Madrona Woods and this entire area of Seattle was clear-cut more than 100 years ago.  The natural succession of plants which would have followed has been disturbed by the urban environment that has grown up around it. There are few western red cedars, Doublas firs and western hemlocks, which would have been the majority of big trees by this time. Instead, big-leaf maples nearing the end of their natural lives make up most of the canopy. The conifers have not been able to take root and grow because of the mat of ivy on the ground and the superior survivability of invasive English holly and laurel trees.

The most common tall trees in Madrona Woods are big-leaf maples. Other deciduous trees here are beaked hazelnut, red alder, red elderberry, western dogwood, Oregon ash and black cottonwood. The tallest evergreen trees are the conifers—Douglas-firs, western red cedars and western hemlocks—which have needles and cones. The Pacific madrone is a native evergreen that is not a conifer. Much of the understory in the Woods is still filled with holly and laurel, but you can find many native shrubs that have been uncovered or planted. These include salal, Oregon grape, snowberry, Oregon viburnum, red and evergreen huckleberry, red flowering currant, oceanspray, wood sorrell and Indian plum or osoberry. The Himalayan blackberries that have taken over in places are an invasive species, but native berries include thimbleberry and salmonberry.

There is lots of bird life in the Madrona Woods, ranging from the bald eagle in the top of the tallest Douglas fir to the tiny Anna’s hummingbird (see photo gallery). Both of these are here all year round, as are many others familiar species, like crows, robins, black-capped and chestnut-backed chickadees, house finches, fox sparrows and rose breasted nuthatches. Bird watchers may also see or hear bushtits, Bewicks and winter wrens, band-tailed pigeons, Stellar's jays, yellow-rumped, orange-crowned and Townsends warblers, golden crowned kinglets, brown creepers, spotted towhees, flickers, pileated, downy and hairy woodpeckers, pine siskins and their cousins the gold finches, varied thrushes (robins’ cousins), and maybe even a red-tailed, Coopers or sharp shinned hawk.

Periodically, you will see bald eagles diving and cavorting above the forest canopy.  Other animals you are likely to see are gray squirrels, which have mostly driven out the native Douglas squirrel. You might see raccoons or opossums, mice and rats, moles and voles and bats. There have been a few sightings of salamanders, and many hope for the return of tree frogs. If you want to get your hands dirty, there are plenty of bugs and worms to uncover in rotting wood or soil. Spiders are easily spotted in their webs along the trails.