Centennial Trail

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The Centennial Trail is a rail trail in Snohomish County, Washington.

It is a hard-surfaced, non-motorized trail for walking, bicycling, hiking, and horseback riding located on the Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern Railroad right-of-way, a route used until 1987. It is accessible to persons of all levels of physical ability. The trail is administered by Snohomish Parks and Recreation ^[1]. It runs over 17 miles (27 km)^[2].

1 Trail Route
2 History
3 Future alignments
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Trail Route

From south to north, the trail takes the following route^[3]:

Starting at Pine Avenue in Snohomish, north paralleling Pilchuck River and Machias Road past Pilchuck Park trailhead to Machias
Follows railroad bed and rejoins Machias Road and Little Pilchuck Creek to 20th Street trailhead
Follows Old Hartford Road to Highway 92 Overpass (and trailhead)
Continues on railroad right-of-way past Rhododendron trailhead to Lake Cassidy Wetlands Park trailhead (with only handicapped parking)
Continues on railroad right-of-way past 84th Street, under Highway 9 and 108th Street, past Hilltop Road to Quilceda/Allen Watershed Interpretive Center at Wade Road
Terminates at Armar Road trailhead

[edit] History

The Centennial Trail runs on the right-of-way of the Sumas Branch of the former Seattle, Lake Shore, and Eastern Railroad, built in 1889. The railway connected Seattle with Canada and linked eastward toward Stevens Pass with mail, freight, and passenger service. The line specialized in transporting timber, lumber and metals, and also served tourists visiting Monte Cristo, Stillaguamish River, and the Big Four Inn at the Mountain Loop ice caves.

Later purchased by Northern Pacific then Burlington Northern, the Hartford (Lake Stevens) - Edgecomb (Arlington) section was abandoned 1972 and the Snohomish - Hartford (Lake Stevens) section was abandoned in 1987. ^[4]

The rail trail project was first conceived in 1982 ^[5], and development of the trail began in 1989 during Washington State's centennial^[6]. The last section of the current 17.5 miles opened in April 2005 ^[7].

[edit] Future alignments

An extension of the trail is planned following the right-of-way from Arlington to Skagit County ^[8]. A future phase of the trail may connect with the Sammamish River and Burke-Gilman trails ^[9], both of which share the same right-of-way ^[10].