Field notes: US-12342 Stillwater State Wildlife Area

Stillwater State Wildlife Area is just a few miles from my home as the crow flies, and only a 15 minute drive. My history with the Wildlife Area spans two and a half decades - I have for many many years walked our dogs there, and the Snoqualmie Valley Trail (on which I have done many thousands of miles of runs) runs directly along the northern edge of the area.

On top of that, I am rapidly closing in on a POTA Kilo award for more than 1000 QSOs from US-12342. Unsurprisingly, I’m pretty familiar with the entirety of the large (xx acres) area, and I have several favorite spots to set up to do a POTA activation.

Stillwater State Wildlife Area is owned by the WA state Department of Fish and Wildlife, and it is managed to a) provide habitat and benefit to all forms of wildlife, and b) be a hunting area. The entire area lies in the floodplain of the Snoqualmie River, so it’s essentially flat terrain with several sloughs, creeks, and marshes as well as meadow and forest.

The area is bounded on the northeast by SR-203, and on the west by the Snoqualmie River. Some parts of the area is essentially marsh, parts are forested (mostly Red Alder, Black Cottonwood, and Big Leaf Maple), and parts are open fields, some of which are essentially unmanaged except for suppressing invasive plant species, and some fields are planted in various species that will benefit and attract various wildlife species. There are both footpaths and gravel roads within the area, and in several places those roads cross streams over short (~15-20 ft) culverts. If you’re trying to traverse from one field to an adjacent field you’ll probably have to cut across over one of these culverts.

The Snoqualmie river floods regularly during the wet season (mid-autumn through mid spring), and when it is a minor flood, parts of the SSWA will be underwater or so boggy as to be inaccessible. During major floods, essentially the entire WA will be underwater, in some cases including the parking areas.

Access and Parking Areas

Access to the SSWA is by vehicle (access is all via SR-203), pedestrian (via the Snoqualmie Valley Trail), and by boat (via the Snoqualmie River).

There are two parking areas, one to the northwest, and one southeast. Both parking areas requires a Discover Pass to park there. (if you are active as a POTA activator in WA and you don’t have a Discover Pass, well, do yourself a favor and go get one. It’s cheap.)

Both parking areas have room for perhaps a dozen cars, and can get full on weekends, especially during hunting season. Do not leave valuables visible in your car if you leave your car.

Activating from your vehicle is perfectly possible from both parking areas provided your setup has a relatively small footprint. Both parking areas suffer from acoustic noise and RFI due to the proximity to SR-203.

Both parking areas have short (30 foot) walks to access points on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, and directly across the trail, you can just walk into the wildlife area proper.

In between the two parking lots (about .25mi west of the eastern parking area) there’s a third pedestrian access into the wildlife area proper.

You can reach the wildlife area on foot via the Snoqualmie Valley trail, either walking up from the south near Carnation, or from the north up near Duvall. It’s just over a 3 mile stroll, one way, from Loutsis Park in Carnation, about a mile and a half from where the Sno Valley Trail crosses SR-203, and about 3 miles from where the Sno Valley Trail crosses NE 124th to the north. The Snoqualmie Valley trail is converted railway (rails to trails) is hard packed gravel, popular with runners, hikers, bicyclists, and bird watchers.

Facilities and Accommodations

The Stillwater State Wildlife Area is a wildlife area, not a park. There are no bathroom facilities, no camping, and no dedicated picnic areas with shelter or picnic tables. Unless you’re going to activate from inside your vehicle (which I definitely do not recommend, as you will miss enjoying the beauty of the area and the wonder of seeing the wildlife) you will need to either sit on the ground, rocks, logs, &c, or bring your own chair (and perhaps a table). There’s also no access to AC power, so you need to bring your own power source along.

My favorite way to do an activation at SSWA is to bring my Helinox Chair Zero and Helinox Table One, set up in a field, and enjoy radio out in the wild.

Activation issues

There are no electrical lines in the wildlife area. Close to SR-203 traffic noise can be bothersome, and RFI will be an issue as well due to the traffic. But a short five minute stroll into the WA proper dulls the traffic noise to a low murmer, and that distance is also sufficient to escape the RFI and get you to a delightfully low noise floor.

Because it’s a wildlife area, putting lines or wires in trees is explicitly forbidden. Stakes in the ground are ok, and I’ve often done activations using a telescoping mast to raise a wire EFHW or EFRW, and I’ve used ground stake mounted antennas as well. In some places where crushed rock has been placed to make roads or trails, you’ll have a devil of a time driving a tent stake or ground stake, so it’s wise to either be flexible about exactly where you set up, or have an alternative way to hold your antenna up. I’ve done many activations using a tripod mounted 1/4λ vertical, and many more using a tripod mounted vertical delta loop.

There are high (~500 foot rise) hills to the north, east, and west, but these aren’t close enough nor high enough to cause problems with takeoff angle.

During the summer, the wildlife area is open for training hunting dogs, so be prepared to encounter dogs off leash.

SSWA is also an active and popular hunting area, with hunting season running from late September through late April. During hunting season, it’s wise to wear blaze orange for safety. The portion of the area within 300 feet of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail is a safe zone; guns must be unloaded and no shooting into that area is allowed, so if you set up in the safe zone (which will be marked with signs at the southern boundary) you should be fine, but expect many friendly conversations with hunters returning to their vehicles.

In general cell coverage in the Snoqualmie Valley is good. I have AT&T service, and coverage everywhere in SSWA is good.

Nearby resources

The Stillwater Store is a convenience store/gas station just south and east of the eastern parking lot, on SR-203. I’d recommend going a little further south to Carnation, a small town of roughly 2500 souls.

There are two options for coffee, Sandy’s and a Starbucks. I recommend Sandys, which is on east side SR-203 in the middle of town.

There are two pizzerias, Red Pepper Pizza, and Blake’s Pizza, which is in the shopping ‘center’ with the Starbucks and an IGA grocery store, right next to the Shell station. I recommend Blake’s both for pizza and for hoagies, and also for salads. If you opt for a salad, get a half salad unless you are planning to slit it with someone.

Good Activation spots

There are many good spots to set up and do an activation, and over the course of several months two spots have emerged as my favorites.

In this aerial image, I’ve marked those two spots.

When it’s cloudy or I am not concerned about working in a spot that’s not in the shade, my favorite is the spot in the circle labeled “A”. It’s a pad made of crushed rock, roughly 30 feet across. The rock seems to have high iron content, and I seem to get great propagation when I used this pad as the ground plane for my antenna.

If I want to work in the shade, I pick spot “B”, which is shaded by a large Big Leaf Maple and an enormous Black Cottonwood. This spot also has the considerable advantage of being inside the safe zone where hunting and loaded firearms are disallowed.

Both those spots offer some acoustic distance from the road noise of traffic on SR-203.