Pickering Farm and Lake Sammamish State Park

Explore the lovely lakeshore at Lake Sammamish State Park and Pickering Farm Trail

Hike Length: 4 miles

Elevation Gain: minimal

Hike Difficulty: easy

Map: Green Trails 203S "Cougar Mountain"

Updated 9/20/2021

Lake Sammamish State Park occupies a prime location on the south end of Lake Sammamish. The park offers a diverse mixture of developed picnic areas and beaches, as well as undeveloped wetlands, fields, and woodlands. Issaquah Creek, which flows through the center of the park, is noted for its salmon runs.The trail system within the park, though pleasant to walk on, is not extensive. However, newly created trail connections to Issaquah and the Lake Sammamish Trail greatly increase the hiking possibilities.

A fine way to end the day is to hike into downtown Issaquah, do a little shopping, then hop onto Sound Transit 554 to get back to Seattle

Park info and map: https://parks.state.wa.us/DocumentCenter/View/860/Lake-Sammamish-State-Park-PDF?bidId=

Lake Sammamish State Park (Wikimedia Commons)

Getting There

Ride Sound Transit 554 bus to Issaquah Transit Center.

The Hike

From the southwest corner of the Transit Center, cross SR 900 (17th Ave NW ) at the Newport Way intersection, and then walk to Lake Sammamish State Park, using the new walkway on the west side of SR 900. The walkway heads north along SR 900, crosses I-90, then ends at NW Sammamish Road. On the other side of the road is the edge of Lake Sammamish Park, where there are soccer fields. Cross the soccer fields and work your way northwest toward Lake Sammamish through a maze of picnic areas, trails, and driveways.

Once at the lakeshore, maximize your walking pleasure by first heading left to explore the westernmost part of the waterfront. When you’ve gone as far as you can in that direction, reverse course and follow the water east You will pass a well-groomed sandy beach, which might temp you to take a swim on a hot day. At Issaquah Creek, the developed portion of the park ends. There it’s worth following a dirt-surfaced trail on the west side of the creek to a dead-end at the lake shore. Return from there back to a foot bridge which provides access to the less developed eastern portion of the park.

Once across the bridge, wander at will on the unpaved paths lacing the east part of the park. The trails pass through spacious, open fields that provide vistas of Tiger Mountain and the other peaks of the Issaquah Alps.

You can follow one path (trail 7 on the park map) through the fields that eventually leads to the eastern extremity of the park, where there is a boat launching area and parking lot. After returning from there, you can take another path (trail 6 on the park map) following Issaquah Creek in a southward direction. Eventually the trail leaves the park, passes an office park on the left, then comes to an apparent end at the north edge of Sammamish Road.

However, if you go right (west) on Sammamish Road for a few paces and cross the bridge over Issaquah Creek, you will discover a paved trail continuing south along the creek. Despite being close to office buildings and and a shopping center, this trail (The Pickering Farm Trail) is woodsy and not bad walking. Go left (east) at a junction; shortly this trail joins up with the gravel-surfaced Lake Sammamish Trail, which offers miles of strolling opportunities. The path is built on the former right of way of the Seattle, Lakeshore, and Eastern railway, the same railway route that Seattle’s famous Burke Gilman trail now occupies.Go right ( south) on the trail, which heads under the I-90 freeway and eventually ends at the edge of Gilman Boulevard.

Cross busy Gilman Boulevard to access Rainier Boulevard on the other side. There is no stoplight here; if the crossing seems impossible, walk east on Gilman and cross at the Front Street intersection. Continue walking into Issaquah’s quaint downtown district along either Rainer Boulevard or Front Street. Be sure to visit the nice new King County library located on the corner of Sunset and Front.

Getting Back

In the town center of Issaquah, there is a stop for the Sound Transit 554 bus at Sunset Way just east of Front Street. Ride this bus back to Seattle.