Tag: trails
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Parks and Flood Recovery
The atmospheric river and associated flooding events this month have impacted King County and other areas across Washington State in ways we have never experienced before. We hope you and your community are safe during this time. King County has created a series of resources and ways to deal with flood damage safely and effectively…
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See, Click, Fix! It’s simple to help us help your community maintain our parks.
As you enjoy the outdoors, we are asking for your help in keeping our parks in excellent condition for our community! With 220 parks, 185 miles of trails, and 28,000 acres of open space, we appreciate any eyes we can get on our facilities. How to Report a King County Parks Issue If you see…
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Groundbreaking along Foothills Trail
On January 18, King County Parks hosted a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction for the next phase of the Foothills Trail, the bridge over the White River that will connect the trail in Enumclaw with the trail in the City of Buckley. When completed, the steel bridge will create a 22-mile-long, paved,…
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Three King County Lowland Winter Walks
As the winter holidays approach and people reunite to gather together, check out King County Parks for some approachable lowland walks in our many woodland and natural areas. With picturesque views, and everything from gently graded, paved footpaths to unpaved, wooded trails, these lowland excursions make for a great nature break during the frenzy of holiday…
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Three King County Trails With Amazing Views
With wildfire and smoke season in the rearview mirror, it’s time to get out on the trails for some clean air and fresh perspective. Here are some of our favorite vantage points from a few of King County’s parks and trails. Pinnacle Peak Pinnacle Peak is a 335-acre volcanic cone located one mile southeast of…
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Lake to Sound Trail construction updates
Since ground was last broken on the SeaTac segment of the Lake to Sound Trail in April, construction has neared more than 40% of completion. As a multi-municipality and agency collaboration between King County Parks, WSDOT, the Port of Seattle, and the five cities of Des Moines, SeaTac, Burien, Tukwila, and Renton, the Lake to…
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King County Parks acquires more than 100 acres on Vashon
March 9, 2023 Update: Please join King County Parks at a virtual open house on March 22 at 6 p.m. to hear about this property. Register now. We are elated to announce a 110-acre Vashon property, rich with community events and ecological habitat, has been purchased by King County Parks for stewardship as protected public…
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Celebrating the launch of King County Parks’ Mobile Engagement Team and its first cohort of interns
This past summer, King County Parks launched its Mobile Engagement Team (MET) with a small group of college interns from the University of Washington (UW). Under the supervision of DNRP staff member David Lee, UW students Jaykub Rafael, Nathan Frarck, and Michelle Pollowitz engaged with communities at several parks in unincorporated areas of King County.…
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Checking in on the Jobs and Housing Program
King County launched the Jobs and Housing Program using federal COIVD-19 recovery dollars in 2021 to connect people experiencing homelessness to jobs, case managers, and housing support. Participants spend about a year as a King County employee, developing the experience and skills to then secure permanent employment. Parks was the first division to implement this program…
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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.…
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Construction update: Taylor Mountain Trails
Pardon our dust, we’re building 2 new bridges! If you’ve been to Taylor recently, you might’ve noticed some things happening in the parking lot and along Road A and some other trails. That’s because construction is underway to install two new bridges that will replace old, undersized culverts on the gravel road system. Once this…
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Top 4 trails and parks to kick your cabin fever
Getting cabin fever? Visit one of these 4 parks or trails to get some fresh air.
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You are here! New trail kiosks
Anyone that has been out on King County Parks’ Regional Trails System has probably run into one of our cool kiosks. Blue-roofed and four-sided, these kiosks hold information about some of our more popular regional trails, a full trail map of the entire network, and now – a smaller detail map showing you where you…
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Steady, as she goes…
As detailed in this new report, we here at King County Parks are feeling like The Raconteurs: “Steady, as she goes…” We’re halfway through the 2014-2019 King County Parks, Trails, and Open Space Replacement Levy and happy to say we’re on track to meet our commitment to making “Your Big Backyard” that much more awesome.…
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Taking care of our forests: Black Diamond, Ravensdale Retreat and Henry’s Ridge
King County Parks estimates that about 25,000 of our 28,000 acres of open space are covered by forests. In some places, our forests are vast canopies of big ol’ evergreens, loads of ferns, and happy critters all around. Many times, however, our forests have had a checkered past. They became “ours” because the land had…
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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…
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If You See Something…
Say something. Yes, we are appropriating that. The weather has gone all “current elections” on us today, so please let us know if you see any hazards out their in your King County Parks, and do be careful.
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Trail Alert: Snoqualmie Valley Trail
Major repairs are needed to the historic Tokul Creek Trestle – the stunning, century-old wooden structure that once carried railroad cars and now serves as part of King County Parks’ Snoqualmie Valley Trail. The work is expected to begin Sept. 15 and last into spring of 2016. During this time, a three-mile-long stretch of the…
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We Are Slashing Prices on Walks @ King County’s Walking Warehouse!!!
Ohhh this is our wheelhouse right here. We are LITERALLY ready to handle all your walking needs. We got long walks, short walks, meandering, soul searching, hard surface, soft surface, nature, urban, trestles, bridges, uphill, downhill! [inhaaaale] You want walks?!? We got walks. H, you want to throw in a little side step? Maybe some…
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It’s been sonorous, Pianos in the Parks!
What happens when twenty pianos are put in twenty parks for one month? Go to the KEXP/Seattle Center Concerts at the Mural tonight and find out! The winner of the Pianos in the Parks video contest, Mindie Lind, will be opening tonight’s Mural show at 5:00. King County Parks was a proud partner in this…
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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…
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So close we could almost taste it!
We were so close to the taste of gold or a fuzzy, golden teddy bear to be exact. Thank you to all the families and park users that voted for King County Parks in the annual ParentMap Golden Teddy Awards. It was such a fun surprise to learn that King County Parks was a finalist…
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Field Notes: You can dance if you want to…
Last month, our Backcountry Trails Crew finished a brand spankin’ new trail bridge in Spring Lake/Lake Desire Park. The 29-foot bridge replaces an old, deteriorating one and connects the park with McGarvey Park Open Space. Built to US Forest Service standards, the bridge is made from salvaged wood our crew found on site and milled…
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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…
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Field Notes: Kiosk Alert!
What looks like a secret underground elevator is actually one of our information kiosks under construction. The kiosks placed throughout our parks and trail-heads are undergoing a facelift to refurbish the wear and tear they get year-round from the outdoor elements. These updated kiosks will continue to deliver the same news, event information and King…
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New trail and entrance at Cougar Mountain now open
As if Cougar Mountain Park didn’t have enough superlatives attached to it (our largest park, most popular local hiking spot, best for trail running, shall we continue?), here’s one more: New trail! New access point! In Issaquah! Off Newport Way NW! Did you catch you that? Yep, now there’s one more new way to get…
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I’m freakin’ out, man!
Don’t let this happen to you! To help ensure the safety along our 175 miles of regional trails in King County, King County Sheriff deputies will patrol the trails, such the Burke-Gilman and Sammamish River Trails, starting this weekend. Deputies will be on bicycles and on foot and will be issuing warnings or fines for…
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Come celebrate the reopening of the Burke-Gilman Trail!
Join us on March 13 at NE 165th St and the trail. Ribbon cutting ceremony will begin shortly after 4 p.m. Learn more about the construction project and all the awesomeness of the newly redeveloped segment!
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Field Notes: Last spike + volunteers = Trail complete in Grand Ridge Park!
On Thurs, Feb 23, after 77 days and more than 4,600 volunteer hours of work over the course of 17 months, volunteers from Washington Trails Association put the last spike into the 600-foot-long boardwalk across the north hemlock bog in Grand Ridge Park. For 10 years, WTA volunteers have been building and improving Grand Ridge’s…