Mercer Slough Nature Park trails

Well, we picked the most beautiful day of the year thus far to go to the Mercer Slough Nature Park Trails!

One of the many boardwalks

A tree just starting to bloom - against the gorgeous
blue sky!

It was a beautiful, warm (for spring) day!  If you are meeting anyone there, I would suggest deciding on exactly which trailhead you will be meeting at, as there are quite a few different ones! We parked at the Mercer Slough Blueberry Farm. It has parking, trailhead access, a working blueberry farm, bathrooms (open late spring through fall). The blueberry farm has U-pick berries (in season) as well as seasonal produce (not open yet). So if you decided to do this when the blueberries were ripe you could double a nice urban hike with a berry picking day! The trails were a little muddy in spots, but we were able to pick our way around the mud most of the time (I would recommend boots or shoes that can get dirty if you go when it is wet).

There are several different looping trails for a total of about 6 miles. The trails are a variety of dirt, peat moss (and mud), boardwalks, and gravel.

Not much elevation gain, just a pleasant urban hike/stroll through a wetland area, forest and working farm with a view of the Bellevue skyline in the background.

We saw a turtle, a Stellar Jay, and a hummingbird.

The turtle - enjoying the sun

The turtle was not shy and let the kids come right up to it and
pet it's shell.

The Stellar Jay, who was having a raucous conversation up
in the tree with a friend.

The skunk cabbage was just starting to bloom, it was absolutely beautiful and starting to be fragrant.

There was no limit to the gorgeous scenery! 

A single Salmonberry blossom - one of the first

The Oregon Grapes were just starting to bloom

I love shelf fungus and thought this was
a great cluster of it!

Some rogue Daffodils that were just starting to bloom

We had a great day! This was a beautiful park to walk in and we saw a few people but it was far from crowded. I would definitely recommend going "off-season" - one of the great benefits of homeschooling! I have a feeling it could get very crowded during the warmer times of the year!