Category: Riding
-
Two Taylor Mountain trail bridges checked off the ‘To Do’ list
Last week, King County Parks wrapped up construction on the project to install two new trail bridges at Taylor Mountain Forest. Part of our effort to improve trail sustainability and protect the forest and salmon habitat, this work replaced old, undersized culverts along gravel maintenance roads that make up part of the park’s trail system.…
-
How are we doing?
King County Parks is updating our King County Open Space Plan: Parks, Trails, and Natural Areas, which provides the policy framework for King County’s acquisition, development, stewardship, management, and funding of our 32,000-acre open space system. It’s a functional plan of the King County Comprehensive Plan and must be updated every six years. As part…
-
How much do our kids play? Not as much as you think. And here’s what we’re doing about it.
On Tuesday, September 10, we were excited to release the analysis and recommendations from a two-year effort conducted by the University of Washington’s Center for Leadership in Athletics and The Aspen Institute, in coordination with King County Parks and many other partners. The study, called the State of Play: Seattle-King County, found that less than…
-
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…
-
Why Trails?
Tell us about regional trails: Do you use them? If not, why not? What do you like about them? How could they be better? We want to hear about your experience on our regional trails – take this four-minute survey to help us understand how we can improve regional trails in the future. Regional trails…
-
Grand Ridge: Water Tower Loop
Today we officially opened the Water Tower Loop on Grand Ridge. Brought to you by your friendly neighborhood REI, Washington Trails Association, and of course, your King County Parks. WTA has been with Grand Ridge for over a decade! They’ve helped us shape and maintain it, and thanks to generous donations from REI, they added mileage to…
-
Where does one go to get yelled at by frogs? Why, Frog Holler Forest, of course!
Frog Holler Forest is our newest park, a 60-acre forest on the southern part of Vashon Island. Frog Holler is actually the name of the neighborhood where the park is located, named as such for the chorus of tree frogs in the area. Acquired in December 2016 with the help of the Vashon Maury Island…
-
Trail Spotlight: Sammamish River Trail
The Sammamish River Trail runs 10.9 miles along the Sammamish River from Bothell to Marymoor Park in Redmond as part of the “Locks to Lakes Corridor.”
-
#OptOutside in 28,000 Acres
Today is as good as any other to be outside. Yesterday should have given you plenty of motivation, as well as pie, and more than likely, regrets. Come on out and run, walk, hike or play out in Your Big Backyard. We don’t have to have awkward political conversations out here. #OptOutside
-
Trail Spotlight: Cedar River Trail
I set out for the parking area off of SE Maple Valley Highway, right before the Auburn-Echo Lake Cutoff road — across from Foley’s Produce — this morning to a cool 64 degrees. Which makes for the best biking weather, in my humble opinion. My goal was to ride from there to the start of the Cedar River Trail…
-
Trail Alert: Sammamish River Trail closure
A trail detour goes into effect Aug. 15 through mid-Sept. Trail users can expect brief trail interruptions on the Sammamish River Trail, near the pedestrian footbridge leading to downtown Bothell. The interruptions will affect trail users in both directions. The contractor will be placing sandbag protection in the Sammamish River. In order to keep the public and…
-
Photos: Paving the Lake to Sound Trail
We’re beginning to pave Segment B on the Lake to Sound Trail! The 1.45-mile paved multiuse path (regional trail) will eventually connect the cities of Renton, Tukwila, SeaTac, Burien and Des Moines. There’s still plenty of work to be done but we’re already getting excited for the finished product. Special thanks to the crews for…
-
Happy horses heart our Taylor trails
Together with the Tahoma Chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen of Washington and Washington Trails Association, we sliced through the shiny blue ribbon and celebrated our brand spankin’ new trailhead at Taylor Mountain Forest. And it was already being put to good use by the 30 some horses and their humans and trucks and trailers! Funded…
-
Eastside Rail Corridor: (Draft) Master Plan
King County seeks public review, comment on Eastside Rail Corridor trail draft master plan. King County is moving ahead with plans to build a new regional trail on the Eastside to better connect communities and offer more mobility options – and public input is an essential part of the upcoming planning process. Read more…
-
Field notes: South Utility/Mow Crew – At work, so you can play
Every once in a while someone takes time out of their busy schedule to send props to our crews and the work that they do. We forward these to the teams, but they don’t check mail much, because they are usually on to the next project. So instead of feeling like we just awkwardly missed…
-
Trail Photo Contest: King County’s regional trails through your eyes
What do you see along King County’s 175-mile Regional Trails System? Share it with us and your photo could make the next cover of the regional trails map! You’ve got until September 28 to submit your photo via our Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/rtsmapcovercontest/. Here’s how it works: 1. AM I ELIGIBLE? King County Parks employees, their…
-
Trail Alert: Construction and New Additions
Summertime means construction and lots of action on our regional trails; here’s the latest scoop! Construction Alerts From August 4 – 25, King County will be repairing scour damage around the southern pier and southern bank of Gold Creek, near the Sammamish River Trail at the bridge south of the NE 124th Street and east…
-
Walk the East Lake Samm Trail with KC Parks
Join us on the trail! King County Parks is holding a series of informational meetings along the East Lake Sammamish Trail that focus on design and planning for the next portion of the trail slated for development, the South Sammamish Segment A, which goes from SE 33rd St southward to SE 43rd Way. We’re in…
-
2014 Duthie Hill Mountainbike Festival
To see more photos of the event, visit
-
“Two men enter, one man leaves”
…wait, different drome, errr dome. But seriously, who doesn’t want to see Olympians compete for the Golden Fleece and strike down Medusa? Yeah, that’s what’s happening this Friday and Saturday at Marymoor’s velodrome, only on two wheels, in circles and really fast. Don’t believe us? Well, we have third party validation, check out this write-up…
-
Join us on the trail: East Lake Samm Trail, Issaquah segment grand re-opening tomorrow!
We here at King County Parks are delighted to announce the grand re-opening of the Issaquah segment of East Lake Sammamish Trail. Join us on the trail this Wednesday to celebrate! Wednesday, June 12 11 a.m. East Lake Sammamish Trail terminus at Gilman Boulevard in Issaquah The second portion of the 11-mile-long trail to be…
-
Spend National Trails Day, Sat, June 1, in Your Big Backyard
Join us on National Trails Day, Saturday, June 1, to learn more about our growing network of 180 miles of backcountry trails spread across more than 16,000 acres of park lands. Did you know that over our 75 year history, King County Parks has built an impressive legacy of natural lands? You know, the kind…
-
Catch your rolling high-five on Bike to Work Day
You read it here first! We are handing out rolling high-fives to any and all cyclists that cruise by one of our cheering stations on the annually celebrated Cascade Bicycle Club’s F5 Bike to Work Day happening this Friday. We are excited to see every make and model of bikes from recumbent to tandems and…
-
Steamroller, roll on, my friend!
Good news! Thanks in large part to a lovely, sunny and dry weekend, the weather conditions were perfect for construction crews to start paving the Issaquah segment of the East Lake Sammamish Trail. Closed since May 2012, the 2.2-mile-long Issaquah segment, which goes from SE 43rd St south to Gilman Blvd, is the second section…
-
Trail alert: Cedar River Trail
King County Parks crews will be adding gravel to the 5-mile-long soft-surface portion of the Cedar River Trail between SE 228th street and Landsburg Road SE starting Monday, March 18th. Trail users will be directed around the work but should be aware of intermittent delays and heavy equipment on the trail. The work should be…
-
Seattle Bike Expo 2013
Seattle Bike Expo is this weekend. Who’s comin’ with us? No seriously, we will have a booth, with shiny things and lots of knowledge to dispense. We have the new regional trails map to show off, as well as, updated backcountry maps AND five new ones! Hint, Duthie Hill is one of them. Get the…
-
Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park: Mountain Bike Fest
Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park: Mountain Bike Fest, a photo by kingcountyparks on Flickr. Duthie: Then & now slideshow. Thought we’d blast you with “The evolution of a bike park” from our Flickr feed. The Mountain Bike Fest was a hit. A lot of vendors, bikes, kids and smiling dirty faces. If you are too…
-
Random photo post: Along the Burke-Gilman Trail
Lake Washington along the Burke-Gilman Trail, a photo by kingcountyparks on Flickr. Lake Washington as seen from the Burke-Gilman Trail
-
Little Footprint Big Forest Project Update – Thanks Matson!
A BIG THANKS to Matson for donating 4 – 24’ cargo containers for our Little Footprint Big Forest project! We just received our first two containers and our crews can’t wait to start the (de)construction. When completed, the camping cargo container will feature an adaptable floor plan complete with beds, a table, and a multi-purpose…
-
Random photo post: Cedar River Trail