Lots of horses out today - no surprise with the nice weather. Half a dozen parties, all pairs except one trio.

Our route was down the access road all the way to the bottom, the out Potter's Trail to the river, and back the same way. We logged 780' and 5mi.

Trail generally in excellent condition. There were a few places that showed horse damage at the edges, but many sections showed signs of recent work.

The river bed is still pretty exposed with the amount of water, and it's the season where we got some pretty bad whiffs of dead salmon, but otherwise the river section is quite pleasant. There was a log jam that looked like it wouldn't be too hard to scramble across if you wanted to get to the other side, but we didn't see any particular reason to do so.

Lots of interesting mushrooms out, including some boletes, but they're starting to get moldy.

The O'Grady Trailhead seemed like the appropriate place to start a St. Patrick's Day jaunt. Surprisingly few people. There's distance and elevation to be had by stringing trails together. Lots of moss, ferns, and assorted green understory. There's also a few running creeks, some early season flowers, and filtered views. I scared up a large eagle having a snack creek side and spied a woodpecker. Along the way you'll find a couple access points to the river. The Cedar Grove Loop didn't have very impressive specimen's so you might want to skip it. I got 4.5 miles taking trails in this order: O'Grady-Stevensonville-Three Bridges-Kaponis-Cedar Grove-Miner's-Leta's Way-Three Bridges-O'Grady-Hops. Link to trail guide below. These trails are popular for horses, so watch your step unless you want to take some extra green home with you.

Relatively clean entrance and road to trails. Some horse droppings along the way. 

Blog version (disclaimers)

Quick-and-dirty version

Access: O’Grady Public Access Point (park info)
Round Trip: 8 miles
Elevation Range: 160′-520′
Essential Gear: none
Dog-friendly: yes

Route

1. If starting from the upper gate, walk down the access road (190th Ave SE) to the trailhead by the second road bend.
2. Join the various trails to form a route of choice through the natural area.
3. The west end and the northeast corner offer an intimate look at the Green River. Otherwise, the bulk of the walk takes place in the forest.
4. If the upper gate is open, take the access road to O'Grady Park by the river and explore the area.

Highlights

• View of the Green River north of the natural area

Lowlights

• Morning drizzles

I found this natural area on WTA. I hiked most of the trails today in this 500 plus acre park. The trails were in great shape.

I found two trails with Green River Access and I did both. The first was at the end of Potters Trail and the second was along Leta's Way (found this name on the King County Parks map, but did not find a sign for it). In my opinion the best river access was at the end of Potter's Trail, where I observed a couple eagles and a bunch of seagulls looking for dinner.

The Cedar River Trail is a short loop among Cedar Trees.