Grand Ridge Park

Grand Ridge Park includes seven miles of WTA-built trail through western redcedar 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 1,200 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.

In 2012, WTA volunteers also drove the final spike into a 600-foot boardwalk, also milled on site, that takes users out of the muck and on to firm ground. This boardwalk, near Duthie Hill, is the final section of trail to be finished at the park.