Flaming Geyser State Park

     This past weekend, for Father's Day, my dad decided it would be fun to take the dogs and go exploring at one of the Washington State Parks in the area. It sounded like fun - (non-sarcastic) yay hiking! So my mom, being the over-prepared mother that she is, looked up a few parks and decided on Flaming Geyser State Park near Auburn and Black Diamond, Wash.
     The park surrounds the Green River and has some pretty neat features including a playground, remote-control airplane areas, and picnic areas, along with the geysers and hiking paths. Some of the reviews we came across described these paths as relatively flat with some challenging options.
     While that is true of the short jaunt up to the Flaming Geyser, the main River Trail which goes down along the river is both gentle and challenging. It goes up and down along the hills the river snakes through, and if you're planning on going down to the river there are several places where you'll want to take your time on the steep inclines.
     The trek up to the Bubbling Geyser is much more challenging. It does have the convenience of several flights of stairs, but they are steep and the wooden treads have gouges behind them where people have walked away the dirt of the hillside. At the crest of the hill, before you'll go down to the actual geyser, is a bench and sort of platform which (when we went in late June) is made of a slick shifting dirt. Our dogs seemed to handle it fine, but the footing was not exactly comfortable for people.
     There is another set of trails, called the Ridge Trail, which goes around the office buildings and park ranger station. These trails were our first foray around the park. They are not meant for the faint of heart: the entrance goes straight up a hill for about 75 - 100 yards, the rest of the trail jogs up and down along the top of the hill until it begins a steep switchback to lead down to the main picnic areas. The duration of the trail was probably only about a mile, but the grade at the beginning and toward the end made it one I do not plan on trying again for quite some time.
     Flaming Geyser was an enjoyable park, fairly close to the Seattle Metro-area and with sights to interest various levels of outdoorsman.