Narrative The May Valley Trail has undergone some reconstruction; rather than climbing straight up the ridge, there are gentle switchbacks between 950 and 1350 feet elevation, where the trail joins the old trail; thence the trail is brushy in spots. The Perimeter Loop Trail is brushy and has several logs across it. The West Peak Trail has a few brushy spots, but is otherwise in good condition. The West Peak Trail has been logged at its junction with the Bullitt Fireplace Trail making it easier to find. There is a side trail that breaks from the Bullitt Fireplace Trail just east of the Bullitt Fireplace and heads directly to Central Peak over a 80 foot rise. The Old Griz Trail has some brushy spots. There is low-lying brush including nettles along Phils Creek Trail. Weather Broken to overcast clouds. Moderate temperatures. Hazards and Obstructions Some logs across the Perimeter Loop Trail. Flora/Fauna Purple violets, salmonberry flowers, bleeding hearts, foamflower, trillium, Siberian miner's lettuce, cinquefoil and geranium. Robins and other birdlets seen. Camping Not permitted.

Day use parking at the trailhead off SE May Valley Rd is $5.00 - be prepared. Other trip reports have alluded to the vagaries of trail names and the numerous unlabelled paths that are not included on the Green Trails map or have been added since its 1999 publication. We can vouch for that. This is a great place to practice navigational skills since the signposts are non-existent or unreliable. We made a counterclockwise loop from the Equestrian Trail (S4) to Phil's Creek to Central Peak - a 1500 ft elevation gain. Not a horse or a soul. Where is everybody? It's true that there is only a slice of a view from the unaesthetic peak, but everything else is in place - ravines and draws, copses and bowers, Oregon Grape and beards of moss. On the return south from Bullitt Fireplace we had to cross through the tape that had closed a trail for renovation, but what choice did we have? WTA appears to be seriously shoring things up and parts of the trails are looking quite civilized. It would be nice if they were allowed someday to announce their names.

This is my second trip on the East Ridge Trail. Starting at the Issaquah Trail Hut I walked the connector trail to the East Ridge Trail. A major blow down on the Squak Connector Trail has been cleared in the last 2 weeks making this part of the hike much easier. The trail all the way to the East Side Trail was in excellent shape, no blow downs and a good tread. My first trip up was in the mist and quite nice, on Saturday, no mist or rain and more car noise but still marvelous forest. Once on the East Side trail blow down's become evident. Nothing that can not be gotten around but present every once in awhile. Took the East Side until it connects with the Phils Creek trail and then up the Old Griz trail to Central Peak. Old Griz does not seem to get much use and can be difficult to follow. Cleared some branches from several blow downs on the way up. Views from this part of the trail were excellent of the Cascades and Tiger Mt. Lunch at Central Peak and then the walk down. More blow down on the upper half of the East Ridge trail but all easily navigated. Trip took about 4.5 hours with breaks. My guess is the total mileage was about 8 miles. East Ridge trail appears to be very popular with families, dogs etc. The trail is in excellent shape, particularly for this time of year which may explain its popularity.

This is a nice local forest hike to the top of Central Peak on Squak Mountain. The trails on the May Valley side of Squak are definitely the domain of horses. The trailhead is off of May Valley Rd about a mile west of Issaquah-Hobart Rd. One must walk the South Access Rd 1/2 mi to reach the Equestrian Loop Trail. This trail recieves a fair amount of horse traffic and it shows. Many sections of the trail look like they've been torn up with a huge roto tiller. Horsey mud holes are abundant. If you can ignore the trail condition, the surrounding forest is lovely. In about 1.5 miles turn right onto Phil's Trail. In 1/4 mile the boundry for Squak Mountain is crossed and the horse free zone is entered. The trail tread abruptly improves dramatically. The Summit Trail takes you a steep 1/4 up an interesting ravine amongst large trees to the South Access road. Go up the road about 200 yard to Central Peak. Walk around the microwave towers to get a nice slot view of downtown Seattle. I returned along South Access Rd. About 1/2 way down the mountain there is brand new graveled trail off to the right which is not officially opened but I took it anyway. This 3/4 mile long trail segment was the best part of the trip. The trail is in excellent condition since it has not yet seen any horse traffic. The forest it traverses is as nice as second growth forest gets. It eventually meets up with the South Access Rd again directly opposite the start of the Equestrian Loop trail.

The purpose of this trip was to survey the remaining trails in the southeast corner of the park. Here is the order: South Access Road #S1, Equestrian Loop (upper access) #S4, Phils Creek #S3, No-Name, South Access Road #S1, Old Griz #C4, Phils Creek #S3, Equestrian Loop (through lower access) #S4, South Access Road #S1 Phils Creek Trail has a few logs obstructing and some muddy and brushy areas between Equestrian Loop and No-Name Trails. The No-Name Trail has some very brushy spots. There are many logs across the Old Griz Trail. Phils Creek is in mostly good condition north of the No-Name Trail. The Equestrian Loop has some very muddy spots. There is a light dusting of snow above 1500 feet. Skies were overcast yielding to scattered clouds. Temperatures were cool to warm depending on location and time.