Quick walk around the Mercer Slough nature area trails this morning. The big news is that they are all now open and accessible with no closures due to the light rail or utility construction as had been the case for quite some time. We parked at the small gravel lot along 118th Ave SE just south of the environmental center, but there is parking now open on the west side at the big new farmstand and the Sweyolocken boat launch. There is a single full restroom at the gravel lot and three brand new super nice restrooms at the new farmstand - all open and in good condition this morning - and a single sanican at Sweyolocken. Additionally there is now super easy access directly from the South Bellevue light rail station for folks looking to take transit to their walk. The only trail condition issues are a single fallen alder tree over the trail along the east side (easily walked over) and the wooden boardwalks do get slippery when wet/icy.
Not an overwhelming amount of wildlife out this morning but did see a couple heron, a few various ducks, what I think was a yellow warbler, plus a bunch of other small over winter birds. The big, new farmstand along Belllevue Way wasn’t open today but sure looks cool and there is signage that it is still open on non-holiday days. You can walk around the historical Winters House now as well. Super nice to have this little gem fully open again. Happy New Year.
Link to historical information about the area - https://eastsideheritagecenter.org/blog/2022/1/14/mercer-slough-farms
Link to further information about the nice, new farmstand - https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/planning-and-development/current-projects/mercer-slough-farmstand
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