We saw the last trip report's comments about starting location, and were not quite able to make heads or tails of the full path of the trail from, ahem, the Cedar River to the Green River in a combination of Google Maps and this 2016 trail plan from King County Parks. It appears to still be a work in progress to get from one river all the way to the other if that's what you're after. We decided to just park at the Maple Valley Park & Ride near the Cedar River and make our way south as far as we felt we wanted to. This wasn't a great parking location as we meandered on the sidewalk all the way to the north corner at the intersection of Witte Rd. and SR169 before we could find a way down to the trail.
If I were to try this again, I would see if I could park at the Maple Valley Community Center off Witte and SE 248th St. There was a clear entrance there that we saw while we were on the trail, and the bit of the trail north of that spot was not much to miss.
We ended up walking about three miles south from the Park & Ride and then back, going past Lake Wilderness and turning around at the SE 263rd St. underpass.
Overall this was a lovely path through both residential and park settings. The tall maples were starting to turn fall color, while blackberries were still ripe alongside the trail (love this time of year!). The section through Lake Wilderness Park and Arboretum was so nice--the sound of traffic settles and we appreciated the woods around. Alongside the lake the views were not sweeping, but little windows through the brush gave several peekaboos to the pretty lake.
The path seemed well used by dog walkers, joggers, and cyclists on this Sunday afternoon and at various points ran right up alongside residential developments.
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