June 7th, 2026 – North Creek Trail & McCollum Park Forest Loop
Mill Creek & Everett, WA ||Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla land, and sidhubš (Snohomish) land
Haven’t been here in ages! This is a pretty swanky trail that we take from the Mill Creek Town Center near Central Market up to McCollum Park, where you can catch the Forest Loop trail. It actually extends further south than the Central Market, but that involves going across a busy road that Leeloo probably would not be a fan of.
Leeloo and Sieh’s grandma used to walk this trail on a regular basis after a long day of teaching back when she was playing Pokémon Go, which is how we found out about it. If it was my day off from work, we’d sometimes join her if we didn’t have a proper hike planned. I used to take Noodle here, and she loved it. This is one of the things that I was really looking forward to having access to when we moved back in with the kids’ grandma. I imagined coming every day with the kids in their stroller after work, then walking them one at a time alongside through the Forest Loop. I was going to start bringing my bike, with them riding in the bike trailer I’d just bought (but didn’t get to use until 6 years later.) If you’ve been here a while you know what happened after that.
It’s a really nice trail. Or, well, it would be if they’d repair it. There’s loads of gorgeous trees all around the trail, which generally means regular maintenance for pavement. Unfortunately, they haven’t kept up with this at all, which is a bit surprising for a wealthier area. The last time we walked here it wasn’t in quite this level of disrepair. Fluorescent orange spray paint has been used to highlight where the pathway has raised and cracked over tree roots which at least gives an early warning, but navigating over and around all of this with a wheelchair got old fast. Some spots are so steep that I felt Yunnie’s anti-tips engage. Yikes. If they fixed the pavement I’d want to take Leeloo and Sieh here on a regular basis, but I was having to dodge, slow down, and plan routes around the worst of the broken pathway just to get along.
I did a little digging and did find a plan for “North Creek Trail Pavement Rehabilitation” in the Mill Creek 2025-2030 Capital Improvement Plan (project #PK00011, if you’re interested), which I think says that last year they allocated $100,000 to the issue. So maybe that means they’re planning on doing that within the next 4 years? That would be really nice, though it does state that they might remove some of the trees, which would suck. Like, just budget to spot repair on a regular basis! It only got so bad because they’ve just been ignoring the issue forever. Man, these accessibility rants have really got me doing my research, haha.
Almost everyone we met along the way was super friendly. People would say “hi,” and then as I passed them, I’d hear some variation of “aww, kitties!” or “oh my god, cats!” It was pretty cute and made me laugh each time it happened. Leeloo and Sieh did great, and were boldly looking at everything and everyone as we zoomed along.
Lots of responsible dog owners, too. Most of them would pull their dogs to the side as we were passing by, and thankfully all but one were leashed. We even saw a standard poodle and their human who both had pink hair!
After 2 miles, the North Creek trail spits you out at McCollum Park. Actually, it might continue on farther now, I’m not sure. McCollum Park has a lot going on. There’s a BMX track, a bunch of sports fields (there were people playing cricket while we were there), there used to be a playground, and a pool.
So much has changed since we were here last! Apparently, they got a grant for a new playground and donated the old one to an organization for underserved communities. The website says that they’re designing the new play area to have improved accessibility features, so hopefully that translates to more disabled kids having a place to play. Unfortunately, the pool is now permanently closed, but last I heard they were planning on putting the Snohomish County Food & Farming Center there. It’s going to have a year-round indoor farmers’ market! Not gonna lie, I’m pretty amped for that, especially since Country Village is gone and with it the Bothell Farmers’ Market. We didn’t even swing by to check out the multiple ball courts (pickle, basket, and tennis) or the mini-golf. Oh, and there’s a Park & Ride. Seriously, this place has everything.
We’ve always kind of ignored the park itself (Leeloo especially dislikes the Park & Ride) and gone straight to the Forest Loop trail. You have to pass by the Northwest Stream Center, which has a really cool boardwalk that goes through the woods along a stream, to get there. I took Noodle here once and it was super neato. There’s also a gift shop. I love a good gift shop. You do need to pay for entry (like $7), but it’s very much worth the money, which is going to a good cause.
One section of the forest is now a designated LARPing zone! I remember coming here years ago and happening along the LARPers and being so delighted. I’m so glad they now have it all official. I didn’t go check out their area because 1: the land around the little bridge has eroded so much that it’s not wheelchair accessible anymore, and 2: we realized that the area was currently in use and didn’t want to intrude (there’s an alternate entrance to the area from the parking lot.) I can’t emphasize enough how absolutely into this my bestie and I would have been in grade school and college.
The rest of the forest is the loop trail. It’s really lovely, and you can almost forget that you’re not out in the middle of nowhere for most of it. There’s loads of areas for people to use as natural playgrounds, and again, I would have been OBSESSED if we’d known about this place even into high school.
In the smoother sections, I let the kids out of the bike trailer one at a time to see how they did on leash with Yunnie. Sieh acted like it was completely normal and was walking along perfectly chill until a runner, and then a parent and toddler passed by. He decided that that was simply the outside of enough and that he was done being compliant.
Leeloo did not understand that general leash walking rules still apply even when I’m seated and just wanted to look at random stuff. I finally picked her up and put her in my lap which she liked, but she goes all relaxed and limp so I have to hang onto her so she doesn’t fall off. Might have to try Noodle’s old baby sling and see if she’ll ride in that.
The one bummer is that this trail is not wheelchair accessible. I’ve seen it identified that way in a couple of different places, but it’s not in spite of being really, really close. I knew it was a gamble, and that there were a lot of tree roots, but I figured I’d give it the old college try anyway. I was able to get all the way around, but ooof! There was only one place where I actually had to get all the way out of Yunnie and guide her across some really bad tree roots without my weight on her, but there were at least two other places where I barely made it through through scootching or shoving with my legs. It does seem like it would be relatively easy to make the loop trail properly accessible, so I’m hoping that maybe they can eventually get to that. Thankfully, no matter how much I was bumping around, Leeloo and Sieh were riding in comfort thanks to the relatively large bicycle wheels on the bike trailer. I was constantly looking back and checking in with them, and they would just give me the cat equivalent of “Dad, we’re fine, stop asking. You’re embarrassing us.”
I’d LOVE to be able to take the North Creek Trail and the forest loop on a regular basis with the kids, especially because it’s the perfect close-by place to practice trail leash manners with Leeloo and Sieh. Snohomish County Parks (which manages McCollum Park and the forest loop) has been really stepping it up with accessibility lately, so I’m hoping this can get on their list for improvements in the future. Until then, I’ll be avoiding the forest loop so that I don’t end up damaging Yunnie.
After leaving the forest, we went across to a little picnic table area under a pergola where we took a hydration break. I had water with electrolytes in my Star Trek water bottle and Leeloo and Sieh enjoyed some Inaba Churu. In addition to feeding foods with a high moisture content, I also make sure to bring treats on our adventures that can serve a hydration function. Cats have a very low thirst drive and are inefficient drinkers to begin with, which is why it’s important to ensure that they get enough moisture through their diet to keep them healthy. This means that instead of relying on a water bowl for adventuring, you’re better off nabbing some Churu or one its many replicas. Think of it like packing them a juice box. A capri sun, if you will.
We headed back towards the town center on the North Creek Trail, and this time we got to read all of the signs and see the encouraging messages that people had written in sidewalk chalk for the marathon runners this morning. It was pretty cute.
We parked over by Paddywack (our favourite nearby independent pet supply store,) which would have been super convenient for another quick snack break, but I was hesitant to try to get Yunnie and the bike trailer in there for reasons of: we probably wouldn’t fit. It’s a small space. We did run in to one of the owners as they were leaving, though, and got to show off the bike trailer.
Got Leeloo and Sieh loaded into Majel and we headed home! Will I spend the next few days in bed recovering from this outing? Indubitably. Was it worth it? Oh, yeah.
Camp Like Noodle 