We started at the Phantom Lake Park and walked towards Larsen Lake. When we got to the corner with the little red barn farmer’s market, we made a mistake by going north onto the boardwalk. It wasn’t a terrible mistake, but if you want to stay on trails and off sidewalks, go across the street and find the trail behind the little red barn.

There were still a few blueberries left on the bushes near Larsen Lake, but the stand was closed.

We walked from Larsen Lake to Main Street by crossing 148th Ave SE near the northwest corner of the lake. There were lots of blackberries along the trail near Sammamish High School.

This hike started relatively early in the morning (~7:30 AM) after a short, heavy rain. Parking is as described, i.e., very minimal if at all present at the various top of the bluff trailheads. I was parked a few blocks away.

The trail itself was somewhat damp, with the pitter-patter of drips falling from the branches. The trail surface is mostly finely ground tree bark, and the various trail intersections marked with teal and white signs embedded in wooden posts, with distances to points of interest provided.

My intention for this hike was to travel each and every park of the Weowna Beach Park trail system, but I ran out of time and didn't take the upper portion of the southern loop.

There are some fairly steep sections as one heads down towards West Lake Sammamish Parkway. Most of these sections have stairs, and some sections also have railings. Other sections don't bother with either, but footing is generally reasonable.

The only unsigned intersection I encountered was on the trail north of Phantom Creek where the trail descends into a ravine and intersects with a gravel road. This road continues down to the parkway and is the access for a local sewer line. There is a gate at the parkway, and it is signed as private property.

If one instead continues uphill along the road and then onto the footpath on the uphill (right) side, you can proceed on the trail system toward the main trailhead in the next ravine heading down to the parkway.

After retracing my steps back up the ravine I headed west and exited Weowna Beach Park, and headed west along the north side of the Phantom Lake Loop. This trail is a wide asphalt shared use path along a lesser residential arterial. About midway along the north side one encounters Lake Hills Park, which has a large playground and restrooms with flush toilets.

Continuing west to 156th Avenue the Phantom Lake Loop intersects with the south end of the Lake Hills Greenbelt Trail. This starts besides a small red farmer's stand and continues north on a wide crushed gravel path that winds mostly under deciduous trees lining the edge of a field on the east and with blackberry bushes and trees on the west, and then into a small forest of tall cedars. It exits into a wetland area with a few trees, and passes the Samena Swim Club to the east and a small baseball field to the west before reaching Lake Hills Blvd.

I turned back here, returning to the Phantom Lake Loop and headed south. About midway along this path there is a building with restrooms and water, and a nice parking lot. There is also access to Phantom Lake, both for fishing as well as hand launching of watercraft.

I returned to my vehicle along the southern portion of the loop.

On the unpaved trails in Weowna Park I encountered the occasional hiker, trail runner and people with dogs on leashes and some with dogs off leashes. On the paved trails I encountered other people walking, some with binoculars for bird watching. All were friendly.

Total Distance: 6.7 miles. Total elevation: 1129 feet

Hiked most of the way around the lake. Trail was clear, with several other folks out walking their dogs and a few cyclists on the nearby streets. Restrooms at Phantom Lake were clean. Weather was cool, with a very light mist towards the end of the hike.