Planning Begins for New Harvey Manning Park Trails

IATC’s VP of Advocacy, David Kappler, and Executive Director, Lindsay Frickle joined Kelly Heintz from King County Parks, Jeff Watling, City of Issaquah Parks & Recreation Director, and Jennifer Fink, the City’s Park Planner, among others for a tour of the proposed Harvey Manning Park Expansion Area trails. The group was led by Mike Stenger, Recreation Projects Manager with the Mountains to Sound Greenway, who has been heavily involved in the planning for these new trails. Mike said the trails will be mostly class three range, with a little class four - a natural woodland trail, but not difficult. The trails will feature a loop system with access from a new trailhead on Newport Way. These new trails will also include connections to Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park’s Big Tree Ridge trail and Harvey Manning Park.

Support from the City of Issaquah’s capital budget will make it possible to build necessary steps and bridges to mitigate impact on wetlands and streams. Much attention was paid to the critical areas to minimize impacts, with special consideration given to wildlife habitats - deer are spotted in this area regularly as well as black bear on occasion. In fact, one of the Woodland Park Zoo’s Co-existing with Carnivores wildlife cameras is situated within this Park.

The new Harvey Manning Park trail system was designed in thoughtful collaboration with representatives from King County Parks, Issaquah City Parks, and nonprofit partners such as the Mountains to Sound Greenway, Issaquah Alps Trails Club, and WTA. The trail building efforts, which are planned for next year, will take a village. Issaquah Alps Trails Club will support these efforts by recruiting volunteers when the time comes to start trail building.

Project timeline:

●      Spring 2021 - Start design permitting process

●      Summer 2021 - Begin trailhead build

●      Spring 2022 - Apply for joint RCO funding grant application (Trail building within critical areas is expensive so more funding will be needed to complete the project)

●      Summer 2022 - trail building begins