S4 - Hike #17 Miller Woods

Miller Woods Conservation Area

Starting Location: parking area

Point of Interest : conservation area with information signs

Length of hike:  Several trails, up to 4.7 mile loop

Level: Easy/Moderate - dirt/gravel trail, some steep

Bathrooms: Yes, flush toilets with heated bathrooms!

Parking: Large gravel lot in good condition

EV Chargers:  No

Our second hike of the day. We opted to do part of the Outer Loop, which was just over 2 miles long. The trails are color coded and well marked. 

There are a lot of birdhouses all over the area, including along the hikes. This shows a string of birdhouses on posts, and a sign showing what birds you might see.
There are lots of benches around the pond area, and quite a few along the trails, to just sit and enjoy the view. The weather was overcast, but the area is beautiful, and the leaves were colorful.
There are a series of doors on the ground, where you can lift it and see some of the harder to spot wildlife. We lifted several of them to check it out. The door I lifted had many small shrews suddenly run for cover. There is even a QR code with a map showing where they are. 
The pond has a small dock, and lots of vegetation. I didn't see anything in the water on our visit, but there is a small sunning platform on the water, I assume for turtles to sun themselves.

They even do research here, with this Snowpack data collection station.
The trail itself winds through the forest. We didn't see much wildlife, but lots of fungus. The trail is well maintained, although if it had been raining for a while, there might be mud. 
Along the trail are signs identifying different types of trees, including this Douglas Fir which is the oldest and largest tree in Miller Woods. The six of us were able to make a ring around it, but we didn't get a picture.

Some of the swampy areas have wooden trails to keep us out of the wet.

We did get a bit turned around on the hike, since we were only doing half of the loop. We were using the AllTrails app, but the trails on the app weren't always where we were walking? We eventually found our way back, partly because there really isn't a way to get lost. We were just hoping to find a shortcut.








This is a nice hike, even with overcast skies. Everything was clean and well maintained. We had some hot chocolate when we got back to our car, and then it was on to the final hike of the day.






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