West Hylebos Wetlands Park | Federal Way | Washington | United States

It’s a beautiful early fall afternoon, it’s a little cool, but very sunny, which makes it an amazingly nice day, so my best friend and I have decided to go for a hike, to witness the early color changing of the season.  We do not want to go far, so a local park in Federal Way makes sense, so we pick the West Hylebos Wetlands Park, it’s only 10 minutes driving for us after all.

Its hard to believe this park is in the very urban of Federal Way, it is also a testament to how much human has changed the environment.  I believe future development should really focus on the integration of human developments and nature.

Why We Love It:  Clean, well maintain, seclusive, quiet, serene, nature feel.  The best part is, you won’t feel like you are in a city when you are here.  Nothing in here reminds you of that. It is as good of a city park as you can ask for.

Things We Dislike:  Dogs are not allowed in the park.  Other than that, nothing, we love it here.

Before I start, I should shout out loud that dogs are not allowed in the park, so please leave your beloved at home before coming here.

This old cabin is the oldest building in Federal Way, it sits at the entrance of the park, it served as a great landmark to let people know they are in the right place.

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A map and a little history of the park.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon when we hike the park, it’s early fall, the color just started to change a bit, but most foliages are still lushly green.

Chestnut falling on the ground, the afternoon sun went through the dense chestnut leaves and hitting these fallen chestnuts with soft rays.

It looks like hair, it looks soft, but it is not, the spikes on these chestnut shells are as tough and as sharp as possible, just like needles. I got fooled thinking it was harmless and get too close, I paid the price, it drew blood right away, these are some super tough thorns.

Our first stop is Marlake lake, one of the two lakes in West Hylebos Wetlands Park, it was more of a detour to get here, off from the main trail.  Here we are on the trail by the lake peeking through an opening in the dense woods.

We walk on to the pier and saw these beautiful and serene reflections of the green tall grasses on the lake.  The feeling of autumn is unmistakeable here.

A wooden bench sitting alone on the pier, obviously you should not sit on it.  Under constant exposure to harsh sun, wind, rain, cold and snow, it went from brand new to old and broken, in just a couple of seasons. It will probably be out of commision after this winter.  It does make for a nice drastic look though.

It was a beautiful scenery in the woods as the autumn sun lit the whole forest with some mesmerizing green glow, I felt refresh and was able to forget about everything and just relax.

Fern is a common growth In the Pacific Northwest and it is no exception here in the park, we can see them everywhere on the ground, in this case, growing out of a tree trunk.

The first part of the park are dirt trails but as we walk in deeper, it becomes boardwalks. It’s a rather simple trail really, separating into left an right, both leading towards Brook lake, but the distance is great, completing the trail back and forward definitely gave us a good walk.  Step goal reached on my Garmin.  Yay.

Found a caterpillar going about a plant in search of delicious tender leaves. Got to hurry and eat up little guy! And transform into that beautiful butterfly before it got too cold.

There are several openings in the forest when hiking the park, a few spots where you can see through the forest top and into the blue sky. The conifers covered up most of the sky on the hiking trail, it’s so dense even lights have a hard time reaching the forest floor.

Don’t these Jewelweeds (impatiens capensis) have the cutest flower!?! And they are in my favorite color, orange, which instantly makes them one of my favorite flower. They are in full bloom here at the park in early autumn.

Some leaves turn color earlier than the other, some are still green, but these in the photo simply can’t wait and turn itself into a gorgeous combination of red, orange and gold in early fall.

Some of the maples in the park also can’t wait to change color, along with their cousins in green, they painted a harmonious picture.

There are boardwalks throughout the park, they made sure hikers stay dry even when the forest floor is fully flooded after a rain or when excess water from the mountain flows into low lands. Hey, they call it wetlands for nothing. It’s quite romantic walking on these boardwalks when the forest floor is fully under water.

The color on the canopy shows a smooth transition from summer to fall, as green slowly transitions to yellow, then to golden orange and red. The beautiful afternoon sun lit them up from behind, creating some fantastic backlighting.

Found a couple of these guys on the trail.  Banana Slug, well, Pacific Banana Slug to be exact, as the black spots on their body differentiating them from other banana slugs. They are for sure more beautiful than other common slugs.  Banana slugs are so named because they carry the banana color … well … really … no explanation is actually needed here as it is quite self-explanatory …  They are as slow as any other slugs though … bet you know that already as well …

The last part of the trail is a bridge walkway to Brook Lake, which is also the end point for this trail. You will walk through a large part of watery forest floor, completely submerged. Here you will learn the true meaning of wetlands.

There are all kinds of vegetation growing out of the water. A lot of them seems ready to call it a season and restart in spring. This may be the remaining of the skunk cabbage, I am not sure however, so if any of you know for sure, please let me know. Thanks.

We walk through a small patch of dry land before we reach Brook Lake. Brook Lake is not big, and from the look of it, I thought it was dead water, until a big swirl form right in front of me, reminding me that the lake is not as barren as it looks. It is most likely a big trout or catfish, or an ancient supposedly extinct giant Anaconda … ya … I do have a very active imagination …

P.S.  I may have found a nice clearing large enough to practice my knife and sword along the way, I am not sure, it’s off trail, so we shall see.

After reaching Brook Lake, we have no other way to go but back. Part of the trail actually split the other way right before the last stretch to Brook Lake and end in the Hylebos Blueberry Farm Park, but we have decided to no go there. We would just go back to where we came from. All these greens and clean oxygen are making us hungry, must find food.

On the way back, the sun was hitting the forest on a lower angle, which also means softer lights, and the whole parks were basking in this soft and smooth yellow tint, everything was glowing in a soft golden aura, it was quite dreamy really. There’s a reason why fall is my favorite season.

Big leaf, big trunk, big tree. Some of the big leaf maple trees in the park are not shy to stand toe to toe with the giants (conifers) that dominate most of the park.

On exit, I found a rock painting sitting in one of the tree bases.  Rock painting is a popular thing to do in the area of Tacoma and Federal Way. And some people hide the rocks they painted in beaches and parks for others to find. It’s good luck if you find one. Supposedly, if I take it home, I should paint one and put it out in the wild for others to find. I should start painting.

Found a couple wild apple tree in the park, this one is right at the entrance, well, I am not sure this one is wild … Anywho, the apples are ripe, a lot have fallen to the ground, feeding the wildlife in the area.  But some still stays on the tree, dreaded the unavoidable fate.  Nothing can escape the power of time, human nor animal nor anything.  Changes of the season are just the way of the natural order.

Overall, this is a nice walk, can’t call it a hike if there’s no elevation, but as I mentioned before, the distance is good, less than 2 miles round trip, makes it a perfect breaks from city life.  If you need a temporary hide away from urban chaos, this is a great little park for you.

-Lumaca