Best Short Hikes in Lords Hill Regional Park (Snohomish County) (#2) Upper Park: Devils Butte and Two Towers

Exploring the Northwest corner of the park offers both the natural and unnatural-- flora, fauna, and two imposing communication towers.  To get there, stay right on the main trail  (past the horse parking spur trail)  until you reach the West View Trail cutoff (.7 miles--here it means from the parking lot). This moderately uphill trail will take you up  to the top of Devils Butte with a winter view point just under a mile and a half from the trailhead.

The spot tapping of a hairy woodpecker.

Here the sign tells you distance
from the parking lot,
not the distance to the destination

If you expect great vistas from this side of the park, be prepared for disappointment. All of the views from late March to November are filtered through the branches of fir, maple, alder, and the occasional cottonwood.  After all, we are far below the treeline on Lords Hill.  Honestly, the most interesting things to see are closer up anyway.

As you walk through the woods, listen for the soft tapping of a hairy woodpecker, or the jungle call of a pileated.  I walked between two members of the Picidae family working methodically just a little above me while wrens and robins flitted from brush to branches.  In the early spring, trillium open white in the shadows of the woods then fade to a lavender.

Trillium

Kind of a view

On my last hike to  Devils Butte, I took a left from the high point to where the trail dips past a nice pond that rivals Temple.  If you continue on the trail, you'll climb to the final ridge in the park above the river.  Of course, you won't be able to see much from there either.

On the way out last time, from the view point, I finished the counter-clockwise loop trail.  It brings you back to the old logging road that serves as the main West View trail.  Going right will bring you back to where you started.    I went left, investing another half hour in this part of the park.  If you do, you'll have the chance to peer up to  two imposing communication towers that will remind you exactly what century you're living in.  

Moai of  Lords Hill

To get to the towers, go down the hill a few hundred yards from the junction of the loop trail and the West View trail, before a berm that ends the road.  Look right up the hill for a very well-worn bike path that climbs steeply for a 1/4 mile or so.  It will bring you to the towers.

The riveted twins are stark, foreboding, and off limits as they beam unseen waves about the valley.  Razor wire and no trespassing signs let you know to keep moving.

If you head down the maintenance road from the towers, you'll find the backdoor to Springboard trail (not on the park map) and a nice escape to past centuries.  On weekdays, I have never seen a moutainbiker on it, but be alert and remember they built the trail.

Springboard will carry you almost back to Main Trail.  If you are tempted to keep heading down the towers' maintenance road to save time, don't bother.  The short-cut back to the Main Park entrance is closed by jealous property owners who no doubt have had more than their share of happy and clueless wanderers trampling on their tulips.

Many of the trails are unsigned.
Other signed trails are not on the map.

With the aid of the biker-built Springboard Trail on the way out, the amount of backtracking can be significantly reduced.  Once back on the Main Trail, turn left to return you to your car.  To make a longer day of it, head right for more ponds, a better viewpoint, or the river.  (Please see my other posts on Lords Hill).