Real Run Report - Redmond Watershed Preserve

Lately we at Real Running have been branching out and trying some new running routes and locales. This weekend, we visited the Redmond Watershed Preserve. Here, in what will probably NOT become a regular feature of Real Running, is a first-hand, biased, and unreliable review.

To get to the Redmond Watershed Preserve, simply follow the parade of late-model SUVs east from Seattle. Watch for a break in the subdivisions on the left. You will see a stand of trees defying the laws of real estate expansion and golf course development. This is the Redmond Watershed Preserve.

I kid. We love you, Redmond. Clean streets, wide sidewalks, nicely maintained signs confirming that those cottonwoods and alder trees are indeed part of a "natural space." What's not to love?

On paper (meaning the Internet) the Redmond Watershed Preserve looks something like paradise. It is a protected natural space amidst suburban sprawl, golf courses, and shopping centers. Over five miles of maintained trails wind through the forest from a tidy parking area. 

The bathrooms are clean.

The brochure is very professionally produced.

It's all good at the Redmond Watershed Preserve. Which is probably why I didn't enjoy it much.

After parking near the restrooms, I was greeted by two rather permanent looking signs at the trailhead:

WARNING: CAR PROWL AREA

and

WARNING: BLACK BEAR SIGHTED IN AREA

I'm uncertain if the bear is responsible for the car prowling, but I think it is implied. I glanced back at my unlocked car with my lunch on the front seat and decided the bear could have it if he wanted it badly enough. Off I went.

From the parking lot you quickly cross a power line right of way trail before being sent back into the woods. Here there are more signs. 

MITIGATION AREA: DO NOT MOW.

Okey dokey. I wasn't planning on doing any mowing anyway, but good to know the rules. I continued.

The trails in the Watershed are wide and flat. The surface throughout is mostly hard soil and gravel. The trails roll a bit, but there is nothing anyone would consider a climb anywhere I could find. Every trail junction has a bench and a sign with a map. A few trails allow bikes, horses, and hikers. Some are for hikers only. Giant gates guard these pedestrian-only trails, so you feel pretty safe inside the barriers.

Not the Actual Bear

I wonder if the bear can go wherever he wants? Are there bear-only trails?

As I came around corner after about 2 miles of running, a 30-something year old couple was slowly walking hand-in-hand and enjoying their Sunday morning. Cute. I let them know I was coming up behind them with my usual "coming up behind you" call. Nothing.

"Behind you." I repeated.

"Trail!" I tried.

Nothing.

So it happened that I was about three strides behind them and one of my footfalls somehow registered where my voice didn't. Young man spun around.

"Oh my god! I thought you were a bear!"

Really?  "Nope. Not a bear. Thanks." Off I went.

Listen folks, I 100% believe that there are black bears around Redmond. This little preserved chunk of wilderness used to be actual wilderness. Before those dudes invented personal computing in their garage, this whole place was rural. Your subdivision is carved out of a bear's backyard. But come on. No bear is menacingly tromping around the well-manicured trails of the Redmond Watershed Preserve at 10:30 on a Sunday morning while a few dozen people recreate instead of going to church. Whatever bear was spotted is trying like hell to figure out how he got marooned there while his friends are up in the mountains enjoying the last remnants of winter. At least we know the warning sign worked: people were afraid of the bear*.

And I didn't see anyone mowing anything.

Another mile or so ticked by and I came upon my first group of equestrians. I've never ridden a horse. But I think I would want to have more than 5 miles of trail available to me if I did. I imagine these riders getting up early, pulling the horse trailer around to wherever they keep their horses, loading the trailer, packing up their saddles and whatnot, driving to the Watershed, unloading their horses, getting geared up, checking the bear status, locking their trucks, and setting off into the woods. Several minutes later they are back at the trailhead. Good times. Nothing against horseback riding. Every one of them I encountered was friendly and smiling. 

Equestrian Group #1 commented on my orange shirt. "No one will mistake you for a bear in that shirt!"

You wouldn't think so, but funny story...

Next, another sign:

STAY ON TRAILS

Ok. I'll do that. The nettles and underbrush don't look tempting anyway.

Then another: 

PACK IT IN, PACK IT OUT

Ok. I can do that, too. Especially since I didn't bring anything with me. For the record, though, the teenage hooligan in me wants to litter every time I see one of those signs.

And this is when things got really weird. As I made the last turn onto something called the "Trillium" trail, a man and a woman were apparently working on something up ahead. He had a pickaxe and she a flat-nosed shovel. They were...what were they doing? 

As I passed them, I watched as he pried a stone out of the trail bed and tossed it into the underbrush. They were de-rocking the trail? What?

Sure enough, for the next 100 yards or so, there were dozens of little potholes in the trail where they had removed an offending rock. I've been thinking about this ever since and I still don't get it. Rocks and roots are part of the trail, no? Is the goal a perfectly manicured trail surface? Was the plan to back-fill the craters they had just made? I'm still baffled by this and find myself wishing I had stopped to ask them what the plan was and what on authority they were "beautifying" the trails. Is this some sort of horse-related accommodation? 

Like all good loops should, mine ended where it started. I thought about heading back out for another five miles, but I wanted to make sure my car hadn't been prowled by a bear. So I used the tidy bathroom and ate my lunch before heading out to get on with my day. 

5.3 miles at somewhere near 9 minutes per mile. A respectable outing.

I didn't say it wasn't pretty...

The whole experience is just so...sanitized. It's a beautiful place. Local residents are lucky to have it. I wish we had more open spaces like it near the city that were devoted to human-powered forays into the woods. I guess I just like my walks in the woods to me a little less managed. I like to be able to go more than half a mile without a sign telling what not to do. 

So in summary: beautiful trails, nice idea, great facility, and boring. If you're out driving to go for a run anyway, keep going east.

One of my readers pointed out one way to make the Watershed more interesting:

Try the Cascade Running Club Watershed 12 Hour Race to spice it up a bit. I'm seriously considering it.

*And I suppose the City of Redmond or King County or whoever is in charge around here is hereby not responsible if said bear killed someone.