Planning is done at Lord Hill Park — now the work begins

SNOHOMISH — A half-dozen years of talking about the future of Lord Hill Regional Park is approaching an end.

Earlier this week, the county released its preferred plan, at last.

Work could start as soon as this summer, as staff becomes available. But it might take years to finish.

Snohomish County staff identified over 60 projects to tackle in the 1,480-acre park about five miles southeast of Snohomish. With current staff capacity, not including volunteers, the county estimates completing the list would take a decade.

Some is simple stuff, like fixing drainage or brushing paths. Bigger efforts include decommissioning four miles of trail and realigning routes. Ever-evolving unofficial “rogue trails” that honeycomb the park will be erased, too. Signage will be added and updated.

One of the bigger projects — one that hadn’t been announced until now — is a parking lot swap. In the future, hikers and mountain bikers will park in the lower lot, and horse trailers will go to the upper. The new equestrian entrance will be adjusted.

Emily Griffith, a senior park planner with the county, said the swap should help reduce conflict. Right now, mountain bikers and horse riders cross paths shortly after entering the park as they travel to their respective destinations. It creates a “pinch point” where everyone is getting funneled to a single intersection, she said.

“It was one of the sites that we heard had the most conflict,” Griffith said.

County staff have reversed course on a plan to do away with mountain-biker only segments. Two-wheeled crews will still have a few trails they don’t have to share with hikers. Griffith said parks staff listened to feedback about safety concerns, and also felt there would be too much environmental impact to adjust the trails to make them hiker friendly.

Staff also let go of previous ideas to extend some trails, for now. More than 75% of the park will remain undeveloped, undisturbed.

“We know that our staff can’t keep up with the trail system as it is out there,” Griffith said.

Much of Lord Hill’s trail system developed organically, as people from the various user groups forged their own paths, without much oversight. They were never designed to work cohesively. Old plans, published in 1988 and 1996, are far outdated.

Eventually, as more people came to the park, conflict arose. A pattern of safety concerns caused the parks staff to make some of the bigger changes.

When all is said and done, the park will have 26.57 miles of trail.

Hikers, who make up 80% of park goers, will have access to 25 miles of trail.

Equestrians can hoof it across 14.5 miles.

Mountain bikers will get 13 miles. They stand to lose the most access, about four miles. And tires will “stay on the ground,” according to the county, with jumps eliminated and making for more casual cross country-style riding.

Griffith said Lord Hill alone can never fill the demand for mountain bikers. In determining who can use what trails, she said staff opted to create “a functional system on the ground, not one that looks balanced on paper.”

The county is looking for another spot where mountain bikers can recreate, maybe without so many other user groups.

Officials will present the preferred plan at a community meeting 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, via Zoom. For details, visit https://bit.ly/3yMgGld.