound to the east.

Maury Island Marine Park, one of my favorites, sits at the southeast corner of the island and boasts beautiful views of Mount Rainier on clear days. The trail starts at low elevation close to sea level and winds back and forth for a couple of miles up to a wooden lookout of the Sound. Near the top, before the lookout, is a neat little part of the trail called the Forest Loop and I highly recommend it. We saw many wildflowers, birds, and a salamander here!

Burton Acres Park and Jensen Point are on the western side of the island and you’ll get nice views of the neighboring Olympic Peninsula. There is a boathouse here and if you’re lucky you might catch a glimpse of rowers on their sculling boat in the early morning.

I definitely recommend visiting Vashon and these parks specifically!

This was a nice trail for a quick day hike! We saw five bald eagles soaring in the sky on the nice sunny day and pretty much had the place all to ourselves. There is a small mid slide that goes across the trail but is passable and loses no issue at all. Very cool area and a great view of the water and sound.