Issaquah Alps Hikes using Trailhead Direct
A new bus service provides easy access to the Issaquah Alps
Revised 9/22/2021
The Trailhead Direct Metro bus service provides easy access to Squak and Tiger Mountain trailheads during summer weekends.
Getting There
From downtown Seattle, ride Link Light Rail southbound to Mt. Baker station. The Issaquah Alps bus starts its route here.
The bus runs on weekends and holidays only. More info here :
Trailhead Direct has several service routes which each serve numerous trailheads. Get maps and a trip planning tool for all hikes served by Trailhead Direct at the links below:
The Hikes
The first trailhead that the bus stops at is the Margaret's Way trailhead on the west side of Squak Mountain. The trailhead (elevation 360' ) is located at the site of a former private campground now owned by King County. The recently constructed Margeret's Way trail first climbs through the remnants of the old campground, where old roads and campsites are visible in the woods. The trail climbs steadily to reach a wooded plateau at 1100' and levels out; a side trail leads to a nice vista point with a log bench.
Descending slightly, the trail crosses head water branches of Tibbets Creek before ascending a steep, deeply wooded slope with well-constructed switchbacks. The trail eventually comes to an end when it meets the Chybinsky Loop Trail, elevation 1800'. Many hikers go right on that trail, then shortly right again on the Perimeter Trail, which soon reaches a spur trail leading to Debbie's View. This vista point offers a grand vista south; Mount Rainier is visible on a clear day.
Since you are not tied down to a car, you are free to continue hiking across Squak Mountain and catch a bus at a different location. I would recommend hiking over Squak Mountain and descending the East Ridge and Squak Access trails to downtown Issaquah, where you can catch the Trailhead Direct bus or Sound Transit 554.
The second trailhead stop is at the Mountain State Park trailhead on the south side of Squak Mountain. This is a good starting point to get to the summit of Squak Mountain via the service road route.
The third trailhead that the Trailhead Direct bus stops at is the Chirico Trail, located in the deep valley tucked away between Squak and Tiger Mountains. The Chirico Trail is insanely popular and suffers extreme parking problems - one reason why this new bus service was started. You often see hikers parking a mile away on the busy Issaquah-Hobart Road and and making a long, miserable slog along it to get to the trailhead.
The Chirico Trail makes a steep climb of 1600' in 1.7 miles to reach the grand vista of Poo Poo Point. This area has been developed as a launch site for paragliders, and it is an entertaining sight to see the aerial daredevils take off and float away on the updrafts, sometimes reaching amazing altitudes. Poo Poo Point was named (probably by the famous Harvey Manning, author of the pioneering Footsore series of hiking guidebooks) for the sound of the whistles formerly used during logging operations to communicate instructions to the crews handing the logs.
From Poo Poo Point, trails continue on into the vast wilderness of Tiger Mountain. It is possible to hike to downtown Issaquah and the Tradition Lake trailheads where other buses may be caught.
The Trailhead Direct bus also stops at two more trailheads: the High School Trailhead and the Sunset Way Trailhead. Both of these trailheads can be used to reach the network of trails on the Tradition Lake Plateau area of Tiger Mountain.
Getting back
Take Sound Transit 554 (downtown Issaquah at Sunset Way and 1st Ave) or the Trailhead Direct bus to get back to Seattle.