Season 6. Hike #3 - Ellendale Creek Loop

 Ellendale Creek Loop

Starting Location: Yellow Gate, park on side of road about 2 miles up Reuben Boise Road

Point of Interest : views

Length of hike: 4.8 mile loop

Level: Moderate - well kept trails, some steep elevation

Bathrooms: No

Parking: Side of road

EV Chargers:  No


We've done this hike a few times, since it is close to where we live. It's also fun to see how the land looks different each time. 

We always take the horse trail at the beginning that is steeper than I remember. Lots of short rests. The gravel road does wander to the same place, but this trail goes through the forest, which is a different look than most of the hike on a gravel road.

The weather was amazing. End of January and not only is it sunny, but warm. I was comfortable in my tshirt. The trail was dry too.
The view at the top is always amazing, unless it's all fogged in. It's also about the halfway point, so a good place to rest and have a snack.
It was clear enough to see many of the Cascade Mountains.
Toward the end of the hike, I noticed something off the side of the trail, in the grass. It turned out to be ladybugs, thousands of them! There were dozens of these clumps along the road, with hundreds of ladybugs in each clump. 

It's always fun to see something new on a familiar hike. 


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