Newcastle Trails - Past and Future

By Garry Kampen, President, Newcastle Trails

Boulder Grove on the Terrace Trail. Photo courtesy of Garry Kampen.

Newcastle Trails (NT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group, founded in 1999 by some of the same folks who helped found the City of Newcastle in 1994. Our goal was to preserve trails and open space as the area transitioned from rural to urban. We’ve celebrated many victories and look forward to exciting new projects in 2026–2028.

In 1980, when I moved to Hazelwood, downtown was still pastureland. To the south, Olympus (now 400+ homes) was woodland and part of an undeveloped regional park. Informal trails extended south to May Creek Park and east to Cougar Mountain Park.

The large regional park was later traded for a smaller parcel—the west half of today’s Lake Boren Park. That loss helped spur the founding of Newcastle. Newcastle Trails worked to replace those informal paths with formal trails: the north-south Horse Trail that is being partially rerouted on over two dozen switchbacks, and the NE-SW CrossTown Trail to Cougar Mountain that is an urban trail—with sidewalks—running through the heart of Newcastle, yet also a nature trail linking woodlands and four parks. The route was completed in 2023 with the addition of the Lake Boren Park Boardwalk. The Hazelwood Park Boardwalk is scheduled to be replaced early next year.

 

Crosstown Trail along cliff area. Photo courtesy of Peggy Price.

 

Newcastle Trails’ founders and officers include Giles Velte, Jim and Peggy Price, Bill Burris, myself, and others. Giles played a leading role in founding Newcastle. He used his diplomatic skills to help shape the City government—and his bulldozer to help shape parks and trails. Jim was a founder of both the local Chamber and the Newcastle Arts Council. Bill is a longtime Scout leader. I contributed maps, website development, and advocacy. From 2008 to 2024, Peggy—along with Scouts and other volunteers under her direction—logged over 20,000 community service hours building trails.

The Issaquah Alps Trails Club (IATC) is Newcastle Trails’ "big sister." IATC provided the model for NT and loaned us tools and expertise to help build the Terrace Trail (see first photo). This year, the crumbling trail entrance was replaced with new steps and railings.

The Terrace and CrossTown trails connect to the De Leo Wall Trail, which offers a variety of loop walks, both large and small. It’s marked as point D on the map below, which shows existing and planned projects (2026–2028). See also: Projects Now & Loops in 2027–2028. An article in the next Alpiner will describe the trail and an upcoming hike.

Check our website (www.newcastletrails.org) for a Newcastle Trails map, plus maps, photos, and descriptions of individual trails. We invite you to join us (no dues), subscribe to our newsletter, and volunteer to help with maps, trail work, advocacy, and other activities. Our membership—and our mission—extends beyond Newcastle, as the list below indicates. The letter labels (A, B, etc.) refer to locations on the map.

Top Priorities, Current, and Upcoming Projects

NT’s current top priority is the construction of the Lake Boren Park Promenade: an east shore trail, a water pavilion, landscaping, and a wall of conifers to block Parkway noise. This will complete the Lake Boren Trail around the lake—a future art and history trail. See: Lake Boren Promenade Proposal. The Horse Trail is our top priority for smaller projects.

Current projects (led by Peggy Price):

  • The Horse Trail has been under reroute for nearly two years. It is currently approaching its 24th switchback as it climbs from May Creek Park Drive, with about 100 feet remaining. Completion is anticipated by November.

  • The Vineyard Trail is proposed to connect Olympus to the Horse Trail.

Long-term goals include:

  • Completing the China Creek Trail (featuring a waterfall and beaver pond!) from Lake Boren to Cougar Mountain.

  • Building a May Creek Bridge to link Newcastle’s May Creek Trail with Renton’s May Creek, Honey Creek, and Pacific Railroad trails. This will complete the May Creek Greenway, connecting Lake Washington (and the Eastrail) to Cougar Mountain.

Collaborative wins with IATC and NT:

  • (A) Bellevue has agreed to purchase the Milt Swanson property for development as a historic site.

  • (P2) King County has renewed hopes of adding the De Leo Wall to Cougar Mountain Park.

  • (G & B) Newcastle will see improvements to the cemetery and creation of a Newcastle Historical Park—major wins for the Newcastle Historical Society (NT assisted with both).

  • (C) The GreenCastle development will include a rerouted Cougar Trail (NT’s idea), linking the Terrace Trail (C) with the De Leo Wall Trail (D).

 

Map Showing Projects and Walking Loops in 2026-28. Photo courtesy of Garry Kampen.

 
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