Trails provide several community benefits, from connecting to various destinations provides people with multiple options for getting around the city, increasing levels of physical activity, and can reduce motor vehicle trips, which improves air pollution and reduce individual carbon footprints.
The City of Lake Stevens has about 5 miles of trails, most located in our city and community parks, including nearly 2 miles of Centennial Trail. That’s about 10,000 steps!
Challenge yourself, your family, and friends to explore the natural beauty and abundant opportunities for outdoor adventures that Lake Stevens has to offer with the Walk 5 Challenge! Visit this post and follow along on our social media posts on Mondays August 9 – September 27, 2021, for our Walk in The Park series. We are saying goodbye to summer and welcoming autumn getting you out of the house and into the parks.
We invite the community to visit a Lake Stevens walking trail each week and share a photo with the hashtag #WalkInTheParkLS. Every Monday, we’ll share those photos of our amazing community enjoying the great outdoors on our social media outlets. By posting and using #WalkInTheParkLS, the City of Lake Stevens may use a user-submitted image on the city website, Twitter, or Facebook pages for this promotion. Photo credit is given to the user.
Walking all the trails featured will bring you to about 10,000 steps by the end of the series. Each week, this post will be updated with a little information about each featured trail:
September 27 – Centennial Trail
An enormously popular recreational trail for walking, bicycling, hiking, and horseback riding accessible to persons of all levels of physical ability, about 1 ½ miles of Centennial Trail are within Lake Stevens. The Lake Stevens primary trailheads are at Hwy 92, 20th Street NE, and Machias Road.
The City's Trails Master Plan outlines details for a proposed trail along Lakeshore Drive to provides a direct east-west connection between the Westside Trail, through Lundeen Parkway’s bike lanes, to the Centennial Trail, through Downtown Lake Stevens
September 20 – Oak Hill Park
Another of the city’s newer parks, Oak Hill Park is located near the Oak Hill neighborhood at the intersection of Callow Road and 33rd St. NE. Its paved walks surround the nearly 2.5-acre park that includes the playground, basketball courts, and plenty of picnic tables.
How about sharing some sidewalk chalk art with other park-goers? You can create a positive written message, or just let the chalk drawings stand on their own to lift spirits and motivate the community! Check out this website for a few really cool ideas to inspire you.
September 13 - Frontier Heights
One of the city’s newest parks, Frontier Heights, has a ¼ mile wide circular walking path around the park, with plenty of room for social distancing.
Keep everyone active afterward at the playground or basketball court. The park has several picnic shelters if you bring your own food or head to one of the nearby restaurants after a full day of play; the park is near the intersection of Hwys 204 and 9.
September 6 – Cavalero Hill Community and Skate Park
Cavalero Hill Park is a beloved 35-acre site owned by Snohomish County. With ½ mile of paved paths winding around the park, an off-leash dog area, various open play areas, basketball, and foursquare courts, and of course, the 18,000 sq. ft. skatepark, spend the day walking, running, or wheeling!
Bring your fur baby to enjoy the fenced off-leash area adjacent to the park; there is also a separate area for small and shy dogs. Please remember to bring water and bags to clean up after your pet and dispose of waste properly.
August 30 - Lake Stevens Community Park
The Lake Stevens Community Park’s entrance off Machias Road leads you through a thick stand of trees, then breaks into a view of the gorgeous 40-acre county park at the top of the hill. It has 1.25 miles of walking paths laid out on thick, lush grass that meanders around the ball fields and playground.
This park has a little bit of everything; with picnic tables, grass fields, outdoor basketball courts, and various baseball fields, bring the sports equipment of your choice and enjoy a lovely day enjoying the great outdoors.
August 23 - Centennial Woods
Centennial Woods is a 6.5-acre nature park, located adjacent to the Centennial Trail and connects to Catherine Creek Park with a series of gravel trails that winds through groves of ferns, cedars, hemlock, and maple.
With a variety of trees to encounter, practice a new art technique with tree rubbings! Click here for a great article with a video on tree rubbing activities with younger kids from Kaplan Early Learning Company.
August 16 – Eagle Ridge Park
Be sure to put “Visit Eagle Ridge Park this weekend” on your calendar! Eagle Ridge Park is home to the Eagle Ridge Community Garden and Lake Stevens Senior Center. There is a large, grassy lawn hosting Theater in the Park on Sundays, August 22 and 29, 2021. Before the performances, check out the .75-mile unpaved walking trail that descends from the lawn through an old-growth forest.
If you have younger children, start a nature collection of interesting items that are on the ground (pinecones, sticks, leaves, etc.) for nature crafts when you return home. Google ‘nature walk craft ideas’ for lots of inspirational ideas.
August 9 – Catherine Creek Park
We kick off Walk in the Park series with the trails at Catherine Creek Park. The park is known for its 18-hole disc golf course, but did you know it has 2.5 miles of unpaved walking trails, with some connecting to Centennial Park?
Be sure and pack a lunch or snacks, Catherine Creek Park has picnic facilities in a grassy meadow. Don't miss the pear tree!