It’s hard to believe, but 2026 is already winding down and the new year will be here before we know it! With each year’s end, we like to pause and reflect on some of the accomplishments that have taken place across the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area over the past 12 months. From new parks and trails, to important restoration work, educational initiatives, land acquisitions, and more — our partners have collectively accomplished so much to conserve and enhance this incredible landscape.

We’ll be celebrating many of these accomplishments at our Annual Dinner on November 12, and while it’s impossible to fully acknowledge every worthy person and accomplishment, we invite you to read on, and be amazed as we look back together at some bright spots from 2026!

Trailblazers Exhibit at Issaquah Depot Museum

Issaquah History Museums launched an exhibit about saving the forested Issaquah Alps and the founding of a vision to create the Mountains to Sound Greenway across the Cascades. You can learn from early Issaquah Alps Trails Club leaders and Greenway founders through this new exhibit, “Trailblazers,  How a Community Saved its Mountains,” at the Issaquah Depot Museum. Learn more

Seattle Waterfront Park

Just over a year ago, the City of Seattle and community partners cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of Waterfront Park, commemorating 15 years of work that represented the largest collective civic project since the World’s Fair in 1962.

The transformation of Seattle’s waterfront is a community-driven effort and incredible example of public-private partnership. Commencing with the Washington State Department of Transportation’s removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct in 2019, this project has opened up the city to Elliott Bay. The Waterfront now features an iconic overlook and stairway from Pike Place Market, protected bike lanes, pedestrian promenades, and stormwater capture so that pollutants from roads no longer wash into Puget Sound. The newly-expanded Seattle Aquarium, piers, beaches, and Ferry Terminal bring residents and visitors to enjoy the spectacular setting year-round.

At the forefront of this effort, Friends of Waterfront Seattle raised $170 million, engaged more than 10,000 community members, and ultimately transformed Seattle’s once-neglected shoreline into a vibrant, inclusive, 20-acre Waterfront Park with public spaces, cultural programming, art, recreation, and improved connections to Elliott Bay.

King County Land Conservation Initiative

This year, we celebrate more than 50 separate land transactions conserving more than 500 acres of land in King County! These new public lands range from Cougar Mountain to Rattlesnake to Mt. Si to a new public forest on Union Hill to historic Tollgate Farm. The work of conserving these natural areas is challenging and requires long-term vision and commitment.

Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail Reroute

In December 2025, major floods destroyed several sections of the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, including a major landslide about five miles east of the trailhead at Cedar Falls near Rattlesnake Lake. With assistance from the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and Washington State Parks Foundation, Washington State Parks opened a 350-foot gravel trail bypass in June, allowing recreation seekers to travel this trail from Rattlesnake Lake to Snoqualmie Pass and beyond. Future funding is needed to fully restore this major cross-state trail. 

West Side Trail in Fall City

The West Side Trail is a new 1-mile trail that connects to the center of town and serves as a safe community connection and gathering place for Fall City! A new kiosk and plaza at the east end of the trail are helping create a place where neighbors and visitors can pause and enjoy this riverfront community. Improvements include a new “Welcome to Fall City” sign and sidewalk-level lighting at the plaza. This project on State Route 202 was possible thanks to funding from the King County Parks Capital and Open Space Program, Washington State Department of Transportation Pedestrian and Bicycle Program, and the Fall City Metropolitan Park District.

Denny Creek Trail Improvements

Greenway staff and volunteers contributed hundreds of hours to rebuild 2.5 miles of this popular wilderness trail just west of Snoqualmie Pass that accesses the famed Denny Creek waterslides and continues on to beautiful Melakwa Lake. A contractor and trail crews built new drainage and new trail surfaces, reconstructed switchbacks, built new rock steps, and cut back overgrown plants to make significant improvements on this beautiful trail. 

Coe Clemons Creek Restoration

Greenway Trust staff and crews completed a restoration project at Coe Clemons Creek in partnership with the City of Duvall and planted 10,270 trees. The project tackled a major environmental problem at the creek’s entrance, where reed canarygrass had spread throughout the wetlands that flow into the Snoqualmie River. This invasive grass had damaged important fish habitat and made it harder for salmon and trout to reach areas where they historically spawned. As native trees become established, they will provide additional shade and help maintain cooler water temperatures. 

Teanaway Community Forest Trails

Commissioner of Public Lands Dave Upthegrove celebrated National Trails Day in June on new trails in the Teanaway Community Forest! More than 20 volunteer events have gone into building, improving, and maintaining many trails in the Teanaway Community Forest, following a new trails development plan. Many organizations worked to realize this plan and to build 18 miles of trail and a new trailhead: Washington Trails Association, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Back Country Horsemen, the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, and the recreation land managers at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Learn more

Coal Mines Trail Interpretive Signage

In 1995, Cle Elum, Roslyn, and Kittitas County, with coordination and financial support from the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, acquired a five-mile abandoned railroad right-of-way from Burlington Northern Railroad to create the Coal Mines Trail. Negotiated by our Founding President, Jim Ellis, the acquisition became a non-motorized multi-use trail linking Upper Kittitas County communities, managed by a Commission made up of representatives from each.  

In 2024, the Roslyn-Ronald-Cle Elum Heritage Club approached the Greenway for assistance developing and installing official interpretive signage. The team contracted Studio Understory to help tell stories of cultural convergence along the trail corridor since time immemorial. On November 6th, we officially cut the ribbon on this new interpretive resource, celebrating the installation of 23 educational signs and a trailhead kiosk in each community. We have truly seen this project come full circle! 

Kittitas Stewardship Fund Milestone $100K

The Kittitas Stewardship Fund provides financial and organizational support to local projects that promote sustainable recreation, benefit publicly accessible lands throughout Kittitas County, and inspire a community of responsible stewards. The fund makes this possible through charitable contributions and the generous participation of local businesses, many of which contribute through a 1% point-of-sale donation program. 

We’re excited to share that this fall, the Kittitas Stewardship Fund reached an incredible milestone: $100,000 raised to support local projects! These funds will go directly toward making a lasting difference in our community and the lands we all enjoy. Learn more

Granite Lakes Land Conservation

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with support from Forterra, has acquired 125 acres in the Granite Lakes Basin, completing a conservation effort 25 years in the making. Until now, a portion of the basin was privately owned, which limited public access for the new DNR Granite Lakes Trail. Bringing this land into public ownership protects recreation access and makes it possible to route the trail through terrain that is safer, more sustainable, and better suited for hikers.

Camp Brown Flood Damage Cleanup

Camp Brown, a former North Bend Timber Company camp and Forest Service guard station on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie, is a unique place where people of all abilities can experience nature via an ADA-accessible trail along a designated Wild and Scenic River. The Camp Brown Day Use Area suffered significant flood and storm damage after an atmospheric river brought record rainfall in December 2025. And volunteers responded! Within weeks, volunteers gave 350 hours of cleanup work to add to Greenway crewmembers’ efforts, bringing this accessible site back to its full glory in time for spring! Learn more

Burien Green Teens Internship

Burien Green Teens is back, baby! This internship ran from 2022-2024, and then had to be paused in 2025 due to a lack of funding. We are now back with funding from the Washington Department of Natural Resources, 4Culture, King County Flood Control District, and WRIA 9 Green/Duwamish. Fourteen Burien youth—two of whom took on the role of Assistant Leader—spent two weeks exploring green careers and practicing habitat restoration skills.

Final Connection of the Eastrail/Cross Kirkland Corridor

This City of Kirkland project has opened a safe crossing for pedestrians and bicyclists, runners and rollers at Slater Avenue Northeast and 132nd Avenue Northeast to connect the north-end section of Kirkland’s Cross Kirkland Corridor with King County’s Eastrail. The project has received multiple grant awards, and is designed to provide an enhanced pedestrian and bicycle crosswalk signal, pedestrian refuge island, buffered bike lanes, and new right-turn signal for westbound to northbound vehicles at the intersection of Northeast 124th Street and 132nd Avenue Northeast.

Fall Convening of Outdoor Leaders and Community Partners

Community partners from over 15 organizations gathered in the Middle Fork Snoqualmie Valley for an overnight retreat where attendees were able to connect, reflect on the busy summer season, and take the time they need to rest and gear up for fall programming. This annual tradition takes place every fall and is an intentional space created for folks who work in the outdoor recreation and restoration space to share learnings and build stronger partnerships with one another for the benefit of the greater outdoor community.

Ballinger Open Space Restoration and Carbon Credits

This year, a new partnership was developed between the Greenway Trust and the Woodland Park Zoo. Non-native blackberry that is removed from the Ballinger Open Space site in the City of Shoreline is now being donated to the Zoo to feed western lowland gorillas. We are thrilled to be able to support the Zoo’s Browse Program while also working towards growing a healthier urban forest. To help support this effort, Airbnb purchased a batch of carbon credits which will continue funding this important work. Learn more

Log-outs From Storm Damage

Our professional trail crew reopened 5.5 miles of the Stafford Creek Trail after wildfire, winter storms, and flooding left it blocked by hundreds of fallen trees. Over six field days, they cleared 260 downed trees and restored safe access for hikers and horseback riders alike.

Teach HistoryLink Educational Curriculum

Teach HistoryLink is a new portal to the encyclopedia of Washington state history made just for teachers. Co-developed with Washington history and civics teachers, Teach HistoryLink is a portal to HistoryLink content organized by classroom inquiries. And our favorite, HistoryLink also hosts the high school civics curriculum that is inspired by Greenway founder Jim Ellis’ memoirs, “A Will to Serve.” Learn more

Green Seattle Partnership

The UN today recognized Seattle’s Green Seattle Partnership as a World Restoration Flagship for its work combining urban forest restoration with efforts to ensure communities across the city can participate in and benefit from restoring nature.

The initiative links community organizations, city agencies, volunteers, and restoration practitioners in Seattle with programmes reconnecting residents to land stewardship and fostering a culture of care. Its work combines community-led restoration events, job training and career pathways programmes for youth and adults, and technical restoration actions, making a collaborative space for residents to shape the natural areas around them. Learn more

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