Thurston Hills Natural Area

Beautiful!!! You can have dogs if they're on their leash, but it is a mountain biking path as well so just be careful. There are clearly marked bike-only paths, and there are well maintained walking/hiking paths. It's so nice and quiet, you get to hear the birds chirping

Good Trail to Walk and Hike, There are Trails to Mountain Bike on. Lower Part of the Trail you have some Views but Further Up No Views Trail goes thru a Mossy Tree Area. Lots of Twisted mossy covered trees very peaceful It Starts out Crushed Gravel and then turns to Dirt or Sometimes Mud. Has a few small Water Run Offs on the Trail but easy to navigate You get towards the top there is no signage to follow thru on its a Trail up and the Same Trail Down Never have seen Bikes but there are hikers, Runners and Dog Walkers most are friendly Has a good sized parking lot with Restrooms, and a Place to Wash your Bikes off Coming in from Springfield on Hwy 126 there is only 1 small sign thats easy to miss All in all a good place to go

Combined walking and mountain biking trails. This review is for hiking. The path starts as wide, crushed gravel for the first 1.5 to 2 miles. It is a steady uphill climb. Then it transitions to a section that is dirt/mud with larger rocks. This section is not accessible. Note: the main walking trail is an out and back. The signage does not clearly designate the turn around point. Consider reviewing the trail map at the trailhead prior to starting. The parking lot is accessible by a sharp turn when coming from Springfield. It is large with modern toilets. Also with a bike repair and wash station. Enjoy!!

Excellent trail system. The trails are clearly marked which are safe for pedestrians and which ones are not. A few of them are one-way downhill bike trails only. I went at a time when there were very few bikers which made the experience more pleasant. Fewer surprises. The bathrooms at the trailhead are also in great condition.

I've hiked from the South entrance of Thurston Hills trails a few times. I'd give it 4.5. You can park your car at the Quartz Park, walk up Quartz Ave., up a dirt trail next to the last house on your left. Then go right onto Weyerhaesuer Rd. & in few mins. you'll see trail sign on your left or walk further on the road until you see the sign & gate. Then walk on trail to the right or up the jeep trail. The scenery is open-fields, little creeks under the trail, several trees, hills to the West & SW. The trail meets up with jeep road, & soon there's the Upper Mossy trail, which is narrow & rocky. It'll lead you the top with views of of northern hills. There's small loop trail at the top. That hike took me about 2 hrs. RT. Pros: parking at Quartz prk, 1 porta potty, nice open scenery, not too many hikers/bikers/dog walkers, wildflowers in Spring. Cons: porta potty lock maybe broken, dog walkers bring own poop bags Update 3/31/24: we hiked up to summit of Basalt trail via Super Maple trail, about 15" from jeep road. Great views from loop to south & north! Wild lilies blooming. Unfortunately saw a couple of graffiti on rocks. Since tree leaves were sparse we saw the vertical basalt on cliff face & 2 vultures gliding overhead.