Completed Grand Ridge Trail connects Issaquah with splendid hike

Take just a few turns on Grand Ridge Trail in the Issaquah Highlands and the noises of the suburbs fade into those of a deep forest.

While a thatch of vegetation and cedars block any view of mansion rooftops, pine needles and ferns sift street runoff into streams.

After 11 years of work, the Washington Trails Association has connected its High Point trailhead, which is just East of Issaquah, to Duthie Hill Park on the Plateau. The crew celebrated the milestone last week, but the work is far from done.

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On a sunny spring afternoon, volunteers dig up stumps and clear brush to reroute part of the trail. Water doesn’t drain well from the original trail, leaving a slop of mud. It will be a couple more years before the reroute is complete.

“I haven’t gotten a sense that it’s all done,” confessed Mike Owens, chief crew leader for the project, during the celebration.

He leads volunteers up the trail four days a week a few months of the year. One heads to the mountains once the snow melts on alpine trails. WTA estimates that its volunteers have put in about 40,000 hours on the trail so far.

Much of the Grand Ridge Trail was built from scratch, allowing King County to construct a stronger route with better drainage.

The bulk of the route swirls around the Issaquah Highlands, before jutting up to the popular mountain bike park.

The final leg of the project is a 600-foot puncheon bridge, about a quarter mile from Duthie Hill Park, that runs a few feet above ground across a bog so thick with mud it once threatened to steal shoes off feet.

“We didn’t spend a single day up there where we weren’t soaking wet and mud up to the knees,” Owens said. The project took a year and a half.

Made of salvaged cedar, the bridge is strong enough to withstand the weight of horses. All of King County’s trails allow horses, bikes and hikers.

In addition to reroutes, King County Parks is also planning to add more loops through the Grand Ridge Park, which adds mileage for mountain bikers. It’s also desirable for hikers as an alternative to the trail’s lacking lookout.

Hike the trail

Grand Ridge has three trailheads. While the most popular for mountain bikers is High Point, hikers often take off from Central Park or Grand Ridge Drive.

From Central Park, either head to the south end of South Pond or follow the large power lines south. At the edge of the park a small sign with a map marks the beginning of the trail.

The route wanders atop ravines and along the park. At the first fork, keep straight to move onward or turn right to loop back to the beginning.

Highway noise from I-90 joins the forest for the first mile and a half, but just as the sound fades, a babbling creek passes beneath a wooden bridge and the trail finds a break at Grand Ridge Drive.

For those looking for a short hike from home, this is a good turn-around point. It’s also a preferred starting point for those hoping to hike to Duthie Hill and back. The trail picks up again across the road, just before the fake river rock bridge on the drive.

At this point, the forest fades from the effects of civilization into a delightful lowland hike. While the trail has about 20 bikers for every hiker and seldom attracts a horse, there is a delight of being so close to town and yet so submerged in the woods.

Trees coated in moss stretch across forest floors carpeted by ferns. Budding leafs promise to fill in the landscape, but in early spring hikers still can look deep into the forest.

After another mile the trail offers a connection to Mitchell Hill on the right, but continue north. Another quarter mile and a second trail branches west. It ends on private property, so turn right for Duthie.

When you reach the Canyon Creek tributary bridge, take a moment to appreciate the wood structure. All of the beams were carried in by human hands. For one of the trail’s bridges a team carried a 14,000 pound, 45 foot-long beam two miles using only rigging gear.

At the end of the hike the trail descends a couple hundred feet to a boardwalk. The hand-split cedar is a delightful treat for hikers. It elevates passersby just enough to look across the forest floor and into the timbers.

For hikers, the boardwalk is a good a turning point. Otherwise the trail switchbacks another quarter mile, before ending at the service road for Duthie Hill.