Tag: WTA
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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…
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@ Work So You Can Play: Grand Ridge
Prep work underway for a new rock turnpike on the Water Tower Loop Trail at Grand Ridge. Staff are prepping the area for work parties with our peeps the Washington Trails Association (WTA). Want to join in the fun? You can bring your pumpkin spice latte.
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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…
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Knowing Is Half The Battle – Q&A With WTA
This is a great time of year to remind folks how fragile our trails can get, and just what goes in to keeping them available to everyone. We decided to focus a bit of our attention on the newer trails that have come online within the last so many moons. Again, we like our third party…
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Summer Hike Idea: Margaret’s Way
On National Trails Day (June 6), King County Parks and the WTA unveiled the new Margaret’s Way hike in the Issaquah Alps. The hike is a short 15 minute drive from Seattle. To access the hike from I-90, take exit 15 signed Lake Sammamish/Renton Highway 900. Turn right onto Highway 900/Renton-Issaquah Road and go south…
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Soaring Eagle gets what it deserves – teenagers
WTA (Washington Trails Association) and King County Parks hosted a volunteer event at Soaring Eagle. A little trail maintenance. Much needed dirty work for a trail system that admittedly can get very wet. That trail had NO IDEA what was in store for it. Teenagers. A murder of them. From the Big Picture School in…
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Behind the Scenes at Cougar-Squak
Since it isn’t officially open until this June we thought we’d give you a look behind the curtain at the work going in to “The Corridor”. The work and the majesty, this place is gorgeous. Lot of prep goes in to opening a property like this to the public, and as always, our BFF’s WTA (Washington Trails…
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O Grady Natural Area + WTA =’s more trail
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Let’s add some mileage to Grand Ridge with WTA
Washington Trails Association (WTA) is coming out to help build two more miles of trail at Grand Ridge, and let’s be honest, this network of trails wouldn’t exist without their massive amounts of sweat equity. Seriously – you see a WTA member thank them for their support. Hugging them is just dangerous, they’re always carrying…
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New trail at Cedar Creek uncovers Ewok village (we swear!)
This past Saturday, May 11, locals and trail enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the opening of the brand spankin’ new loop trail through Cedar Creek Park, an Ewok-like forest paradise nestled between Covington and Maple Valley in unincorporated King County. Cedar Creek Park is actually 2 parks: King County’s portion, called Cedar Downs, and the City…
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King County Council: Happy 75 years to King County Parks!
Yesterday, we here at King County Parks were in for a special treat, as the King County Council invited us over for a party at Council Chambers to celebrate our 75th Anniversary. Sponsored by Councilmembers McDermott, Lambert, and Phillips, the proclamation recognized King County Parks for growing such an amazing system and taking care of…
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Saying goodbye is never easy
Mike (a 13 year crew leader for WTA) has played a key role in helping complete some amazing trails within the King County Parks system. You might know him from his roles in: Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, Grand Ridge, Duthie Hill, Taylor Mountain – and as the guy in this photo. The man, and…
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Volunteer at Parks and get free smiles
Since January 29, the Washington Trail Association (WTA) has been working with volunteers from the Student Conservation Association on a new 1.5 mile trail addition at Green River Natural Area ( O-Grady) in King County. When completed, the trail will include three bridges and will work its way through a beautiful fir forest with an…
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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…
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Rain or shine…
Sweat equity works, people. Washington Trails Association volunteers and King County Parks staff are right now working on the first half of a 600-foot-long elevated boardwalk at Grand Ridge. When completed, this nifty piece of engineering will allow you to get to Duthie without resorting to some kind of MacGyver-inspired pulley system to retrieve your…
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Grand Ridge: WTA Bridge dedication
The ceremonial breaking of a granola bar made it official: Grand Ridge‘s bridge over Canyon Creek is now the WTA Bridge. This is our way of thanking the Washington Trails Association for their hard work and dedication. Our partnership with WTA has helped build and maintain a significant number of the backcountry trails…
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WTA + Cougar Mountain + history = knowledge
The Washington Trails Association is not only a great partner (and trail builder), but has a huge member base with a vast knowledge of local trails and history. In their latest issue of Washington Trails magazine, our friend and theirs, Abbey Wolfe wrote about some of the history of coal mining on the mountain, and…
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The Canyon Creek bridge at Grand Ridge
Grand Ridge Park is located near the Issaquah Highlands in the “Issaquah Alps” along the I-90 corridor. The park is a 1,200-acre site featuring lush forests, winding creeks, and some 7 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. For several years now, King County Parks has partnered with Washington Trails Association to…