Building Momentum for the Sound to Olympics Trail
- Cascade and the Leafline Trails Coalition held a ride on Sept. 5 to push for progress on the Sound to Olympics Trail.
Paul Tolmé
The proposed Sound to Olympics Trail is a critical connection for the future of trail access across the four-county, 900-mile Puget Sound Leafline Trails network, including Kitsap, King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
When complete, the trail would cross Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap Peninsula, enabling people on bikes to get on a ferry in Seattle or Edmonds, disembark at the Bainbridge or Kingston ferry terminals, and then pedal all the way to the Hood Canal Bridge and onward to the Olympic Peninsula. From there people could pedal to the Olympic Discovery Trail.
Currently in the design and planning stages, the Sound to Olympics Trail would transform bicycling in the Puget Sound region and Washington state. Two years ago the project got a boost from a federal grant to speed up planning.
On Sept. 5, Cascade and the Leafline Trails Coalition, along with a host of Kitsap advocacy organizations, supported a ride with elected officials, transportation planners, and project stakeholders to scout the planned trail corridor between the City of Poulsbo and the Bainbridge Island ferry terminal. Participants rode the approximately one mile of completed Sound to Olympics Trail just outside the City of Bainbridge Island.
“The goal of this ride is to make the case for continued investment in regional trail development and the Sound to Olympics Trail,” says Davíd Urbina, Cascade’s Leafline Trails Manager.
The Sound to Olympics Trail would be a key segment of the Puget to Pacific Trail and the Great American Rail Trail, and it would serve as both a transportation corridor that enables individuals to commute or bike to important destinations–and as a priceless recreation corridor to enable more bike tourism.
“Imagine being able to get on a ferry in downtown Seattle with your bike, enjoy a beautiful ferry trip across Puget Sound, disembark on Bainbridge Island or in Kingston, and then connect with the Olympic Discovery Trail to ride to Port Townsend or all the way to the Pacific coast on a multi-use trail,” says Vicky Clarke, deputy director for Cascade and Washington Bikes. “That’s the future we envision–and we know it’s possible with trail investment.”
From its southernmost point, the first segment of the trail is already built on Bainbridge Island, starting from the ferry terminal in Winslow and following State Route 305 for about a mile. The trail would follow the SR 305 corridor up to the Agate Pass Bridge, which would need to be rebuilt or retrofitted to accommodate biking and walking.
Both Leafline and Cascade Bicycle Club were part of a planning committee that met over the past few months to plan the ride. Cascade Bicycle Club lent a fleet of Tern e-bikes to support the ride. Other organizations that helped organize the ride include the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation, Squeaky Wheels, the North Kitsap Trails Association, West Sound Cycling Club, the Washington State Department of Transportation, and Parametrix.
Public officials on the ride included: Kitsap County Commissioner Christine Rolfes, Bainbridge Island Mayor Ashley Mathews, Joe Deets and Leslie Schnieder of Bainbridge City Council, and Ed Stern of Poulsbo city council. Poulsbo Mayor, Becky Erickson welcomed the group at the ride start. Others joining the ride included Kitsap County Parks Director Alex Wisnewski, Poulsbo City Administrator Rob Gelder, and community bike advocate Dianne Iverson.
As riders pedaled into the City of Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation Trails Director Barb Trafton spoke about the importance of placemaking and public art. Bainbridge worked with the Suquamish Tribe and Master Carver Randi Purser to bring a Welcome Pole to the first mile of the Sound to Olympics Trail.
“The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation has brought community funding to landscape design and native plant stewardship along the Sound to Olympics corridor because we believe that a trail is optimally a linear park that brings beauty, nature, history, and art to the trail user’s experience,” Trafton says.
The City of Bainbridge Island has completed a one-mile segment of the Sound to Olympics Trail from the ferry terminal to High School Road. Future segments of the trail are currently in planning.
The Agate Pass Bridge that connects Bainbridge Island to the Kitsap Peninsula currently has no bike lane and just a narrow sidewalk, making it dangerous and stressful to bike across during high traffic times. Local police provided an escort over the bridge for ride participants to highlight the need for redeveloping this bridge.
Highlights of the ride included two new roundabouts on Bainbridge Island.
The Sound to Olympics Trail is part of the Great American Rail Trail, which when completed would offer a 3,700 mile trail connecting Washington, D.C. to La Push, Wash.
In 2023, the Biden administration awarded a $16 million RAISE grant to the Puget Sound to Pacific Collaborative for trail planning. The RAISE grant does not fund trail construction. That money would still need to be acquired through future grants and other sources. Read more in our story, “Seattle to the Pacific: A Dream Bike Route Takes Shape.”
About 100 miles of the proposed 200 mile trail connection is completed, with many more segments still to be created–including the remaining segments of the Sound to Olympics Trail.
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