When I found this washout (at left) along the Cedar River Trail back in January, I was afraid the trail would be closed for good or another good gully-washer would take out the rest of the river bank.
So I was surprised when I returned there Tuesday (right) to find tons of rip-rap had been dumped along the stream channel to prevent it from eroding away.
Great job for the King County Parks to jump on this problem before it got worse.
The 17-mile Cedar River Trail runs from Renton to Landsburg along the historic old Burlington Northern Railroad grade that carried coal and other goods out of the Cascade foothills. This damaged section is about 8 or 9 miles from Renton.
Just a couple of miles further up the trail, however, I discovered it was closed at one of the old railroad trestles that cross the Cedar River in Maple Valley.
I don't know when the bridge improvements began, but they'll continue until about June 2009. From my vantage point, it appears that the old deck is being replaced and new railings will be going up along the sides.
To get past this, you'll have to slide off onto Maple Valley Highway at the Route 18 underpass then pickup the trail again upstream. Here's a link to the appropriate King County Bicycle map (check out the lower right hand corner).
The Cedar River Trail is just one of nine major bike trails through the county; totaling about 175 miles.
A new and improved King County Parks website directs visitors to King County Parks, as well as the paved trails and some dirt-trails through the parks. Just be warned, many of those park trails are available for pedestrians and horses, but not humans on bicycles.
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