Category Overview
Trails grants help communities and recreation areas fund the creation and improvement of trails for walking, hiking, cycling, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. These grants help make communities more livable, create regional trails systems, and open up beautiful outdoor spaces for people to enjoy. WWRP is the largest source of trail support in the state of Washington.
Project Highlights
The Spruce Railroad Trail (SRRT) Final Phase Project constructed the last approximately, two miles of the historic 1918 Spruce Railroad Grade in Olympic National Park (ONP) located between the McFee Tunnel (Restored 2017) and the Daley-Rankin Tunnel (Restored 2020). This effort included: (1) tree felling, clearing, and grubbing; (2) mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls and other shoreline stabilization construction; (3) extensive rockfall scaling, reinforcement (e.g. bolts, dowels, attenuators), protection (e.g., draped wire mesh), and other rockfall mitigation; (4) trail subgrade preparation; (5) drainage improvements (e.g., culverts); and (6) installation of a new 120-foot long, by 12-foot wide trail bridge on the east approach to the newly restored Daley-Rankin Tunnel. The remaining work to restore the Daley-Rankin Tunnel was also completed concurrently with the trail construction between the tunnels with funding support under RCO WWRP Trails Project #16-1390. The project also completed final surfacing of the approximately four miles of trail between the SRRT Lyre River Trailhead (end of East Beach Road) and the North Shore Trailhead (end of Camp David Junior Road) access points. This effort included final surfacing of: (1) the 1.8 miles of new constructed trail between the two tunnels; (2) the trail within the two tunnels; and (3) the remaining unpaved SRRT segments between the Lyre River Trailhead and the McFee Tunnel and the Daley-Rankin Tunnel and the North Shore Trailhead. The final trail surface is characterized by a minimum 13 to 14-foot wide dual tread surface comprised of a minimum 8-foot wide paved asphalt path bordered by 4-foot wide and 1 to 2-foot wide crushed stone/gravel tread sides. In addition, numerous pull-outs were constructed and surfaced (paved or crushed stone/gravel) increasing the effective tread width at those locations. Over 20 new trail information and warning signs at and between the Lyre River and North Shore Trailheads were installed. These signs addressed trail route identification, trail courtesy rules, information warning signs (e.g., low light in tunnel, rockfall areas, speed limits), and other information. Other supporting facility improvements in 2020 completed concurrent with the final phase SRRT construction included a parking lot expansion at the Lyre River Trailhead Access. Parking improvements added 18 vehicle spaces, two ADA parking spaces, and two large parallel parking spaces that can accommodate larger vehicles/trailers (e.g., horse trailers). The trailhead parking area now has a total of 53 marked spaces, a designated RV parking area, picnic tables, and a pit toilets. The trail re-opened to the public on November 28, 2020 and this SRRT Final Phase Project concluded the multi-year ODT-SRRT effort (supported by four RCO grants) to construct a paved, approximately 10-mile ODT-SRRT segment around the north shore of Lake Crescent in ONP as a universally accessible, multi-purpose trail to be shared by hikers, bicyclists, equestrians, and people traveling in wheelchairs. Work accomplishment and photo highlights from the project start to end (March – November 2020) are featured in the attached document titled: “Weekly Project Progress Newsletter Reports.” Also, see the series of attached final photos that highlight the final trail tread, pull-outs, shoreline stabilization structures, new 12-foot wide trail bridge, drainage improvements (culverts), expanded parking lot, and signage additions. See also the attached news articles of the trail ribbon cutting event and trail opening.