Author: Jenny
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Update: Dockton Park Moorage Renovation Phase 1 Underway
It’s happening! Starting November 9, we’ll be removing the inner moorage section and breakwater finger piers from the dock in anticipation of the new ones! The work will be performed from a barge and is expected to be completed by November 20, but may only take one week. During this time, the entire dock will…
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Under construction: Dockton Park – marina renovation and bulkhead removal
King County is undertaking two big projects at Dockton Park during the upcoming opening in the fish window. Due to overlapping project timelines, some of the park’s amenities will be intermittently inaccessible, and at times, completely closed to public access. See timetable below. For the first project, work crews will begin staging equipment on site…
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Update: Taylor Mountain Trail Conditions
Many of the trails at Taylor Mountain Forest did not fare well this winter, especially during the storms in February when raging creeks washed out whole trail sections and bridges. Then, in early March, just as repair efforts were launching, a global pandemic forced us all to hunker down and keep our distance. King County…
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Walkin’ & Rollin’ on Vashon
Once upon a time about a month ago, a quiet little ceremony celebrated the official opening of a new half-mile loop trail on the north end of Vashon Island. This trail warrants a special shout-out due to the fact it is King County Parks’ only backcountry trail specifically designed for people who use wheelchairs and…
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Happy Duwamish Alive Day!
On October 19th we celebrated Duwamish Alive Day with events at North Green River Park and White Center Heights Park. For 13 years, Duwamish Alive Day has been a regional day of habitat restoration events organized by the Duwamish Alive Coalition whose collaborative efforts aim to improve the health of the Green-Duwamish Watershed. This year,…
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The Forest Next Door
Mike and Donna Brathovde are uniquely situated to experience King County Parks’ forest stewardship activities. Since 1976, they’ve lived next to what is now known as Ravensdale Retreat Natural Area, a 145-acre forested park near Maple Valley and Black Diamond in south King County. But we’ll get to Mike and Donna in a moment. Ravensdale…
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Another Planting Season in the Bag
Three King County Parks programs are making great progress towards our county-wide goal to plant One Million Trees by 2020. King County Parks Volunteer and Restoration Program and our many community partners planted 41,076 conifers and 10,967 deciduous trees in 2018 for a whopping total of 52,043. Since the start of the 2019 planting season,…
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705,840!
King County Parks enjoyed some quality time with County Executive Dow Constantine in Big Finn Hill Park today to celebrate progress toward the county’s admittedly audacious goal to plant One Million Trees by 2020. Together with 80 partnering organizations, we’ve planted 705,840 trees in King County. We are SO close! The Executive wholeheartedly encouraged anyone who…
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Your Big Backyard is Getting Bigger
King County Parks had a busy year making good on the levy promise to bring 2,700 acres into the King County system by 2020. By the time 2019 rolls around, Parks will be on the lookout for a mere 500 more acres to reach the goal. As an added bonus, scooping up lands happens to…
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Happy #OptOutside
#OptOutside While #optoutside started as a way to change behaviors on Black Friday, it’s bigger than one single day. It’s a choice you make every day. You’ve heard it before: being outside is good for you. Good for your health. Good for your attitude. Spend some time taking care of yourself . . . instead…
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Forest Stewardship 101
While your own yard might benefit from a simple raking, King County’s forests require a little bit more attention. Why not let nature take its course? Many of the 26,000 acres of forestland owned by King County Parks used to be timber plantations and weren’t managed to be forest habitat. These forests tend to be…
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Ring around Ring Hill Forest
Sweater weather. Wool sweater weather. I pulled on my woolliest sweater and headed for the woods psyched because I’m a newbie at King County Parks and knew there’d be something among the trees about which to Plog. The week before, I met the field crew who takes care of the parks in northeastern area of…