"Wonderful after work trail run on the Seattle Eastside - the PNW is just special with its tall trees and beautiful ferns. Followed a clockwise loop from Squak Mountain Access Trailhead, covered the three peaks and returned via the Mountainside Drive trailhead. I made the mistake of trying to save time by bushwhacking West from Southeast Peak to rejoin the trail - stinging nettles were just the beginning... Next time I will just retrace my steps from Southeast peak northward along the ridge. Luckily the fun didn't last and I was back on a proper trail after 15 minutes of joy." — danishclimber • Aug 28, 2023

"My sister and I finally took the old shortcut trail we'd been trying to locate on several hikes. I hadn't hiked it in at least 8 years, maybe 10. Blast from the past! Very old maps and guidebooks by Harvey Manning (the one I have is from 1988) refer to it as Jim's Trail. Both ends are hard to spot, but the trail remains intact." — Al-Rashid • May 11, 2023

"Triple Squak day! Highly recommend walking south of the actual Southeast Peak on the user trail to the slightly lower bump (marked with the summit marker on this map). Excellent mushroom show and even sort of a view at the end." — beaucheminjess • Oct 16, 2021

"A mellow but fun little hike. Took the Big Tree Ridge Trail to the Harvey Manning Trailhead, then up the abandoned road to the summit. Overall rating 5/10, a nice little hike close to Seattle, but plenty of people and no stunning views." — MountainQuest • Oct 2, 2021

"Solo. Primary purpose was to hit 3 of the remaining 5 peaks (all on Cougar Mtn) to complete the Issaquah Alps 24 challenge. Got started early (6:45) since it was Saturday. Cloudy, and sometimes a bit misty. No views at any of the peaks; perhaps a couple of peekaboo views at other points, but hard to tell since it was low clouds. Put on my rain slicker about halfway through, though probably didn't need it. Was pretty quiet for the first half, busier as I was heading down the last mile or so. Interestingly, all the people I saw on the first half were runners, while all the people I saw on the way down were hikers." — danv • Aug 7, 2021