COUGAR MOUNTAIN
Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park provides more than 3,500 acres of protected recreational lands between the towns of Newcastle, Bellevue, and Issaquah. The park is between 1,000 and 1,600 feet above sea level. Cougar Mountain Park has over 35 miles of trails winding through diverse habitats such as mature second growth forests, streams and wetlands, and rocks and cliffs. While there are selected locations within the park with sweeping views of Lake Sammamish, the Cascades, Bellevue, Seattle and beyond, there are many more areas of the park that are remote from the sights and sounds of nearby urban development, where you can enjoy the privacy of the forest. Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is the crown jewel of the King County Parks System.
CACHE DESCRIPTION
This cache celebrates one of the most beautiful parts of the 3,500 acres of woodlands. The steep, deeply rutted and rocky Wilderness Peak Trail (renamed the Whittaker Trail) has been completely rebuilt all the way from Shy Bear Pass up to Wilderness Peak! The new trail switchbacks gently through the wooded terrain south and east of the old one, providing a gentler and more serene atmosphere. And there are filtered views of Mt Rainier, at least in the winter! There is also a brand new approach to the Wilderness Peak summit log and bench (where there is NO view), and a new transition to the Gombu Wilderness Creek Trail (where there are several partial views). The roundtrip hike from either of two trailheads on Hwy 900 is about 4.5 miles, with about 1,000 feet of climb. The best way to experience it probably involves going up the Gombu Trail, and down the Whittaker Trail, although you can do it any way that you want! Come on up and enjoy!
WSGA
In September 2002, a group of 19 concerned geocachers scheduled a meeting after hearing that the Washington State Parks was considering banning geocaches in the state park system. Out of this meeting, the Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA) was "born" with its core values of promoting geocaching as a fun, family-oriented outdoor activity that increases awareness and appreciation of the environment and our parks and trails, provides opportunities for participants to enjoy geocaching and to socializing with other geocaches, educates park systems and land managers about geocaching and its benefits, increases awareness and support of geocaching through interaction with other outdoor groups and the public, encourages low-impact geocaching and promotes stewardship of our natural resources, and supports "Cache In Trash Out" activities to help maintain parks and trail systems.
In 2022, the WSGA turns 20 years young. To celebrate this milestone, the WSGA is hosting a 20th-anniversary GeoTour. This GeoTour will give you the opportunity to travel to all corners of the Evergreen State while you search for 140 GeoTour caches. To make it easier to tackle such a large GeoTour, each of our seven regional chapters is hosting a bite-sized GeoTour consisting of 20 GeoTour caches, with the entire, state-wide GeoTour consisting of 140 caches. To learn more about our GeoTour, please visit the GeoTour page on our website which you can find HERE. We hope that you enjoy getting back out on the road while touring around Washington State. If you have any questions about our GeoTour, you can reach out to us via the contact tab on our website.
Make sure to write down the CODE on the top inside of the cache lid!
