Cougar Mountain is a peak in the Issaquah Alps in King County, Washington. It is part of the highlands in the Eastside suburbs of Seattle, and at it is the lowest and westernmost of the Alps. About two-thirds of Cougar Mountain has experienced residential development, and is home to many neighborhood communities such as Lakemont. The forested heart of the hill was officially preserved by

King County King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...

in June 1983 as

Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park is a regional park in King County, Washington, near the towns of Bellevue and Issaquah. The park was established in June 1983 to protect the central core of Cougar Mountain, the park covers with of hiking ...

. Cougar Mountain is home to the

Cougar Mountain Zoo Cougar Mountain Zoo is an non-profit zoological park located in Issaquah, Washington, on the north slope of Cougar Mountain about east of Seattle. It is located near the border of the Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park. The zoo focuses on e ...

Geology

Cougar Mountain was formed in the Miocene when tectonic forces folded western Washington along a northwest axis and created the Newcastle Anticline. The anticline exposed earlier ( Eocene to

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

) sedimentary and volcanic rocks that, due to erosion, now form the surface of Cougar Mountain. The northern edge of Cougar Mountain is distinct due to the Seattle Fault, which runs along I-90. The Seattle Fault caused a large earthquake approximately 1100 years ago.

Ecology

Cougar Mountain is part of the Eastern Puget Uplands level IV ecoregion, as defined by the

EPA The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

. This ecoregion is a transition between the ecology of the Puget Sound and the forests of the Cascades. The ecology of Cougar Mountain is thus more similar to the Sammamish Plateau than the rest of the Issaquah Alps. Cougar Mountain contains species and habitats that were once common closer to Puget Sound. Extensive logging has rendered the ecosystem less diverse than its original state.

Views

The top of Cougar Mountain features views of Seattle, Mercer Island,

Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, ...

and the Olympic Mountains.

Transmitting facilities

Cougar Mountain is home to some of Seattle area radio station's transmitters. These include: * KNHC 89.5 * KBCS 91.3 *

KJR-FM KJR-FM (93.3 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Seattle, Washington. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia. The studios and offices are on Elliott Avenue West in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood northwest of downtown. The ...

93.3 *

KJEB KJEB (95.7 FM) is a commercial radio station in Seattle, Washington. It broadcasts a classic hits radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. The radio studios and offices are in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood northwest of downtown. KJEB ...

95.7 * KPLZ-FM 101.5 * KLSW 104.5 *

KCMS-FM KCMS (105.3 FM, "Spirit 105-3") is an FM radio station licensed to Edmonds, Washington, serving the Seattle market and broadcasting a Contemporary Christian music format. The station broadcasts at 105.3 MHz from Seattle (with a transmitter on ...

105.3 * KRWM 106.9 *

KHB60 NOAA Weather Radio NWR; also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is an automated 24-hour network of VHF FM weather radio stations in the United States (U.S.) that broadcast weather information directly from a nearby National Weather Servi ...

162.550

References

External links