Great American Rail-Trail In Washington
Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail near Kittitas Valley | Photo by Marilyn Hedges
Washington State’s history of trail development has resulted in some of the country’s most iconic and well-used trails, making it the ideal western terminus for the Great American Rail-Trail. The preferred route will begin at the Idaho–Washington border on the developing Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, an epic rail-trail that travels in segments across most of the state, ending in Cedar Falls. From here, a variety of trails in King County carry the Great American Rail-Trail into the Seattle area, where the trail will ultimately continue west to the Pacific Ocean along the burgeoning Olympic Discovery Trail.
Washington stories along the Great American Rail-Trail
The “Great American” Route Through Washington
The Washington section of the Great American Rail-Trail begins with the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail, which travels approximately 250 miles, from the Idaho– Washington state line to the community of Cedar Falls. The Great American Rail-Trail will continue west through King County and Seattle, crossing Puget Sound via ferry to Bainbridge Island. The burgeoning Sound to Olympics Trail and Olympic Discovery Trail will complete a trip from Puget Sound to the Pacific Ocean at the town of La Push on the Quileute Reservation.
520.5
Total Miles392.4
Existing Miles128.1
Gap Miles75.4%
Complete
Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment (2026)
The Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment 2026 defined the preferred route of the Great American Rail- Trail as more than 3,700 miles—with 2,086 miles of existing trails and 1,674 miles of trail gaps.
Economic Potential of the Great American Rail-Trail Report (2022)
Investments could generate more than $229.4 million in visitor spending, $104 million in labor income, and $22.8 million in new tax revenue.
Trails Along the Route
Gateway Trail: Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail
Spanning more than 200 miles across Washington, this pathway is one of the longest rail-trail conversions in the United States. Its eastern end begins at the Idaho border, about an hour south of Spokane, and from there the trail traverses rugged and pristine countryside as it makes its way to the Columbia River. West of the river, travelers will find dense forests, bridges with sweeping vistas and passage through a century-old tunnel at Snoqualmie Pass on a journey to trail’s end in the Cascade foothills, just 35 miles from downtown Seattle. View trail map on TrailLink.
Snoqualmie Valley Trail
The 31.3-mile, packed gravel Snoqualmie Valley Trail follows an extension of the Milwaukee Road that linked the city of Everett in the north to the main line heading from east to west over the Cascades, where the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail lies today. The western extent of the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail connects to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail in Cedar Falls at the Rattlesnake Lake Recreation Area, where there is a well-used trailhead that accommodates trail users and visitors at Rattlesnake Lake. The Snoqualmie Valley Trail will host the Great American Rail-Trail for approximately 10 miles between Cedar Falls and Snoqualmie, from which point the trail will head northwest toward Seattle. View trail map on TrailLink.
Preston-Snoqualmie Trail
The Preston-Snoqualmie Trail follows a former Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway line through the Snoqualmie Valley from Snoqualmie west to Preston. The trail is 6.8 miles long and is paved for its entirety. Its eastern end is near Snoqualmie Falls, but the trail does not extend to or across the falls. The trail snakes through the forest until it reaches the Raging River Valley, where the trail follows a slight detour down into the valley along Preston-Fall City Road and climbs back up again, due to the loss of a historical trestle bridge that once spanned this valley.
Issaquah-Preston Trail
The Issaquah-Preston Trail roughly follows the original route of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway that was purchased by Northern Pacific Railway in the late 1800s and became inactive in the early 1980s. The trail connects to the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail at the intersection of 300th Avenue Southeast and Southeast High Point Way, just north of Preston.
East Lake Sammamish Trail
The East Lake Sammamish Trail follows the corridor of a former BNSF Railway line that ceased operations in 1996. The trail was originally opened as a soft-surface interim trail and has been paved and redeveloped in segments over the years.
Sammamish River Trail
The Sammamish River Trail is the center link of the Seattle area’s locks-to-lakes corridor, which connects lakes Sammamish and Washington to the Ballard Locks. The majority of the Sammamish River Trail runs along a levee that was created in the 1960s when crews drained the swamps and completed the second rechanneling of the once-meandering Sammamish River.
The Sammamish River Trail provides 10.1 miles of paved trail, beginning at its connection with the Marymoor Connector Trail in Marymoor Park. The trail continues north following the Sammamish River through the cities of Redmond, Woodinville and Bothell, where it connects to the Burke-Gilman Trail. View trail map on TrailLink.
Burke-Gilman Trail
The Great American Rail-Trail picks up the Burke-Gilman Trail in Bothell. The Burke-Gilman Trail was one of the first rail-trails in the country and is a popular commuting and recreation route through Seattle. The trail was selected for RTC’s Rail-Trail Hall of Fame in 2008. The trail was once part of a line of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, and gets its name from the two founders of the rail line, Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman. View trail map on TrailLink.
Redmond Central Connector (Eastrail)
The 1.5-mile Redmond Central Connector (Eastrail) opened to the public in 2025. This paved trail bridges East Lake Sammamish Trail to the Sammamish River Trail through Redmond Town Center. The route offers shopping, dining, lodging and local sightseeing options, as well as bicycle support services. The trail parallels Sound Transit’s 2 Line light rail. Currently, the light rail connects Redmond and Bellevue; eventually, it will connect to Seattle. View trail map on TrailLink.
34th Street Protected Bike Lane
The Seattle Department of Transportation upgraded the existing bike lanes along North 34th Street to protected paint-and-post bike lanes in the summer of 2021. These improvements provide a safer passage between the Burke-Gilman Trail and the Fremont Bridge.
Fremont Bridge
The Fremont Bridge was opened in 1917 over the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Non-motorized users can travel on separated sidewalks on either side of the bridge, which is also a drawbridge that frequently opens to accommodate vessels underneath.
Ship Canal Trail
Across the waterway from the Burke-Gilman Trail, the Ship Canal Trail runs along the southern edge of the Lake Washington Ship Canal near Seattle Pacific University.
Interbay Protected Bike Lane
The Interbay Protected Bike Lane project redesigned West Emerson Place, Gilman Avenue West and 20th Avenue West to include protected bike lanes and more intuitive and comfortable intersections. The project added bike lanes on the north and east sides of the streets, creating a protected connection between the Ship Canal Trail and the Elliott Bay Trail.
Elliot Bay Trail (Terminal 91 Bike Path)
The Elliott Bay Trail, also known as the Terminal 91 Bike Path, connects the Interbay Protected Bike Lane to the Seattle Waterfront Pathway. The western portion of trail skirts a rail yard and crosses under the Magnolia Bridge in two places to reach Elliott Bay. Heading east, the trail follows Elliott Bay to its terminus at Alaskan Way. View trail map on TrailLink.
Seattle Waterfront Pathway
The highly urban Seattle Waterfront Pathway is a continuation of the Elliott Bay Trail that heads south on a route connecting Broad Street and South Royal Brougham Way. The trail parallels Alaskan Way along Elliott Bay. Those following the Great American Rail-Trail will continue to the Seattle to Bainbridge ferry at the Seattle Ferry Terminal.
Sound to Olympics Trail
When complete, the Sound to Olympics Trail will extend across Kitsap County to link two Washington State regional trail systems: the Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Olympic Discovery Trail. Today, three disconnected segments exist. One follows the first mile of state Route 305 in Bainbridge Island, stretching from the tip of the Winslow Ferry Terminal, which was completed in 2018, up to High School Road Northeast. Two smaller segments totaling 1.6 miles can be found in the city of Poulsbo.
Plans are in place to extend the Sound to Olympics Trail 9.1 miles north from its current northern terminus at High School Road Northeast. Some funding has already been acquired for this portion of the project. The trail will follow state Route 305 to the extent possible along a parallel path. A separated crossing at the Agate Pass Bridge, which connects Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula, should also be considered to accommodate the narrow passage.
New funding was dedicated in 2022 to complete the next section of trail in Bainbridge Island, including $215,000 from the Bainbridge Island Capital Improvement Plan and $50,000 from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation.
The route of the Sound to Olympics Trail will continue to follow state Route 305 to the first roundabout in Poulsbo at Johnson Road Northeast, where an underpass was completed in 2023 to help trail users safely navigate the interchange. At Johnson Road Northeast, the trail will head north along Noll Road Northeast, where an existing portion of the trail adjacent to Poulsbo Elementary and Poulsbo Middle School has already been completed.
The Peninsula Trails Coalition, the Sound to Olympics Trail and the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation have partnered on an application for the 2023 Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program with a focus on preparing planning and engineering documents and constructing portions of the remaining gaps in the Great American between Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean.
Olympic Discovery Trail
The developing Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) is locally regarded to have four segments between Port Townsend and La Push on the Pacific Coast. The first of these ODT segments, between Port Townsend and Discovery Bay,
is part of the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. While not an official portion of the Great American Rail-Trail, it provides a valuable connection to the city of Port Townsend. For the purposes of this assessment, three ODT segments are incorporated to the Great American Rail-Trail. Collectively, these segments start at Discovery Bay, travel across Jefferson and Clallam counties, and end in the community of La Push at the Pacific Ocean.
Highlights along the ODT include bridge crossings over the Dungeness and Elwha rivers and views of Lake Crescent through Olympic National Park. View trail map on TrailLink.
Listen To Oral History:
Route Reveal Celebration
Completing the Great American Rail-Trail: Catalyst Initiatives in Washington
In every state along the preferred route of the Great American, needs for completing the trail vary. To spur trail completion, RTC has identified initial catalyst initiatives—projects or challenges that would most benefit from RTC’s national breadth of resources. (View the complete list of catalyst initiatives and criteria here.) Through these initiatives, RTC will support local and state partners, investing time, expertise and organizational resources in specific projects that are critical to the ultimate completion of the Great American Rail-Trail.
Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail Funding
RTC will work with partners in Washington State to help secure the balance of funding for Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail projects in the 2019 Washington state budget, including the Beverly Bridge rehabilitation (Columbia River crossing on Old Milwaukee Road corridor), Malden to Rosalia upgrades (grading and resurfacing of 9-mile section plus trailhead creation) and the renovation of the Tekoa Trestle (decking, rail installation and minor structural repairs on 975-foot-long historic trestle).
Great American Rail-Trail Preferred Route
