Urban Hike: Schmitz Park Creek Trail

The Schmitz Park Creek Trail is located in Seattle, and it actually barely qualifies as a hike. Nonetheless it is a good escape within the confines of an urban area. Although the trail itself is not a loop, it connects at either end to the Schmitz Park to Alki Trail that cuts through the park, thus forming a loop. Schmitz Preserve Park is the park's actual name, and it indeed has features more consistent with a woodland preserve than an urban park; you won't find any picnic tables or even open spaces for resting. This is a densely wooded preserve. The preserve's ecological classification is a Humid Transitional Forest Zone. The trail has negligible elevation gain and should be an easy effort for children and the less fit among us.

At the SW Admiral Way entrance, the initial few hundred yards of the trail are paved.

Most of the trail is unpaved. Here a small bridge crosses a stream.

Moss-covered trees are numerous among the lush undergrowth.

A downed tree that has split has been whimsically painted to resemble and alligator.

The same downed tree from photographed from higher ground.

Extend your hiking by following the Schmitz Park to Alki Trail, much of which is paved. This photograph shows where the trail winds beneath the SW Admiral Way bridge.

These plants are numerous within the preserve, particularly within the muddy areas. Even with the help of my Northwest Forest & Fauna Guide, I was unable to identify this plant.

These flowers can be spotted occasionally throughout the preserve; I believe they are some variant of Liliaceae.

Salmonberry shrubs tend to grow in moist stream banks in wooded areas; I spotted several of these along the trail.

According to the city of Seattle, trees to be found in the park include Western White Pine, Western Hemlock, Douglas Fir, Coast Redwood, Western Red Cedar, Pacific Yew, Red Alder, Bigleaf Maple, Pacific Dogwood, Pacific Madrone, Western Blackwillow, Vine Maple; shrubs include Evergreen Huckleberry, Red Huckleberry, Salal, Swordfern, Thimbleberry, Devil's Club, Oregon Grape, Rhododendron, and Skunk Cabbage.

The trail can be accessed from the 5400 block of SW Admiral Way in West Seattle (on the north side of the preserve) or from the 4900 block of SW Hinds St (on the east).