Pierce County Foothills Trail

Foothills Trail

Print the Foothills Trail map (pdf)

About the Trail

The Foothills Trail is a 12-foot wide non-motorized asphalt trail/linear park suitable for bicycles, walking, in-line skates and wheel chairs. It also has a soft shoulder path for equestrians.

Completed paved sections include 15 miles from Meeker to the South Prairie Creek in South Prairie and a 1.8 mile section in Buckley. Our future plan is to continue the trail to Sumner where we will connect with the Interurban Trail that now extends through Kent and Auburn. The trail in Buckley will continue east to Enumclaw and King County.

The Foothills Trail has been constructed in sections as finances, environmental permits and county ownership have allowed. When complete, the trail will be more than 28 miles in length.

June 28, 2007 marked the opening of the entire length of the Foothills Trail, extending from Buckley through the Town of South Priarie, City of Orting and into the City of Puyallup.

The trail opening was held at the City of Buckley's southern border on highway 165 where a happy crowd of local dignitaries and trail supporters gathered in liquid sunshine to hear Pierce County Parks Director Kathy Kravit-Smith pay homage to Doctor Tate and give thanks to the Foothills Trail Coalition for their dedication and public service. Other speakers included the Mayor of Buckley, Pat Johnson.

Rail-Trail History

A Rail-Trail is an abandoned railbed used as a non-motorized public trail with transportation and recreation in mind. There are over 10,000 miles of rail trail in the U.S. Some abandoned rail lines have been rail-banked which keeps the corridor in one ownership. However, to assemble the Foothills Trail, each segment of trail was painstakingly purchased or, in some cases. donated to Pierce County. Federal and state grant funds are used to construct the trial segments into existing and ongoing Foothills Trail.

Burlington Northern Railway abandoned the railbed in 1982. The effort started in 1984 when a Buckley physician and a community visionary organized the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition to assist Pierce County Parks in building the trail. Despite roadblocks, construction of the trail is ongoing and thousands of users are already enjoying its benefits.

Trail Partner

Development of the Foothills Trail would not have been possible without the partnership of the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coaltion who have provided countless volunteer hours, fundraising efforts, and advocacy for nonmotorized transportation in Pierce County.

For further information on the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition please call (253)841-2570 or visit the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition website.

Through the many dedicated hours of volunteer labor from the Foothills Trail Coalition and the resourcefulness of Pierce County and City employees, the Foothills Trail is now almost fully paved. Over the past few years, both the improved and unimproved sections of the trail have been in use and have supported major events such as the R2R Rainier to Ruston Run.

What Is New

The South Prairie to Buckley section of the Foothills Trail is approximately 5.2 miles long. This trail section extends from South Prairie Creek in the Town of South Prairie to Buckley. The main stem now stops at South Prairie, about three miles short of its planned end point on the edge of Buckley. When complete of the trail will extend from Puyallup to the long awaited connection to the Town of Buckley.

South Prairie Trail Phases Beginning June 15, 2008 we start construction on Phase 1 by adding another mile section of the trail from South Prairie that will include two pedestrian bridges. The bridges will cross South Prairie Creek and Lower Burnett road and will carry the bike path from South Prairie to Buckley. Construction of the bridges will take place first to observe the salmon habitat protection window from June 15 through September 15.

Pierce County Parks is currently working to secure trail grant monies from the state to build Phase 2, the next 1.3 mile section of trail. Phase 2 will connect the current trail just south of the Town of Buckley to the South Prairie Phase 1 trail section. Construction of Phase 2 is scheduled to begin in 2010.

A third phase will connect the trail from the Town of Buckley to the current trail end in the Town of South Prairie at South Prairie creek is also planned for construction in 2010.

Pierce County Parks & Recreation
9112 Lakewood Dr. SW, Lakewood, WA 98499