Author: wpadmin

Jim Price Memorial Celebration. On Saturday, May 23, 11AM, Newcastle will celebrate the installation of a memorial to Jim Price, a founder of Newcastle, the local Chamber of Commerce, the Newcastle Arts Council, and Newcastle Trails. The ceremony will take place at the memorial site in Lake Boren Park, the trail junction where folks walking north from the main parking lot turn right to reach the Lake Boren Boardwalk. After a short ceremony, we’ll gather for light refreshments and fellowship at the lower picnic shelter by the pickleball courts.

Jim’s contributions to Newcastle extended far beyond his role as a founder. For many years, he served Newcastle Trails as vice president and Chamber liaison. He was also actively involved with the Newcastle Historical Society. His work as a real estate appraiser led to worldwide honors and friendships. He was a community builder who brought folks together, and a family man who loved sailing, hiking, and pickleball. At the time of his passing in 2018 he was serving on the Community Activities Commission.

A Memorial Committee was formed, but the memorial had to wait until the boardwalk was built and the irrigation removed. The stone was supplied and engraved by Marenakos Rock Center, installed by the City (Brendan Hutchinson, Connor Simonson and his crew), and funded by donations from many groups and individuals. Committee members were:

Garry Kampen (Committee Chair; President, Newcastle Trails)

Karin Blakley (Past President, Greater Newcastle Chamber of Commerce)

Ed Flash (President, Newcastle Arts Council)

Kari Haas (Newcastle Arts Council)

Russ Segner (President, Newcastle Historical Society)

Kim Van Atta (Community Activities Commission)

Giles Velte (Newcastle Trails)

Others contributed, including Jim’s wife Peggy, the Price family, and Carol Simpson. Like Jim, all those named have served Newcastle in various capacities, for years. Peggy’s years of trail-building may have set a record: about 5,400 hours on the East CrossTown Trail alone – with Scouts and other volunteers adding 4,450 more. All while Peggy served Newcastle Trails as treasurer, volunteer coordinator, and general factotum. (The hours for all direct trail work done and supervised by Newcastle Trails total about 22,100.)

CrossTown Trail Projects

The CrossTown Trail is Newcastle’s longest trail. It runs 3.7 miles from Risdon school on the Bellevue boundary through central Newcastle into Cougar Mountain Park, mostly nature trail, with a few sidewalks. The West CrossTown Trail starts in woodland at the school, and continues via Hazelwood, Donegal, and Lake Boren parks to Coal Creek Parkway, using two boardwalks. The East CrossTown Trail follows the slope of a wooded ridge into Cougar Mountain Park. Finish work is nearly completed for the upper half of this trail (see photos below), and has begun for the lower half.

The CrossTown Trail boardwalk in Hazelwood Park was built by King County before 1994, when Newcastle was founded. This summer, the City will replace that boardwalk of 30+ years with a wider, stronger version. Two more projects are planned further west: steps and short switchbacks to replace a steep slope; a new access trail for the historic Newcastle cemetery. On the East CrossTown Trail, the City has cut back a boulder that has caused problems for years.

Horse Trail

The Horse Trail is now open for walkers on the switchback route south from the 84th Street Trail to May Creek Park Drive (a few feet near the road are steep). The City will soon request bids to construct this section to permanent trail standards. Be careful to keep pets from collapsing drainage tunnels (marked with blue flags).

New Trail Map

The NT Trail Map has been updated to show the Horse Trail as a walkable route. It also shows the Thomas Rouse Trail as walkable, with the newest (sidewalk) section on 136th Ave SE, a historic road flanked by trees. Here new trail signs are desirable – and perhaps a crosswalk near Newcastle Golf Club Road. Note that the street grid is old and doesn’t include the roundabout on May Creek Park Drive with SE 84th Place coming into it from the northwest. SE 84th Place sidewalks connect the Sylvan Trail and Horse Trail. If anybody you know could revise our map using the City’s up-to-date street layer, we’d love to have you contact us at info@NewcastleTrails.org.

Parks Planner

The key to the projects above (and others), is Brendan Hutchins, Newcastle’s Parks and Trails Planner. He arranged for the new Terrace Trail steps, and he’ll contract for the finish work on the Horse Trail. Those who work closely with him think he’s the best we’ve had in that position. Considering the value of his work, and the multiplier effect of all the volunteer hours it facilitates, this Planner position should always be fully funded and immune to cuts.

In a perfect world, Newcastle would have a Parks Department, a Parks Commission, and a volunteer parks group (Friends of Lake Boren Park?), all working together. In their absence, a Parks and Trails Planner is essential.

You’re Invited! 🌲🚶‍♀️

Celebrate National Trails Day with Newcastle Trails on Saturday, June 7, 2025! Join us for a 2.6-mile guided hike through our beautiful local trails, led by none other than Peggy Price, our legendary trail builder and champion of the outdoors.

The Horse Trail was opened by the new Dashwood development after years of closure, and Peggy has been building a new woodland section with amazing switchbacks – come see the results!

🌿 Where: Start at Lake Boren, near the restrooms

🕘 When: Around 12:30pm, plan to spend between 1 and 1.5 hours

🥾 Why: To connect, explore, and celebrate one of the special things about Newcastle –our amazing trail system!

Come walk where passion meets path and be part of something truly special!

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).

Speakers from NT will discuss past, current, and future projects, and the potential trail system in 2027-28 (See Projects Now & Loops in 2027-28 for details). The map shows how these projects will complete two walking loops that connect them: a big loop including Cougar Mountain Park, and a smaller loop around Lake Boren.

New GreenCastle Development. A new 34-home development is proposed for the southeast corner of Newcastle, just east of the Highlands Trail, and south of the Terrace Trail. In the map, the developed part of GreenCastle is a white area labeled C; the magenta line is a trail proposed by NT that links the Terrace Trail via GreenCastle open space to the De Leo Wall Trail in Cougar Mountain Park, using the existing (informal) “Cougar Access Trail” across private parcels. Thanks to prompt notification from Community Development, NT submitted its trail proposals (and other suggestions) well before the developers’ 3/25 public meeting at Newcastle Elementary School. The meeting went well, with useful information from many local residents, the City, and the developers. The expected timetable is: public hearings through 2025; City Council decision in early 2026; construction 2027 through 2028.

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.

Lake Boren Promenade. Since the founding of Newcastle, residents have wanted to expand Lake Boren Park east and north along the lakeshore. With the new Boardwalk complete, Newcastle Trails is asking the City Council to take the last big step: the Lake Boren Promenade, a landscaped path on the east shore. It would run north from the boardwalk, shielded by conifers from Parkway noise, with a shoreline pavilion. See Lake Boren Promenade Proposal for details.

The Council meets next Tuesday, 8/20/24, for an initial discussion on the CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). We’ll ask them to put the Promenade in the CIP with the highest priority, and direct staff to seek grants. (There’s a $1M RCO grant for park, trail, and water access projects: the Promenade combines all 3.) The Council may postpone a vote till later; we’ll pursue this project as long as it takes.

We need your help! If you’d like the Lake Boren Promenade to become a reality, show your support with an email, letter, or by speaking at the council meeting! Visit our guide for more details on how to support the project!

View the full newsletter here.