Newcastle Trails

NEWCASTLE TRAILS

About Newcastle Trails

NEWCASTLE TRAILS is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit volunteer organization focused on the preservation, expansion, and maintenance of trails within the City of Newcastle, Washington.

We recommend trail routes, identify priorities, and maintain a registry of volunteers to assist the City in trail work. Trail efforts will be planned and budgeted by the City in conformance with the Parks and Trails Plan.

Members need not reside in Newcastle, and equestrians are welcome. There are no dues. We communicate primarily by email. For more information, contact info@newcastletrails.org.

BOARD MEMBERS:
Garry Kampen (President)
Jim Price (Vice President)
Peggy Price (Treasurer)
Mark Ryker (Secretary)
Grace Stiller (Weed Warriors)
Joel Harris (Web)
Giles Velte (Rules)
Bruce Christopherson

Terrace Trail

The Terrace Trail was Newcastle Trails' major project for 2007-2008, carried out in cooperation with the City of Newcastle, the Issaquah Alps Trails Club, local Scout troops, and others. It replaces a storm-damaged informal trail with a carefully designed new trail with easier grades and better drainage.

The trail winds up the forested DeLeo Wall from the historic Thomas Rouse Road (144th Place SE) to the Terrace subdivision, with links to Cougar Mountain Park. The route features large trees (some storm-toppled), ferns, views, and huge moss-covered boulders (glacial erratics). It also provides a display of the trail-builder's art: curbing and steps of stone and wood; dips, slopes and ditches for drainage; switchbacks; even a passage through a tree.

The trail is about two-thirds of a mile long, about a half-hour walk each way. Cougar Mountain Park can be reached from the upper trailhead at the Terrace by walking a short distance on sidewalks: walk downhill to the first intersection, turn right, and follow the street uphilll into the park.

Directions to lower trailhead: See street map (route shown in green). Take Coal Creek Parkway to SE 91st Street (north of May Creek, at traffic light). Follow SE 91st east past the Highlands gatehouse. At the T (Highlands Park) turn left and follow 140th Ave. SE as it curves right (becoming SE 90th St.) and left (becoming 144th Ave. SE). At the T, turn right onto SE 87th St. The trailhead is one block straight ahead (east), just beyond the vehicle gate. Walk past the gate; the Terrace Trail begins at the steps.

Trail map: The sidebar has links to a trail map and guide. Look in the lower right-hand corner of the map for the Highlands and Terrace trails (solid green lines).

Calendar

Dec 5 - Monday Board Meeting (7-9PM)

Dec 10 - Saturday Work Party (10AM-1PM)

Dec 18 - Sunday Work Party (10AM-1PM)

Jan 2 - Monday Board Meeting (7-9PM)

Jan 30 - Annual Meeting (6:30-8:45PM)

The events above are all open to the public. Details below.

Monthly Board Meetings

The Newcastle Trails board meets the first Monday of each month (unless otherwise noted), 7-9 PM at Regency Newcastle , a retirement community at 7454 Newcastle Golf Club Road (just off Coal Creek Parkway). Board meetings are open to the public. If you plan to attend, check the web site for last-minute changes and/or email NT at info@newcastletrails.org.

Annual Meeting

Newcastle Trails' annual meeting is set for Monday, January 30, 7-8:45 PM, at Fire Station #9 on Newcastle Way (formerly SE 69th). We'll gather at 6:30 for snacks and conversation. The meeting will include a talk by an invited speaker (to be announced), a business meeting, and the election of officers. Handouts will include trail guides and maps. (The fire hall is just up the hill heading west from downtown; the meeting room is in back).

Trail Work Parties

Volunteers are needed for work parties Saturday 11/19 & 12/10, and Sunday 12/18, 10AM-1PM, on the Parkway Extension of the May Creek Trail (see Calendar). Follow the trail west from the Parkway until you reach the work site. Work will include digging, removing rootlets, and moving soil. Come and bring your friends. As always, NT will provide trail tools (plus gloves and water - or bring your own); wear long pants and sturdy shoes. Contact: Peggy Price at 425-829-2196 (cell) or info@newcastletrails.org.

Directions. From downtown Newcastle, follow Coal Creek Parkway south to the traffic light on SE 91st Street, and turn left (east) into the Highlands. Park near the entrance, cross the Parkway at the traffic light, walk south along the sidewalk to the retention pond, and follow the asphalt trail west. Follow the new trail as it curves south to the top of the outlet pipe and descends towards the Boren Creek Bridge.

Weed Warriors Events

Weed Warriors Environmental Stewardship Projects restore a healthy balance to our environment by removing invasive weeds and planting native species plants. Click on the Project Calendar to view scheduled events.

Milestones

Spring 2009. Attended hearings on a reroute of the Highlands Trails. Resurfaced the West CrossTown Trail near the cemetery in April-May. Held the grand opening of the Terrace Trail on June 6, with ribbon-cutting and trail walks afterwards.

Summer 2009. Held our first board meeting at the new Regency location in July. For Newcastle Days in September we supported the 5K Run/Walk, had a booth, and led trail walks.

Fall 2009. Supported local Volksmarch, led the first YMCA Family Trail Walk, and did route-finding on the Sylvan Creek Trail. Worked on the Hazelwood Trail, which was built as a series of Eagle Scout projects by Evan Bell, Aaron Escamilla, Nathan Malmberg, and Ildar Hayes.

Spring 2010. Held the Hazelwood Trail grand opening on June 5. Hired a professional survey at the Terrace to prepare for Terrace-ECTT project.

Summer 2010. Improved the West CrossTown Trail in the School Woods and at the Olympus Trail junction. Adopted a new Newcastle Trails Map by NT member Harry Morgan for our web site and trail guide. Made a new Trail Brochure, helped with the annual 5K Run/Walk, and had a booth with handouts at Newcastle Days.

Fall 2010. Initiated a citywide trail sign upgrade by Scout Neil Chakravarty; NT provided plans, drawings and sign plates. Supported the YMCA Family Trail Walk, worked for trail improvements at Eden's Grove, and launched a trail bench project.

Summer 2011. Completed improvements to the north section of the Olympus Trail on the hill west of the cemetery, and rerouted the West CrossTown Trail at the Olympus junction to reduce slopes. Scout Evan Nygaard led much of the work as his Eagle Scout project.

Fall 2011. Planned and roughed out a route for the May Creek Trail extension to Coal Creek Parkway. Completed the trail from the Parkway to the Boren Creek bridge and beyond, helped by two Eagle Scout projects led by Roland Deex and Stephen Johnson. This provides access from the Highlands at Newcastle to the picnic area at the confluence of May Creek and Boren Creek.

Trail News

The latest Newcastle Trails Map was completed in August 2011 by our NT mapmaker, Harry Morgan. Harry walked nearly all of the formal and informal trails in Newcastle using his GPS, and used the GPS data and GIS software to create the baseline map. The City of Newcastle provided street overlays. Other NT members have contributed information for the current map, and additional changes will be given to Harry in December.

The East May Creek Trail has been under construction for several months. It extends the original (West) May Creek Trail from its junction with the Waterline Trail to Coal Creek Parkway. The original wide, flat trail follows an old railroad grade; the new trail segment is narrower and steeper, as it descends close to May Creek. When it's complete, walkers can follow the May Creek Trail east from Windtree to the Waterline Trail and on to the Parkway, and continue all the way to Cougar Mountain on portions of the Highlands, Terrace, and East CrossTown trails (see TrailsMap). This is Newcastle Trails' main project for 2011 and 2012, done in close cooperation with the City of Newcastle, citizen volunteers, and Boy Scouts from several troops. If you'd like to help us (and speed completion), check the Calendar for work parties.

Although a rough trail exists along the entire route, only the first section - from the Parkway to May Creek - is easily usable. Use caution, especially in construction areas. By December, when the first section is complete, you'll be able to walk from the Parkway to the Boren Creek Bridge and on to a picnic area at the confluence of May Creek and Boren Creek. Just walk south along the Parkway (west side) from the Highlands traffic light at SE 91st Street. The trail begins with an asphalt path running west from the Parkway just north of the retention pond.

When the East May Creek Trail is completed, folks walking east from Windtree to the Highlands will stay in the old railroad corridor until just before the Waterline Trail. At this point the trail will turn right, pass through woods to a lovely overlook of May Creek, and descend on a long switchback nearly to the water. It will cross the waterline corridor on stepping stones, traverse a wooded hillside, descend to the creekside picnic area, and continue up and across Boren Creek, up a switchback, and around a retention pond to the Parkway. Look for birds at the pond in summer: ducks, red-winged blackbirds, hawks, swallows, and herons.

The Eden's Grove section of the Olympus Trail was constructed in late 2010, completing a walkable route through Olympus to Eden's Grove and the Waterline Trail. NT provided sign plate drawings; the developer ordered the plates, and plans to install trail signs. There are problems: the trail is too steep in places, and the connection to the Waterline Trail crosses private property. But we hope they can be resolved.

The Lake Boren Townhomes are under construction, and the plat includes a key section of the China Creek Trail. Until now the trail has existed only on Newcastle's 2003 planning map; but when this section is complete, you'll be able walk north from Lake Boren Park on SE 129th, turn right, and follow the trail east to the lake, then north along the China Creek wetlands. Where the trail dead-ends, a new sidewalk will take you back to 129th. NT has asked for a short spur providing public access to the lakeshore; we understand this will be done. So patrons of our new library will have a short sidewalk-trail route to the lake.

Trail Projects

Several trail projects are planned or ongoing: improving the trail link from the Terrace and CrossTown trails into Cougar Mountain Park; upgrading the Olympus Trail; and extending the May Creek Trail east to Coal Creek Parkway. Other projects include new trail signs and trail benches.

The East CrossTown Trail (ECTT) connects Lake Boren to Cougar Mountain Park. The current route follows sidewalks to Beit Tikvah, an abandoned trail to Newcastle Vista (planned), and an informal section from there (SE 81st Place) to a completed section shared with the Terrace Trail. The trails diverge just below the Terrace trailhead, and the ECTT continues into Cougar Mountain Park. Our current Terrace-ECTT project will complete this link by building (a) an improved trail to (b) a boardwalk past a huge rock, and (c) steps to (d) a trail into the park. (d) is straightforward and partly done; (b) has pro-bono assistance from a professional contractor.

The Olympus Trail runs south from the West CrossTown Trail (uphill, past the cemetery) in a power line corridor owned by the Olympus Homeowners' Association (OHA). Newcastle Trails has been working with OHA to reroute both trails near their junction (for easier grades), and to improve the (informal) upper trail between SE 80th Way and SE 86th Place. Our current focus is the new Eden's Grove development, which includes the final (south) link of the Olympus Trail. This EG link runs east from the power corridor near SE 86th to the Waterline Trail.

The May Creek Trail will eventually provide a trail connection from Renton and Lake Washington to Cougar Mountain Park via the Highlands, Terrace, and East CrossTown trails. Its final link is the Parkway Extension, which will connect the Highlands to the existing May Creek Trail at the waterline corridor. The project has 4 parts: (a) an access path running west from the Parkway, (b) a switchback down to Boren Creek, (c) a bridge across Boren Creek, and eventually (d) a trail running west from the bridge to the existing May Creek Trail. (a) and (c) are done; completing (b) will open a lovely section of May Creek Park to Highlands residents. (d) exists as an informal trail, but it's closed where it crosses the corner of a private lot; we're exploring alternatives.