Trip Report
Naturalist / Day Hike - Bridle Trails State Park
Eleven of us enjoyed 26 bird species on a beautiful, magical morning with good looks at Cooper's Hawks, soaring bald eagles, 4 woodpecker species (including the majestic pileated), and the first Rufous hummingbird of the season. Great group, and a great birding outing with bleeding hearts, trillium, and wild bitter cherry in bloom.
Courtenay Schurman
- Tue, Apr 15, 2025
- Bridle Trails State Park
- Day Hiking & Naturalist
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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The parking lot was locked down until 7:22 a.m., so our intended 7:10 a.m. start was delayed until 7:30 a.m.
I arrived at 6:20 to avoid heavy traffic and scout out the best places for sensory immersion. The restrooms were also closed. Fortunately, there was an open Portapotty in the parking lot, so once we got all our cars officially into the parking lot, we were good to go.
The trails are a bit damp, but otherwise the Raven and Trillium trails are in great shape, with nothing impassable. There was some horse manure in spots, but we skirted all the piles without incident. A relatively quiet morning, which was my intention by choosing a 7:15 start. By 10:45 when we were finishing up our 5.3 mile loop / 3+ hours, a group of 5 dog walkers with 6-8 dogs each (well-behaved, and of all species) made their way back to the parking lot. That's a lotta dogs!!
The traffic noise (well, that and horse poop) is about the only downside to this pretty urban park, but I'll definitely return. Fun birds and great people. Call ahead to find out about gate openings; there is roadside parking, but the person who opened the gate at 7:22 suggested we move cars into the lot to avoid smash-and-grabs. Portapotty delivery was also postponed due to the late gate opening.
This was a fabulous group of 11, many of whom had never explored Bridle Trails State Park before. We had a great mixture of experienced birders and complete novices, and one member was on her first-ever Mountaineers trip. We birded the Raven trail from 7:30-8:50 and then enjoyed some lovely moments on the Trillium trail away from the noise of I-405. I strongly recommend going directly to either the Coyote or Trillium Trail (counter-clockwise) if you want to focus on birdsong.
Highlights included bleeding hearts, trillium (pollinated and not), False Lily of the Valley, Siberian miner's lettuce, "stinky Bob" and some chorus frogs. Bird species moments included good looks at Cooper's hawks, soaring bald eagles, downy, hairy, and pileated woodpeckers, Rufous hummingbirds, and brown creepers. We also saw black-capped chickadees and towhees adding nesting materials to their cavities.
