Heron Park
Managed by City of Mill Creek
7 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0A−Outdoors
Outdoors in Mill Creek
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park in Mill Creek
Virtually every resident lives within a half mile of a park. 9.7 miles of mapped trail cross Mill Creek, 2.1 per square mile of land. 115 acres are parks and preserves, 5.5 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns · #103 of 285 in Washington. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
102 acres · of 4.6 sq mi of land
Trails
9.7 mi
2.1 per sq mi of land
Park land
115 ac
5.5 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
99%+
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
14 mi
11 mi lanes · 3.0 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
2
What kind of outdoors town is Mill Creek?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Mill Creek have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Mill Creek is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns, #103 of 285 in Washington. The share of residents near a park holds the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
A−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Mill Creek’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical WA town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails2.1 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (10 mi) · WA 0.8 · U.S. 0.4APark land5.5 acres of park per 1,000 residents (115 acres) · WA 11 · U.S. 13CParks close to homeVirtually all residents within a half mile of a park · WA 92% · U.S. 72%A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 79%
LessMore
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 64%
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Heron Park, with 0.3 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
North Creek County Park
Managed by Snohomish County
18 acres0.1 mi of trail
North Creek Trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lotWebsite ↗
Nickel Creek Park
Park
17 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
All 14 parks & preserves
Heron Park7 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · City of Mill Creek
Pine Meadow Park3 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
Exploration Park1 acres · 0.2 mi of trail
North Creek County Park18 acres · 0.1 mi of trail · Snohomish County
DirectionsNickel Creek Park17 acres
McCollum Pioneer Park14 acres
DirectionsCougar Park6 acres
DirectionsMill Creek Sports Park6 acres
Highlands Park4 acres
DirectionsLibrary Park3 acres
DirectionsCopper Park2 acres
DirectionsBuffalo Park2 acres · Mill Creek City
Hillside Park1 acres
Silver Crest Park1 acres
Who protects it
102 conserved acres
3% of Mill Creek’s land. Who manages Mill Creek’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Town or city107 ac
County51 ac
Local Other or Unknown · 69 acLocal Park · 62 acLocal Recreation Area · 26 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. Public access isn’t recorded for 1 of 17 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loth91 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 38 | Open |
| Loth232 Local Other or Unknown | County | 31 | Unknown |
| Garhart Reservoir Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 21 | Open |
| Nickel Creek Neighborhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 20 | Open |
| North Creek Regional Park Local Park | County | 17 | Open |
| Cougar Neighborhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Mill Creek Sports Park Local Recreation Area | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Highlands Neighborhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Heron Neighborhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 4 | Open |
| Pine Meadows Neighborhood Park Local Park | Town or city | 3 | Open |
5 smaller protected places aren’t shown.
Things to do
30 places to go in Mill Creek
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Mill Creek
Covered Play Place
DirectionsHeartwood Apartments Playground
DirectionsHeron Park playgroundIn Heron Park
DirectionsMill Creek Meadows Playground
DirectionsPlayground StructureIn Silver Crest Park
DirectionsPlus 24 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Dog parks in Mill Creek
1 dog park without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
2 named trails and 2 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Unpaved · 0.8 mi
North Creek Trail0.2 mi
Woodland Community Trail0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
14 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
11 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
3.0 mi
off-road bike paths
0.2 mi
shoulders & shared lanes
Courts & fields
22Tennis
8Basketball
4Baseball
3Pickleball
2Softball
1Skate park
1Tracks
1Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Mill Creek: May to September
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 8.8 | 10.2 | 11.7 | 13.6 | 15.1 | 16.0 | 15.6 | 14.3 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 9.2 | 8.4 |
| High (°F) | 46 | 49 | 53 | 58 | 64 | 68 | 74 | 75 | 69 | 59 | 50 | 45 |
| Rain (in) | 5.2 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.9 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 5.7 |
July is the driest month (0.9 in) and August the warmest (highs of 75 °F). 5.7 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Mill Creek →
Next door
Mill Creek and its neighbors
Mill Creek has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mill Creek | 3% | 2.1 | 6 | 99%+ | A− |
| Martha Lake | 7% | 2.0 | 9 | 99% | A |
| Mill Creek East | 5% | 1.8 | 3 | 99%+ | A− |
| Silver Firs | 4% | 2.1 | 8 | 92% | A− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Mill Creek
Where can I hike in Mill Creek?
The longest trail networks: Heron Park, 0.3 miles; North Creek County Park, 0.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Mill Creek is conserved land?
3% of its land, against a typical 4% for a Washington town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Mill Creek’s trails?
Heron Park and North Creek County Park don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Mill Creek?
14 miles of bike routes are on the map: 11 of painted or protected lanes, 3.0 of off-road paths and 0.2 of shoulders and shared lanes.
Is there public land near Mill Creek?
13,165 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Mill Creek or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 115 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Mill Creek have?
Ahead of 79% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #103 of 285 in Washington. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Mill Creek neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →