The CrossTown Trail runs from Risdon Middle School (and Newport Hills) through Lake Boren Park across Coal Creek Parkway into Cougar Mountain Park. The Parkway divides it into two quite different sub-trails.
The west section starts near Risdon Middle School on Newcastle Way, at the crosswalk for 119th Ave SE. It runs south in the woods to Hazelwood Elementary School, then southeast through a series of parks (Hazelwood, Donegal, Lake Boren) to Coal Creek Parkway at SE 79th Place. It connects with the Olympus and Waterline trails near the historic Newcastle Cemetery. Amazingly for a 2.4-mile trail through a city, it has only four street crossings and a few short sidewalk sections. It’s mostly flat and easy, but there are steps at Hazelwood School and in Hazelwood Park.
The east section starts on Coal Creek Parkway at SE 79th Place and continues into Cougar Mountain Park near the DeLeo Wall Viewpoint. It’s mostly a nature trail on the side of a wooded ridge (with viewpoints), but there’s a short sidewalk section from the Parkway up to the Beit Tikvah Church on 136th Ave SE, where the woodland trail begins.
