UW Bothell/Cascadia Community College wetland trails

Location: Bothell.

Length: Short boardwalk spur; several miles of trails.

Level of difficulty: Flat-to-gentle boardwalk and paved trails.

Setting: The University of Washington/Cascadia college campus is restoring connections between North Creek and 58 acres of its floodplain. Historically, the area was laced with stream channels, backwater lakes, marshes and forested wetlands. Peat deposits up to 10 or more feet deep exist on parts of the restoration site. By 1895, the site had been logged for the first time, and the present-day location of Bothell was a logging camp named Stringtown. Maps from 1916 show that by then, large portions of North Creek had been straightened and confined within manmade levees to act as a log flume sending timber down to the Sammamish River (then called Squak Slough) and on to mills on Lake Washington.

Highlights: A regional trail connects here with the Sammamish River Trail and is separated from North Creek by a 100-foot buffer area of meadows and wetlands planted with native species. On the boardwalk at the end of the spur trail, signs and photos describe restoration efforts. The restoration of the North Creek ecosystem is designed to take decades. I first visited this site three years ago, and since then, the plants have grown noticeably denser and taller. From the boardwalk, you can see the dark brown seed pods of hardhack and lush thickets of willows. Farther from the creek channels, young, fast-growing Douglas firs reach upward in the open meadow.

Facilities: Restrooms inside the library and other campus buildings.

Restrictions: Leash and scoop laws in effect. Please stay on the boardwalk and trails as the grassy meadows are being restored and studied.

Directions: From northbound Interstate 405, take Exit 24 and turn left on Beardslee Boulevard. Turn left into the campus on 110th Avenue Northeast, and turn left on Campus Way Northeast. From southbound I-405, take Exit 24, turn right on Beardslee Boulevard, and proceed as above. Park in the north parking lot on your left or along the street (minimal charge for campus parking). Head several buildings south to access the boardwalk heading east into the wetlands.

By bus: Many Metro and Sound Transit routes go to the campus. Metro: 206-553-3000 or http://transit.metrokc.gov. Sound Transit: www.soundtransit.org or 888-889-6368.

For more information: 425-352-3557 or www.uwb.edu/fpdc/wetlands .

— Cathy McDonald, Special to The Seattle Times

Renton-based freelancer Cathy McDonald, a former geologist, has written about science and nature travel for 20 years. She's currently a travel guidebook editor at Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door. Contact her: nwwriter@hotmail.com