Having just finished reading Invisible Peaks by Katie Ives I figured I had an obligation to take a hike from the Harvey Manning Trailhead. Leaving Seattle in foggy weather I was pleasantly surprised to spend most of the day hiking under blue skies. Although most of the trails are in the woods and don't necessarily offer a lot of views, there can definitely be a benefit to being at a higher elevation this time of year.
My route mostly followed Urban Trails: Eastside. From the Harvey Manning Trailhead I headed counterclockwise via Lost Beagle Trail, Coyote Creek Trail, Old Man's Trail, By Pass Trail, Clay Pit Road, Tibbetts marsh, Protector Trail and Shangri La Trail. Recent weather has not been kind to this area bust most of the downed trees have been cleared and there's not a huge amount of mud on the trail. Occasionally you'll need to step over some trees a foot or so above the trail but things never get too bad. The exception is the Shangri La Trail which is still a bit of a mess in places. All the snow on these trails has melted.
Although the Harvey Manning and Sky Country parking lots were both mostly full I didn't find any section of the hike to be notably crowded. if you do run into, say, a group of 5-year olds on the Lost Beagle Trail, it's easy to step aside. There weren't any horses on the trails that allow them. You will need to take care with potholes on the last mile of the road to the trailhead but compared to the average forest road (or, currently, Montlake Blvd in Seattle) it's not too bad. On the other hand, you definitely need to watch for cyclists on the paved roads in the area as this is one of the more popular local climbs for people who are in better shape than I am.
Overall, this was a fun winter hike. It's a good place to rack up a few miles without having to worry too much about snow or other weather-related issues and there are enough options for any level of difficulty.
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