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Coal Creek Falls via Red Town Trailhead is an easily accessible hike near Seattle, good for any skill level and nice payoff at the falls. No pass is required like most other hikes in the area.
The popular trailhead is located in the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildlife Park. There is a veritable maze of trails and trailheads here so it is helpful to bring along a map of the area. A trail map for Cougar Mountain can be found on kingcounty.gov.
From the trailhead veer left following the Red Town Trail. The trail starts off very wide. At the first trail junction, 0.1 miles in, veer left, joining the Cave Hole Trail. The trail gets a bit narrower here but it is still wide enough for vehicles.
After 0.2 miles along the Cave Hole Trail, you will encounter another trail junction, continue along the Cave Hole Trail for an additional 0.4 miles where you will reach your third trail junction. Here, veer to the right to begin along the Coal Creek Falls Trail. The trail becomes much more narrow here.
After a short set of stairs going down it’s just 0.3 miles further and you reach Coal Creek Falls! This 28 foot waterfall is fueled by runoff and has its best flows in the rainy, winter months. The falls do run dry during the summer months, usually mid June to whenever the rainy season starts up again in the winter.
There is a large parking lot at the trailhead, but it’s heavily used and fills up quickly. The trailhead is equipped with two privies, garbage cans, a picnic table, historical interpretive signage, and doggie bag dispenser.