How to get to Perrigo Springs - the original water supply for Redmond

FIELD TRIP TO PERRIGO SPRINGS

By Susan Wilkins
Redmond, WA. 

We’ve all heard about Perrigo Springs, the original water supply for the City of Redmond, but few people know exactly where to find the springs or the geologic history.  Named for the Perrigo family that settled Redmond in the 1800s, the springs are located on the east side of Education Hill downhill from Hartman Park in a deep ravine cut by Perrigo Creek - also named for the Perrigo family.

Perrigo Creek starts in the 2-acre wetland pond at the top of the hill at the southern edge
of Hartman Park and flows downhill towards Avondale Road, eventually joining Bear
Creek in the large Keller Farm Fields in the center of the valley. During the hot summer
months, Perrigo Creek runs dry so the only water flowing in the creek bed is from Perrigo
Springs.

Perrigo Springs flow from a thick gravel and sand bed that runs through the hillside at
about 240 feet above sea level. Starting at the dam that crosses the creek and continuing
upstream for about 120 feet, spring water flows from the gravel layer into the stream
channel. Near the dam, there is a layer of dirt and vegetation that the spring water seeps
through, keeping the hillside muddy and wet. Upstream the water gushes directly out of
the hillside where the gravel layer is exposed.  (Read more on the geology and how to find the springs>>)

GETTING TO PERRIGO SPRINGS

From the west: The springs can be accessed from the top of the hill by the Morman Church parking lot by walking down the Ashford Trail (also called the Waterline Trail or Perrigo Woods Trail).  Ashford Trail runs east-west along the south boundary of Hartman Park and then downhill along the Perrigo Creek Ravine to a clearing where the trail ends and a paved road begins.

From the east: From Avondale Road, at the stoplight across from the old fruit stand,
turn onto 180th Avenue NE and follow the road uphill until it dead-ends at the Ashford
Trail.

The Perrigo Spring site is marked by a rock with a commemorative plaque and a willow
tree next to a large City of Redmond water tower.  (It's monitored 24/7 by a camera on the water tower).   Behind the trees, there is a dam across the creek bed that was built to capture water from the springs. The water was then piped to the small population of Redmond residents who lived in the town. The deep pool behind the dam has been filled to the top with sediments and the pipe holes in the face of the dam are completely clogged so water from the springs now flows over the dam
through a spillway.

To locate the springs, from the dam walk upstream in the creek bed while looking at the
hillside on the north side of the creek for wet sediments or trickling water. Wear water
shoes, flip-flops or go barefoot because it’s difficult to keep your feet dry. Near the dam,
the springs are at about the same level as the creek. The water-bearing gravel and sand
beds tilt gently upward toward the west. Walking upstream, the hillside becomes bare
and the gravel beds are 3 or 4 feet above the creek. At the upstream location it’s easy to
see the chilly water (50.3 F in August) pouring out of the gravel and sand layer. There
is also a spring located in the creek bed. On the south bank of the creek, light spring
seepage from gravel can also be found. (Note that I took pink neon ribbon and marked
the springs so that they’d be easier to find.)

It’s ok to walk gently in the creek bed and sift through the sediments with a stick or your
fingers. For children, this is a rare educational experience to see water “springing” right
out of the rocks on the hillside! Think about how much water is continuously flowing
from the springs. Look for bugs under rocks and for slugs on the wet hillside. Birds,
including hawks, pigeons, hummingbirds, woodpeckers and stellar jays all visit to drink
the water or take a bath.

Geology: The Puget Sound Region has been covered by continental glaciers multiple
times over the past 2 million years. Massive ice sheets formed in Canada and moved
southward depositing layers of sediments. The ice sheets formed and melted away
multiple times, each time leaving layers of new glacial deposits. Sometimes the
sediments deposited by the glaciers were sorted into layers of sand or gravel. In the
case of Perrigo Springs, a layer of mostly gravel mixed with some sand was deposited
in a drainage channel – either under the glacier or at the south end of the glacier as it
melted away. The gravel became part of a river or stream channel until a later glacial
period when it was covered by more glacial deposits and buried under hundreds of feet
of overlying rock and dirt. We know from overlying, consolidated beds that the Perrigo
Springs gravels were buried about 100,000 years ago and only recently uncovered –
probably during the end of the last glacial period about 20,000 years ago. The sand
and gravel layer exposed on the hillside at Perrigo Springs extends for thousands of feet
or even several miles under Education Hill allowing for the collection of percolating
rainwater from the top of the hill. The discharge from the springs occurs year-round but
increases and decreases with the seasons and seems to be dependent on rainfall totals
from previous seasons.

***An alternate way to get to the springs is along the trail. About 100 feet up the trail,
there is a clearing with a sign pointing to Perrigo Springs. Scramble up and over the
steep dirt pile and walk/slide down into the creek channel. (Be careful!) Upstream you’ll
see the pink ribbon and white signs for Perrigo Spring. Spring water comes out from the
north side of the hill from the layers of gravel and should be visible without getting your
feet wet.