Margaret's Way Trail to Debbie's View

This short trail offers an alternate approach to exploring the Squak Mountain trail system.

The trail begins at the old Issaquah Highlands Recreation Club lodge, heading up into a second growth forest of maple, alder and hemlock. The sounds of traffic slowly recede as the tress close in around you. The route here is a smooth and easy as it transitions between newly built trail and overgrown access roads. As you progress, keep an eye out for remnants of the old recreation club - everything from signs to crumbling structures can be found. After a half-mile the trail leaves the road behind and begins climbing with a little more earnest. Find a viewpoint at a break in the trees at .8 miles that offers a glimpse of the surrounding landscape and a horizon filled with the Olympic Range. Beyond the viewpoint, the forest becomes denser; the alders and maples giving way to Douglas fir and cedar. The fern-lined trail spends the next two miles switchbacking up the shoulders of Squak Mountain, crossing creeks and mossy trees along the way.

At 2.8 miles reach a junction known as Five Corners and the end of Margaret’s Way. Here the Chybinski Loop Trail meets with the West Peak Trail, the Perimeter Loop Trail and the Bullitt Fireplace Connector Trail, making it easy to extend your day out to any number of destinations. For those looking for a shorter day, head right down the Perimeter Loop Trail for a few hundred feet to Debbie’s View Trail. From here it’s a short jaunt down the trail to Debbie’s View which showcases Mt. Rainier rising above May Valley.

This trailhead is still very new and as a result it is often much less crowded than other nearby trailheads around Cougar and Squak, making it a great choice for an off-season ramble. The area is still under development and there are plans to extend trails to new areas in the years to come. From now, veterans of the area will enjoy Margaret’s Way as fresh approach to familiar trails, while newcomers now have easy access to Squak’s quiet forests. Approachable for any hiker, Margaret’s Way is well worth a visit this winter.

History

For years, the Issaquah Highlands Recreation Club owned a sizeable portion of the western slopes of Squak Mountain. At the base of the mountain the club built a lodge, a swimming pool, a few cabins and further uphill a network of gravel roads providing access to RV sites and camping areas. Over the years membership waned and in 2013 neighbors caught wind of a potential sale to a timber company and the community quickly took into action. By 2014 King County and The Trust for Public Land had partnered to purchase the 226-acre property and create a greenway between Cougar Mountain and Squak Mountain.

Once the county acquired the property, work immediately began to clean it up and build a trail to connect with the Squak Mountain trail system. With the help of volunteer groups like the Washington Trail Association, the trail was built in record time and christened Margaret’s Way after Margaret MacLeod, a park planner that was instrumental in preserving green spaces across the state including areas around Squak Mountain.