Grand Ridge Park
Grand Ridge Park includes 7 miles of WTA-built trail through western red cedar trees, sword ferns, nettles, berries and, at times, slugs. This trail is a little piece of the backcountry close to Seattle and is open to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.
Winding through 1,300 acres above Issaquah and Lake Sammamish, Grand Ridge Park is the result of a unique agreement between Port Blakely, which developed the Issaquah Highlands and King County. For every one acre of developed land, Port Blakely agreed to set aside four acres of park land. The trail provides habitat to many forest creatures besides just slugs, such as bears, owls, cougars, and chipmunks. You can access the trail at High Point or Central Park in the Issaquah Highlands, and eventually Duthie Park as well. Washington Trails Association has been involved with developing the trail system at Grand Ridge since 2000, first stringing together old logging roads and user-built trails and then building new trail north. The trail will eventually reach the Issaquah-Fall City Road and Duthie Hill on boardwalk through the marsh there. One of the highlights of the trail is a beautiful 40-foot long, hand-built bridge spanning Canyon Creek. Built by WTA volunteers over three years and milled from downed Cedar trees on the site, it's six-foot width accommodates hikers, bikers and horses, and also improves water quality. Both steelhead and cutthroat trout spawn downstream in Canyon Creek, which flows into the Snoqualmie River.
Driving Directions:
From Seattle, drive east on I-90 for approx. 18.1 miles. Take Exit 20, turn left at bottom of ramp. Pass underneath I-90 and park in the gravel lot to the west. Hike or bike west on the Issaquah-to-High Point Trail to the backcountry trailhead. You can also access the trail from Central Park and South Pond in the Issaquah Highlands neighborhoods. Access from the north is planned. Recent Trip Reports
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Grand Ridge Park
— Feb 04, 2012
— kyle
Day hike
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Started out from Central Park in Highlands...If your looking for a nice local Seattle area hike without having to get...
Started out from Central Park in Highlands...If your looking for a nice local Seattle area hike without having to get into snow this is a good one at the moment as long as you don't mind sharing the trail with more bikers than hikers. Lovely little rolling ramble through the hills without any blow downs today.
Day hike
Issues:
Blowdowns | Water on trail
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Went out for a trail run adventure following the big snow/ice/wind storms we had this week. We started in Issaquah...
Went out for a trail run adventure following the big snow/ice/wind storms we had this week. We started in Issaquah on the paved trail, where it is about 2 miles to the high point trailhead from the 1-90/front street interchange, and went to the end at issaquah-Fall City road. There was still a few inches of wet, sloppy snow left, crusted over in some places still from the icestorm. There are very many branches down everywhere littering the trail. We cleared many that we could lift that weren't weighted down with too much snow. The trail is still navigable, and even the several downed trees were easy to climb over, no need for major re-routes. One tree has fallen across the new WTA bridge but didnt seem to hurt the structure other than break the railing. Another has fallen across the new (almost completeed) boardwalk. By another strike of luck (or good karma), the boardwalk was not damaged either but the tree will need to go! It was really great to have what is finished of the boardwalk there to avoid the swamp. On the return trip, much of the snow had melted and the trail had turned into a river in many places so we ended up wet anyhow. The creek crossing would have been a real soaker, but we crossed on a mossy log just below where the creek crosses the trail. Like many other trails in the region right now, this one is going to need lots of clean up, but based on this weekend's adventures, Grand Ridge is better off than what i saw at Tiger or Cougar Mtn. It still took us an extra 90 minutes for the ~14 mile round trip.
Grand Ridge Park
— Oct 06, 2011
— LEG PWR
Day hike
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High Point Trailhead and Coal Mine Trailhead are accessed via a road walk. The parking lot for southern...
High Point Trailhead and Coal Mine Trailhead are accessed via a road walk. The parking lot for southern access to these trailheads is an unsigned gated gravel road adjacent the onramp to westbound I-90 at exit 20. Across the road to the east is the signed Issaquah-Preston trail. Elevation is about 450'.
From the parking lot, the Issaquah to High Point road-trail goes west, paralleling the East Fork Issaquah Creek. At 0.5 mile is the High Point Trailhead. Another half mile leads you to the Coal Mine Trailhead. The road-trail is virtually level the entire mile, dropping elevation almost imperceptibly. I took the first trailhead, and started up the Grand Ridge Trail three quarters of a mile to the first junction. There, I went left and did the Coal Mine Loop in a clockwise direction, taking the full loop out past the power line cut and back, not the dashed-line shortcut shown on the map (available from King County Parks). According to the map, the loop is 2.36 miles. Even with a couple of exploratory side trips, I completed the loop portion in just 1:05. The first part of the loop (from the direction I did it) was mildly rocky. But the entire trail was wide, well graded, and maintained. Really the only negative was the unceasing sound of traffic along I-90 (and nettles if you stray off-trail). I finished the loop, then returned to the road-trail the way I had come, went west to the Coal Mine Trailhead, then back one mile to the parking lot. Total mileage was about 5.8, including the extra mile of road-trail. It took me exactly 2.5 hours. Day hike
Issues:
Mudholes | Water on trail | No water source
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For an urban trail, Grand Ridge trail does a good job of hiding its urban side. It was surprisingly...
For an urban trail, Grand Ridge trail does a good job of hiding its urban side. It was surprisingly quiet once you are away from I-90. Just don't expect to have it to yourself. We hiked from one end to the other and saw approximately 4 other hikers and 50 mountain bikers.
My legs were still sore from Saturday, so I wanted a trail with some mileage but not much elevation gain. Grand Ridge was a good choice for that. I had read about the limited parking at some trailheads, so I decided to investigate how to get to the trail from Issaquah's Central Park, where there is ample parking. Jim and I met at the Central Park tennis courts and started scouting for the western terminus of the trail. We eventually found it a couple hundred yards to the west, on a rutted dirt power line access road, on the west side of the soccer field. Getting there required walking through weeds and along a rutted dirt road. There is a better route, which we followed out on our return trip. I'll describe that instead. You will want a map. Before leaving home, download and print the PDF file at: http://your.kingcounty.gov/[…]/BCT_GrandRidge_brochure.pdf See the driving directions for how to get to the Central Park tennis courts. Just east of the tennis courts, find a paved path that heads south. Follow it to the South Pond, where the trail splits into gravel paths around either side of the pond. Take either path to the far side of the pond, where you enter the woods and the beginning of the dirt trail. From here, you can go either way; the path forms a complete loop (the Coal Mine Loop). We headed east to more quickly lose the sound of freeway traffic. The path was in excellent condition and hid the urban surroundings very well. Only the sounds of freeway traffic betrayed its proximity to civilization. At 0.35 mile from the South Pond trailhead (0.65 from the tennis courts), we left the Coal Mine Loop and continued east, climbing gently through urban forest, the freeway sounds fading out as we went. The foliage was as expected for an urban trail: a lot of ferns and berry vines, with areas of salal and occasional nettles. A bit more than three miles from the South Pond, we encountered the "WTA Log Bridge", as it is labeled on the map. This is a misnomer; the bridge is solidly constructed from rough hewn timbers, not intact logs. Even though there was no water flowing, it made for a nice lunch spot. There were a couple of cut log sections to sit on, and no insects. At the bridge, a hand-written sign indicated that the remainder of the trail was still under construction, and not recommended. It looked OK to us, so we continued on after lunch. The next mile of trail was fine. But when we dropped down to 400' elevation, we encountered the infamous Grand Ridge bog. DO NOT underestimate the bog! It can be negotiated via tree roots and planks laid along the edge of the bog. But if you step off of solid ground, you may find yourself knee deep in muck! Bicyclists usually opt to carry their bikes around this section. After about 25 yards, you reach the puncheon (still under construction) that will ultimately span the bog. From the far end of the puncheon, you can continue on trail for nearly one half mile, to where it meets pavement (SE Issaquah-Fall City Road). There is no parking available. Summary: The route described, from the Central Park tennis courts to Issaquah-Fall City Road, is 5 miles one way. (The "roundtrip 14.0 miles" in the guide describes the route from the High Point Trailhead, and includes the Coal Mine Loop.) There is one pavement crossing (private road), but the trail is otherwise completely shaded. There is no water, and there are no views. The trail is very popular with bicyclists. You can also expect to share the trail with dogs. Pets must be on a short leash at all times. The trail is too narrow for hikers and bikers to pass without one yielding. Driving Directions - Central Park (tennis courts) From I-90 take exit 18 to Highlands Drive NE. Turn onto Highlands Drive NE. Take the third right onto NE Federal Drive. Stay right as it merges into NE Park Drive. Travel 3/4 mile then turn right at the sign that says "Central Park". Travel 0.3 mile, passing the playground and taking the next left turn. There is plenty of parking near ball field #3 and the tennis courts. The trail is about 40 yards beyond (east of) the tennis courts.
Grand Ridge Park
— May 23, 2011
— jkwayland
Day hike
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Hiked from High Point Parking area along the Issaquah to High Point Trail, then up Grand Ridge Trail to make...
Hiked from High Point Parking area along the Issaquah to High Point Trail, then up Grand Ridge Trail to make a large loop with the Coal Mine Loop Trail. Very few muddy spots. Trail in good shape.
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The WTA Bridge is the handiwork of thousands of volunteer hours. Photo by Susan Elderkin.
2010, 2011
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