Best Short Hikes in Lords Hill Regional Park (Snohomish County) #1 Temple Pond via Red Barn Trail

Lords Hill Regional Park, on the backroad between Snohomish and Monroe, has a lot to offer local hikers, trail runners, equestrians, and mountain bikers.  It is a lovely preserve, over 1,400 acres, available in all seasons, and it doesn't require a long trip into the mountains to get to, or even a pass.  The trails are family-friendly, but  parents should provide their kids with a brief lesson about the nasty nature of stinging nettles and devil's club that are prolific in the lowland forests of the Pacific Northwest.

As a local supporter of the park, I was disappointed to read mediocre trail reports of Lords Hill.  After all, it's hard to match the experience this close to the city.  It is a multi-use park, so you do have to be wary of loud and fast mountain bikers clattering down the Pipeline, and minefields of horse pucky left behind by friendly equestrians.  However, with a little more local knowledge, a few hours ranging the trails of Lords Hill can be quite enjoyable.

The problem is most folks lack information to have a great day at the park.  I'll be the first to admit that maps and signage in the park might earn a C if you're an easy graders.  Moreover, writers meeting deadlines do a cursory job of researching the park.  They tend to revisit the most popular destination (Temple Pond via the Main Trail) and call it good.  Undoubtedly,  Temple Pond deserves the attention--it is a lovely Zen place, rain or shine, in any season.  However, if the journey is as important as the destination, then I would recommend an alternate route to achieve tranquility.

The Main Trail is a really a compacted,  rocky old logging road, hard on the knees and ankles.  On a nice weekends, it gets a lot of traffic. Besides hikers, mountain biker, and middle aged women on horseback, on three different occasions,  I've even encountered an ancient couple driving down the road in their Chey LUV circa 1980 apparently taking a short cut around the traffic barriers, down to Monroe.

Interestingly enough, the best route to the lake is not on the park map.  It's called the Red Barn Trail. While a little longer,  the Red Barn Trail is less traveled and still in good shape.  As a bonus, it skirts the outer edge of the Beaver Ponds and brings you to the backside of the Temple Pond.

Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica). 
 Maybe you shouldn't have worn shorts.

Like many wet places in the Northwest, the Red Barn trail has its share of nettles.  If you are hiking with kids, teach them about stinging nettles.  They line the trail in a number of places, and can turn a fun walk in the woods into a crying fest.  As the poet Denise Levertov pointed out in a line of her poetry, (The Rebuff), the stinging nettle has "no spikes, or thorn, . . . nothing like that to warn the hand."  It does have soft, small hairs on the underside of the leaf, ready to burn the unsuspecting.

To find the Red Barn Trail, start the day at the main trailhead (12921 150th Street SE Snohomish).  As you head down the trail, stay left at the first major T, perhaps a quarter mile from the trailhead.  The sign will point to the Beaver Lake Trail.

The trail you want begins left (north) of the Beaver Lake (ponds).  The start of the Red Barn Trail is signed once you're on it, north of the ponds.  Beaver Lake?  Even in the height of a wet winter, the ponds look more like a big marsh with sentinels of cattails standing watch.  Listen for the fluted call of the red-wing blackbird, a favorite visitor to the wetlands.

The Red Barn Trail arcs up the hill above the ponds, then banks back down.  The name-sake barn is visible from the high point, and I suspect, respect for the property owners has kept the trail off the official park map.  A great photo opt can be found at the far end of the pond, looking back.

After the trail leaves the pond, it heads east up a small ridge then through a seasonal creek the south towards Temple Pond.

When you come to English Pond Trail sign,  continue on Red Barn and make a fishhook to the three-way junction of English Pond Trail, Temple Pond Loop, and Red Barn.  These mark the end of the Red Barn trail.   You can save five minutes, and take a shortcut to end of Red Barn by turning right onto English pond trail,

At the junction of the three trails, head south towards Temple Pond, by hanging a left.  The loop trail doesn't actually take you to the end of the pond.  It loops back about half way down.  However, if you feel adventurous, you can follow another unnamed trail that follows the shoreline south, then hops over a small creek, and eventually, connects to the Temple Pond View trail on the other side of the pond.  This will allow you to circle the pond, more or less.

The best view point is off the Pipeline Cutoff Trail.  To get there from the Temple Pond View trail, take a right UP the Pipeline Trail.  A steep climb of a 100 yards or so will bring by a memorial statue and bench on the left side of the trail.   Just past this, you'll find the Pipeline Cut Off trail.

Note:  the Pipeline is the Spine of the park.  If you become disoriented, find the Pipeline Trail.  If you parked in the main parking lot, head uphill (West) to Beaver Lake Trail, then take a left.   When you reach Board Walks, take a right to the trailhead.

Another 100 yards or so down the Pipeline Cutoff, look to the left for the trail to the viewpoint.  Get ready of this: it is UNMARKED.  Follow the viewpoint trail to an open ridge with a good view looking South.  Given the elevation, the viewpoint is fairly unrestricted.

To finish the day, return to the Cutoff trail.  Heading left will bring you to the junction of the Main Trail,  Take a right onto the Main Trail, and stay on the old logging road past the other Cutoff and the Equestrian entrance. Take a left at the Board Walks, and you'll be back at the trailhead in no time.

Walking along the Main Trail will prove my point about the park.  Most of the traffic, people, horses, and mountain bikes, all make their way down the rocky main trail.  I think you'll be happy with your decision to have started on the less-traveled trail when you began your little excursion in Lords Hill Park.

Obviously, this hand drawn map is not to scale  and is only meant to show the 

relative location of the Red Barn Trail to other trails and land marks in the park. 

Use the official map to assure accuracy.  It can be found here:

http://snohomishcountywa.gov/Facilities/Facility/Details/Lord-Hill-Regional-Park-35