Paradise Nearly Paved: Snoqualmie Point Park Opens in Grand Style to Stunning Views

It might have been a private office park with dramatic views for the tenants.  Instead, Snoqualmie Point Park will be dedicated to the public on Saturday, October 27, 2007 in Snoqualmie, Washington and will be a major visitor attraction in the 100-mile Mountains to Sound Greenway along Interstate 90.  The park gives visitors a fresh outlook on Washington’s spectacular scenery and serves as a model of public and private cooperation for environmental preservation.

Speakers at the dedication will include public and private leaders in saving the park including Senator Slade Gorton, Greenway Trust President Jim Ellis, State Representative Fred Jarrett and philanthropist Bill Gates, Sr.  Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson will host the opening ceremony.

From the dramatic view promontory at Snoqualmie Point Park, visitors can see the western front of the Cascade mountain range from British Columbia to Snoqualmie Pass on a clear day.  Below the Cascades, the view from the park sweeps over thousands of acres of forest and farmlands and comes to rest on the rural cities of Snoqualmie and North Bend, with the rugged face of Mt. Si towering above.

In the mid-1990s, the park property at the foot of Rattlesnake Mountain was well on its way to becoming an office park.  Protecting this scenic viewpoint for a more public purpose has been an eight-year effort by the City of Snoqualmie, the Trust for Public Land, the U.S. Forest Service, the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, numerous public agencies, and funding from the federal Land and Water Conservation fund and private donors.

The non-profit Greenway Trust is the guiding force behind protection of farm and forest landscapes, trails, and wildlife habitat along Interstate 90 from the Seattle waterfront to central Washington.

“The ease with which people can get here and take in this view is one of the unique things about this park,” says Snoqualmie Mayor Matt Larson. “Both the City and the Greenway Trust were hoping something inspiring could be done here as a legacy for future generations.  The Greenway Trust brought Senator Slade Gorton up here on a beautiful day and that was the beginning of saving this viewpoint as a place in nature.”