Walked the southern section of the North Creek trail Tuesday morning from the small parking lot off N Creek Parkway N.  Just 9-10 spots but there is additional street parking.  No restrooms at the lot but there are two south down the trail next to the athletic fields, of which the southern one next to field 2 was open and in good condition and the northern one was locked this morning.  The trails were generally in good condition, recent tree damage has been pushed aside, nothing blocking though the wooden bridges are super slippery when wet.  

North Creek which the trails follow is a salmon spawning stream but did not see any live nor carcasses this morning.  It is supposed to support Coho which I believe generally run later so maybe more will be headed up further into November.  The one large beaver lodge you can see from the trail looks abandoned this year and largely grown over.  One really neat surprise were several bald eagles out hanging around and eating breakfast, at least three, looked like a pair and one lone one.  The group of kids out playing kickball on one of the fields sure enjoyed watching the pair do that distinctive cartwheel dance acrobatics right over the field briefly.  The fall color is still pretty nice and there are some nice mushrooms along the path as well.  Don’t miss the large pond on the western most trail as it attracts quite a bit of interesting water fowl, several types of ducks and a heron this morning.  An easy little walk with lots to see if you are in the area. 

Wanting an urban and easy wooded saunter close to home for Hike-a-Thon, we headed to North Creek Trail. After grabbing delicious beverages at Visible Coffee Roasters in the Mill Creek Town center, we headed north along the paved trail for about a mile before the return trip. Saw several squirrels, ripening blackberries and some friendly faces. Trail is in good condition, some graffiti present on signs and posts, but the frequent trash cans seem to be doing their job and keeping the trail clean. Lovely way to make a few more miles count for #hikeathon. Happy Hiking!

We kicked off Hike-a-Thon with a local favorite from McCollum to Town & Country market ( #centralmarketforever ) and back. The pianos are out along Main St in the Town Center and we were pleasantly surprised to see the trail was probably the cleanest we've ever seen. Thank you to everyone caring for the trail! Today's wildlife sightings included some preening ducks, squirrels, and one very pretty snake with stripes almost as green as our Hike-a-Thon shirts.

I am hiking all this month to raise funds and awareness for WTA so that the trails can be enjoyed by future generations. If you would like to contribute, any amount helps.
give.wta.org/jenchilada2025

#hikeathon #makeyourmilescount #teamtacosformiles #hikeathon2025 #urbantrails #trailsnextdoor

Walked the southern section of the North Creek Trail Saturday morning in the scattered sunshine.  The route runs from the sports fields off North Creek Pkwy S north through the southern wetlands, along a connector trail (basically a wide sidewalk) north of 240th St SE up to the large pond and wetland area north of 228th St SE.  We did basically a simple out and back with mileage ending up just shy of 6 miles.  There is some parking on the south at the sports fields but I find it difficult to tell when it’s legal (shared with business park tenants) so I park at a small park labeled “North Creek Trail Park” by google that is along North Creek Parkway just east of the creek about 2/3s of a mile north of the southern terminus.  The only restrooms available are at the sports fields on the south end and they don’t seem to be consistently open.  No trail closures or blocking issues though some of the paved sections are older and have significant root lift  “speed bumps” which would be challenging for strollers or other wheeled vehicles.  Note - this trail really is not ADA accessible as there are a number of areas with a few stairs, steep grades, curbs, etc.

There was quite a bit of wildlife out - at least two heron, one big adult bald eagle hunting over the big northern pond, one juvenile bald eagle hanging out in a tree near the old farm barn, several kinds of ducks, feisty kingfishers chasing after each other, hummingbirds, etc and while we didn’t see an actual beaver, there are several areas that show activity including a big lodge easily viewed from the eastern bit of the levee trails.  Views of the ponds and creek are nice as well (and apparently this is a coho spawning stream when that is in season.)  A nice little close in wetlands walk if you are in the area. 

Mostly shaded, this makes a good choice for a hot sunny day. There are a few ponds along the way where you can look for ducks, turtles, and frogs and sometimes a coyote can be spotted running by. Today it was just one lone duck.

The construction at McCollum Park and Ride makes the trailhead less obvious. You need to go through the opening in the roped off areas across from the bus area.

Very unfortunately there were large amounts of garbage dumped along the trail, in the woods, and under picnic tables, including whole garbage bags full and three shopping carts. It was really sad to see so much trash. We picked up some litter from on the trail but were not properly equipped for a bigger, potentially hazardous, clean up.

I am hiking all this month to raise funds and awareness for WTA so that the trails can be enjoyed by future generations. If you would like to contribute, any amount helps.
give.wta.org/jenchilada2024

#hikeathon #makeyourmilescount #teamtacosformiles #hikeathon2024 #urbantrails #trailsnextdoor