Friends of Cedar Creek Park

What started as a community effort to save a natural area has grown into stewardship and a commitment to keep the dream alive.  We continue to build on our initial success of acquiring 119 acres of open space by improving access for passive recreation and adding additional lands to the park along Jenkins Creek.  We've accomplished installing a kiosk at the Cedar Downs entrance to the park, installing trail signs, and expanding the Friend of Cedar Creek Park group to continue the effort.

 

In the future Friends of Cedar Creek Park hopes to add more trails, restore and open 38 acres of additional park land to the north and provide trail connections from Covington and Maple Valley at either end of the park. 

Community Building

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They key to a great park is having a strong community stewardship program.  Due to government budget cuts both King County and Covington have been unable to put any effort into stewarding the 119 acres and in fact it was being overrun by jeeps and other ORVs until the community stepped in to halt the illegal trespass.  Even now without an organized presence the park it can be the victim of absentee landlords resulting in illegal activities such as ORV use, meth labs, and garbage dumping.  We're working on developing the park to be a draw for hikers, mt. bikers, dog walkers, and others who want to enjoy this area.

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Additionally we are expanding the friends group to include the surrounding community and recreational users who can work cooperatively with King County and the city to get things moving.

Trail Building

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Build trail and they will come!  Cedar Creek Park currently has a trail network but by adding some key linkages, closing unsustainable trails, and improving existing trails it will be an even better destination for an afternoon trail run, mt. bike ride, or casual hike.

 

We've completed the new one mile trail loop and recently rerouted an outer trail loop to stay within the park boundary.

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In the future the hope is to connect the Soos Creek trail to the Cedar River trail via the old road that runs through the northern edge of the park.  Stay tuned for updates as that progresses.

Trail Mapping & Trail Signs

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The new trail map is online. For most of us we need directions to find a hidden natural area, trails, and interesting landscapes.  Now we have one for Cedar Creek Park. The goal is use this trail as the template that we can use to map other trails in our other project area, the Green River Gorge Greenway.

 

Thanks to King County Parks the trail signs are finally up in the park.  They will help visitors navigate the trail network within the park.

 

For a Downloadable PDF of the new trail map visit our Trail Page under projects.

Our Projects.