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Suburban sprawl gives way to deep forest and rural farm lots as this rail-trail follows an uphill grade from Issaquah to the outskirts of Preston.
About the Route
The western end of the Issaquah-Preston Trail begins at a junction with the East Lake Sammamish Trail. Starting as a paved trail, the Issaquah-Preston Trail crosses East Lake Sammamish Parkway at a crosswalk and traffic light and then proceeds uphill, where its role as a commuter and recreation route is evident. To reach Preston, follow the left fork at a trail junction and enter a short tunnel; the right fork ascends to homes, stores, and offices in the Issaquah Highlands development.
Another trail junction confronts visitors after the tunnel. The left branch proceeds to Preston, while the right heads downhill to historic downtown Issaquah. The paved surface ends after the second trail fork, and the subsequent packed dirt and gravel trail can be uneven and muddy at times. It becomes a wide forest path canopied by second-growth Douglas firs and western red cedars as it passes through a section of Grand Ridge Park while noisy Interstate 90 traffic rolls past downhill. Nearly 10 miles of popular mountain biking trails in the 1,300-acre forest can be reached from the Coal Mine and Grand Ridge trailheads (maps are displayed on posts) in this section.
Passing through the forest, the path crosses a classic wooden bridge over East Fork Issaquah Creek and emerges at a small parking lot on SE High Point Way. Across this road, the trail continues as a gravel path sandwiched between Issaquah Creek and I-90. It is screened from the freeway by landscaping in places, and visitors can glimpse some farm lots to the north.
The eastern end of Issaquah-Preston Trail crosses another wooden bridge and arrives at a two-way cycle track on the wide shoulder of SE High Point Way. The historic mill and railroad town of Preston—with restrooms, a market, a sports park, and the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail—is located about a mile to the east along the marked bike route.
Connections
The Issaquah–Preston Trail is among a group of trails in the Mountains to Sound Greenway that link Seattle and its eastern suburbs with Eastern Washington.
At its western end on 4th Avenue NW in Issaquah, the trail connects to the East Lake Sammamish Trail.
At its eastern end on SE High Point Way heading towards Preston, the trail connects to the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail.
Trail History
The trail roughly follows the original route of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway that was purchased by Northern Pacific at the close of the 19th century and was completely inactive by the early 1980s.
The Issaquah-Preston Trail runs between East Lake Sammamish Trail at 4th Ave NW (Issaquah) and Preston-Snoqualmie Trail at SE High Point Way (Issaquah).
Parking is available at:
These are not all official addresses, please visit the TrailLink map for more detailed directions.
The western trailhead of the Issaquah-Preston Trail is 100 yards or so up the East Lake Sammamish Trail from that trail's southern trailhead. So begin there, at NW Gilman & the east leg of 4th Ave NW in Issaquah. (The east leg of 4th Ave NW - a one-way, one-lane street starting just east of the caboose on Gilman - sports a lane of free parking along its west side that's mostly used by Trail cyclists and walkers.) The East Lake Sammamish Trail itself is adjacent, just to the east of 4th Ave. Cycle under the I-90 double underpass to see the Issaquah-Preston Trail's entrance on the right.
The only serious road crossing is early on, Front Street. With its I-90 entrance and exit ramps, you’ll want to use the crossing light! From there, you’re headed uphill to Preston, mostly along I-90. The trickiest choice comes quickly, the fork. Choose the LEFT fork, alongside the vegetative sculpture, under the four- or six-lane highway-speeds Highlands Drive to the immediate T, where you'll choose left once more; you’ll be off pavement onto gravel just a few yards further.
If, instead, you find yourself past the fork, still on pavement, on a relentlessly-brutally-uphill trail, wondering what train system would have tackled a grade like this one, you’re asking the right question - no train would have - you took the right fork, as I did - and you need to coast back down to the fork again, to take the correct fork, past the sculpture, under the for-all-intents-and-purposes highway (Highlands Drive), then left again onto gravel, to stick alongside the I-90 right-of-way.
As others have reported, there’s highway noise along much of the Issaquah-Preston Trail - but I’d characterize it as considerably less noisy than the Cedar River Trail, which I will not cycle again. This trail angles through lots of forest before it emerges onto SE High Point Way which, on a late Saturday afternoon, had zero traffic for the almost-mile it shared a roadbed, with bikes getting a full car-width lane set off from vehicles, had there been any. It then seamlessly becomes (well, you do have to cross to the north side of High Point Way at the trail crossing sign) the paved Preston-Snoqualmie Trail, wending its way past Preston’s trucking and light industry firms, then its athletic fields and park, before easing back into forest.
The fields and park are the high point of the trail; from here begins a gentle descent. I turned around two miles past the park, when the paved trail took a sharp turn to the right into what appeared to be a much steeper descent - I’d had my quotient of climbing in my inadvertent detour to Issaquah’s Highlands. But before reversing course, I continued on gravel straight for 100 yards to what must have been the beginning of the railroad’s Raging River trestle. There’s just a bench here, now, with the sound of the Raging River far below.
My total roundtrip was 19 miles - not sure how much of that was my “adventure” - as steep as it was, I’m sure it seemed much longer than it was - probably roundtrip, less than 2 miles off my intended route.
Easy ride from Preston down into Issaqhah. Relatively easy climb back to Preston.
There is one short switch-back, and one short steep section but otherwise very doable for anyone.
My wife and I went for a bike ride on this trail for the first time it’s a decent steady climb uphill so when you reach the end of the trail it’s a pretty quick ride back down! My biggest complaint is that it runs next to the highway the entire way. It makes it harder to hear each other if you want to have a conversation :/ probably won’t do it again but the fun part is on the way back!
It’s great for beginners, children, of if you’re looking to gently ease back into mountain biking. This trail has a paved entrance (less than .2 miles or so) and quickly turns into gravel. It’s a well maintained wide/doubletrack trail. I went around 5pm, and although the parking lot was pretty full, the trail wasn’t super crowded or busy.
Nice paved trail and easy for my kids 10 and 12. from soccer park was light downhill most of way. a transition down then up fairly steep grade to cross highway midpoint in journey then nice trail. return was pretty much constant up but a nice grade and both kids able to navigate it. good but could hear highway traffic almost 90% of the trail and several areas are backyards so it's not a day in nature w/o civilization which is what we were hopeful to find. a few walkers but mostly had the trail to ourselves. well maintained.
Excellent for short hike(2-4 hours). I usually start hiking from issaquah. This trail is parallel to the highway, so it is a little bit noisey, but it's ok, actually it distracts that strange noises from trees espically when you hike alone, you know ha ha. It's a good idea to bring a bottle of water with you.
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