Soaring Eagle
About the Park:
Soaring Eagle Regional Park is 790 acres of mature forests, wetlands, and wildlife habitat. Soaring Eagle Parks sits above Patterson Creek on the edge of the Sammamish Plateau along the western flank of the Snoqualmie River Valley. It is connected via forested corridors to the nearby Beaver Lake Preserve, Hazel Wolf Wetlands, and Patterson Creek Natural Area, which increases habitat for wildlife living in the area such as black bear, bobcat, black tail deer, and more than 40 species of birds.
Throughout Soaring Eagle Park, there are 12 miles of multi-use trails. The Pipeline Trail bisecting the park is wide and flat so it is common to see families with baby strollers out enjoying the trail. Soaring Eagle is also popular for mountain biking and trail running competitions.
Partners:
Evergreen Trail Runs- Soaring Eagle
Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance- Soaring Eagle
Friends of Soaring Eagle
Sammamish Friends- Emerald Necklace
Washington Trails Association- Soaring Eagle
Park Activities: dog walking, hiking, horse riding, mountain biking, nature observation, parking lot, porta-pottie, volunteer
Location: 26015 E Main Dr, Sammamish, WA 98074
Nearby Bus Stops: 216, 219, 269, 554at 228 Ave NE & NE 8 St or 228 Ave SE & SE 10 St
Parking:Paved parking lot with room to accommodate up to five horse trailers at entry off E Main Dr. Parking is along Trossachs Blvd at the south end of the park.
Trailheads:
Main entry: West side of the park in Sammamish via 228 Ave SE and SE 8 St to the end of E Main Dr.
South entry: At the end of Trossachs Blvd via SE Duthie Hill Road.
Through Beaver Lake Preserve: On West Beaver Lake Dr, half a mile east of 254 Pl SE.
Map:
Soaring Eagle Trail Mapa en español
Text KING SOARING to 468311 to load the map onto your smartphone.
Park History:
Abridged from the draft January 2018 Soaring Eagle Forest Stewardship Plan:
Now surrounded by residential neighborhoods, people have lived in the area surrounding Soaring Eagle Park as far back as 12,500 years ago. Prior to contact with white settlers, this area was occupied by the lower Snoqualmie peoples who lived along the Snoqualmie river, relying on its wetlands, creeks, and streams. Evidence has shown there once was a significant historic travel corridor through Soaring Eagle Park. Traditional travel corridors would have been burned to maintain them and to encourage game animals to frequent the area, which is consistent with charcoal found in the park.
Native peoples planted, cultivated and harvested both wild and domesticated plants, collected berries, nuts and roots, hunted game, fished, quarried stone, and built irrigation canals and roads or foot paths in this area.
Evidence of charcoal is an indicator that Native peoples used fire to clear the land for acorn gathering, to flush game, create habitat for food such as huckleberry, to create meadows to attract game or as an act of war.
Skipping ahead a few centuries, this area was Washington State school trust land known as Section 36. Soaring Eagle was renamed in 2001 by a second grader at Samantha Smith Elementary School in Sammamish in a contest sponsored by King County Parks.