- Porter Falls
There is a 4 mile dirt road leading to the trailhead for Porter Falls. There are campground beside the river near the trailhead that are beautiful to walk around and explore. There is a small parking lot across the street from the trailhead. Early on in the trail, there is a fork. You can either take the trail leading up into the mountain or continue straight ahead to the trail that follows the riverside. We opted to take the upper trail first, then we took the lower, riverside trail on the way back. This 1.6 mile out and back trail is pretty easy. The trail ends at a dead end on top of a cliff wit 2 rivers meeting at the point. Here you can view a small waterfall on each side. I hiked this trail during the winter and therefore was alone and had the trail to myself so I let Max off leash to explore.
2. McClane Creek Trail
This 1.9 mile trail starts off with a loop around a large pond, then you follow the connector trail to a second loop through the forest. The pond loop is the more popular trail and you will find it very busy. It consists of multiple boardwalks and bridges, as well as a salmon river. The forest loop is the quieter, less popular part of the trail. Being new to the PNW, I did not know about the dangers of salmon poisoning and I let my dog play in the salmon river. He spent two nights in the hospital with salmon poisoning about one week after we hiked this trail. So be sure to keep your dogs out of the salmon river!
3. Bob Bammert Grove Trail
This 1.2 mile loop trail has some beautiful forestry. The trail begins with an incline up a switchback. The first half of the trail until you reach the loop is up an incline. Once again, we did this trail in the winter and were the only ones there so I was able to let Max off leash to explore. He had so much fun and there was lots of running water for him to drink from and play in.
4. Mount Molly
Mount Molly via the Waddell Basin West Trail is a 2.5 mile out and back trail. I had difficulty finding the trailhead, since this trail picks up the Waddell Basin West trail in a random spot. You want to park when you the sign for the Quarry Trail. You will pick up the Waddell Basin West Trail across the street from the Quarry Trail. I did not know this and ended up driving one mile up the road to where there were signs for the Waddell Basin West Trail. This made out hike 4 miles round trip, so a great option if you want a longer hike. This trail is also shared by mountain bikers, ATVs and dirtbikes, but not in the winter. The lower elevation parts of the trail were filled with large puddles and thick mud. It was much drier as you climbed higher. The very last part of the trail is quite an intense incline up a steep hill, but you are rewarded with an aerial view at the top!
5. Greenline and Wedekind Loop
This 4.1 mile trail is an easy loop through forest. We did this trail in February and so the trail was covered in snow, but easily done in hiking boots nonetheless. The forest was beautiful with the falling snow and Max had a blast running and playing in the snowy trail.
