Annual Meeting 4/22. You’re invited to Newcastle Trails’ Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 22, 6:30pm-9pm. It’s a public meeting, open to all. We’ll have a social period 6:30-7:00 (refreshments, displays, handouts), meet 7:00-8:30 (short talks, trails report, public discussion), and end with a brief board meeting. The meeting is at the Newport Hills Community Church, 5833 119th Ave SE, Bellevue. Enter the parking lot from SE 58th (map).
Save Coal Creek: Success! Thanks to an effort led by the Issaquah Alps Trails Club (IATC), Bellevue plans to buy the historic Milt Swanson property on Lakemont just across from the Red Town Trailhead of Cougar Mountain Park. The property will be added to Bellevue’s Coal Creek Natural Area, expanding the historic site and preserving an unbroken trail and wildlife corridor.
Lake Boren Park Boardwalk and Promenade. Newcastle celebrated the new Boardwalk with a ribbon-cutting on May 8, 2024. Newcastle Trails lobbied for the Boardwalk, which expands the park’s waterfront and completes the CrossTown Trail from Risdon School to Cougar Mountain Park. NT is now lobbying for the East Shore Promenade, which will double the accessible waterfront and complete the Lake Boren Trail around the lake. (See Lake Boren Promenade Proposal for details.)
CrossTown Trail Improvements. Work on a new Hazelwood Park Boardwalk will start in July and last 3-4 months. A project to improve the steep slope west of the cemetery is planned, but not scheduled. For several years, Peggy Price and the Scouts have worked to improve the East CrossTown Trail, and these work parties will continue.
Horse Trail (not for horses!). At present Peggy is busy routing the Horse Trail north of May Creek Park Drive. Her preliminary work has provided a walkable route using switchbacks to the 84th Street Trail (orange-red flags). The final trail will require further work by the City, but it’s walkable for its entire length, from Donegal Park to May Creek Park (starting in a utility corridor briefly shared with the CrossTown Trail).
Cemetary. NT has worked with the Newcastle Historical Society and the City to plan a new trail route and gated entrance as part of an upgrade: replacing the old, damaged fence with a new fence in a suitable style. The work should be done by Memorial Day. The new entrance is intended to be ADA compliant (suitable for some with disabilities).
Terrace Trail and GreenCastle. The entrance to the Terrace Trail from 144th Place SE needs to be reconstructed. NT is working with the City to relocate the new entrance (hopefully, just south of the present one), which the City plans to construct in 2025-2026. The proposed GreenCastle development just south of the new entrance, if all goes as planned, will add 34 new homes on the west side of 144th during 2027-2028. But much of the site will be forested open space, with trail connections leading into the DeLeo Wall area of Cougar Mountain Park. The photo below shows Boulder Grove on the Terrace Trail.
84th Street Trail and Hillside Trail.Thanks to NT-Newcastle-Renton cooperation, the 84th Street Trail now extends west from the Horse Trail across 116th Ave SE, and through the new Parkside development and Hillside Park, to Renton’s Hillside Trail, with a view of Lake Washington and the Olympic mountains. The Hillside Trail runs north to the 80th Street Trail.
84th Street Trail.To walk the new trail from the roundabout on 116th, head west on the sidewalk, veer right onto a gravel pathway, take the first left, and continue west to the playground. From the north end of the playground, follow the trail to the woods, where it descends on steps to a bridge across a creek and continues (past a left turn used by contractors) to the Hillside Trail.
Hillside Trail.From the 84th Street Trail, turn right (north) on the utility corridor used as the south section of the Hillside Trail. Where the utility road turns right, the trail route angles left (with a great view) and down to the constructed portion of the trail covered with wood chips. Turn right to stay on the north section of the Hillside Trail, or stay to the left on a trail that descends on steps with railings into the Canopy subdivision. The north section continues (including on a boardwalk and then a bridge) to the 80th Street Trail. Here you can head right (east) up to the SE 80th Street sidewalk past Little Rhody Park and back to 116th. Or, you can head left (downhill to the west) on an informal trail into the Renton commercial area at Exit 7 of I-405.