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Wine enthusiasts can find a lot to like on the Sammamish River Trail, which passes through the Woodinville Wine Country, home to some 60 tasting rooms and restaurants.
At one time, flat-bottomed steamboats carried trade on the Sammamish River, which meanders between Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish. In the 1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed a flood-control project that left behind a mostly level, paved trail atop a levee. It opened to the public in 1979.
Today the trail serves the towns of Redmond, Woodinville, and Bothell in Seattle’s eastern suburbs. The trail is one of the busiest in the area. Despite this traffic, it’s not unusual to see bald eagles, herons, or beavers along the river, as well as deer and small mammals in the adjacent fields.
About the Route
Starting from the trail's eastern end in Marymoor Park in Redmond, home of tech giant Microsoft, the trail leaves off from the junction with the Marymoor Connector, which heads east 1.6 miles to its junction with the East Lake Sammamish Trail. Note that equestrians are allowed on a side path adjacent to the trail that runs north to Wilmot Gateway Park in Woodinville.
In 1.1 miles, the trail passes under the Redmond Central Connector, a segment of the Eastrail network that’s scheduled to link Redmond and Kirkland by the spring of 2025.
The next mile or so can be the most congested, especially during lunch hour, given the nearby offices. Across the river, via Northeast 85th Street, a companion trail—the West Sammamish River Trail—runs for 2 miles north on a soft surface. It’s open to all users, although wheelchairs are not recommended.
The gravel-surfaced Redmond Powerline Trail crosses the Sammamish River Trail in 1.1 miles. By now, the trail corridor has widened and is buffered by a row of tall poplar trees.
The trail passes acres of athletic fields over the next 3.2 miles to the Northeast 145th Street intersection. This is the Hollywood District of Woodinville Wine Country, home to a cluster of wineries and tasting rooms. Crossing the river on a NE 145th Street side path takes trail users to the swank, French-style estate of Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery. The oldest winery in the state, it’s also home to a popular summer concert series.
Back on the trail, the trail passes the dirt Tolt Pipeline Trail junction in 0.3 miles. Wilmot Gateway Park, with its shady pergola, expansive lawn, and playground, awaits in 1.5 miles. Beyond, the trail traces the curvy river route through Bothell. On the right, the trail passes beneath the elevated I-405 interchange in 1.1 miles, where the North Creek Trail connects to the route, leading trail users to the University of Washington Bothell campus.
The Sammamish River Trail next enters a wooded area and passes a pedestrian bridge that crosses the river to Bothell Landing Park, which contains a history museum and houses several historic buildings from the late 1800s. Before white settlers arrived in the area, the Sammamish people had populated this area for some 10,000 years.
The trail reaches its western end at the Burke-Gilman Trail in 0.7 miles. A left turn will take trail users to facilities at Blyth Park, while a right turn will take trail users to Golden Gardens Park on Puget Sound.
Connections
At the west end of the trail, trail users can connect to the Burke-Gilman Trail, Tolt Pipeline Trail, and the North Creek Trail
At the east end of the trail, trail users can connect to the Marymoor Connector Trail, Redmond Central Connector, and the East Lake Sammamish Trail.
The Sammamish River Trail is part of the Great American Rail-Trail, a 3,700-mile route that will eventually connect Washington, D.C., and Washington State.
The Sammamish River Trail runs between Blyth Park (Bothell) and Marymoor Park (Redmond), with parking available at both ends.
Parking is also available at:
Please see TrailLink Map for all parking options and detailed directions.
I liked this trail. Asphalt was almost perfect. Nice and wide. The scenery was above average not spectacular. Definitely worth doing.
So much about this trail was great. Easy to find parking at the park ($1). Trail very well marked. Other riders very polite, although I could see where it could get very crowded. The farther north you go, there are connecting trails. We only had one day, but could have spent a week exploring. We rode in the mist. It is a rain or shine experience.
FYI, it's a buck to park in Lot K, the Marymoor Park trailhead. The machines accept dollar bill (no change) or credit card.
Smooth paved ride from Redmond trailhead to Bothell, and onto the Burke-Gilman there two days ago (May 26) - 24 miles up-and-back on my hybrid bike.
Allergy sufferers be aware: cottonwoods are shedding their "cotton" - the air is full of the stuff, like it's snowing lightly - not sure when it ends, but there's plenty of "cotton" still on the trees - and not sure when it began but the river is dusted in white, and there are places where the edge of the trail looks snow-drifted, thick with the stuff. Thickest in the few miles at either end of the trail.
My Friday midday ride (11:30 or so to 2) did see walkers along a few miles at the Redmond end, in Woodinville, and at the Bothell end, and other cyclists and a couple rollerskaters, but did not feel crowded, and I expressed and experienced politeness throughout.
The section north of Redmond to Woodinville is agricultural and lovely. A farmwife was just pulling in her "see the quilts" sign as I passed.
The park and arbors the trail passes through/by in Woodinville are lovely.
The first couple miles continuing west on the Burke-Gilman, in Bothell, were a dramatic change - urban, noisy, running alongside busy State Route 522.
I did not detect any odors from the river.
Not a lot of shade on this ride, so sunscreen up if you're riding midday.
There is one curlyqueue of tight turns on the Redmond end. A couple narrow bridges at either end.
Trail intersections are remarkably well marked - the once when not, I needed to just follow the trail's yellow-marked center line.
I ride this trail daily on my bike from Redmond to Bothell and enjoy the scenery no matter rain or shine. People along the trail are very considerate and friendly giving way and providing help when needed. The maintenance teams blow the leaves off the trail early in the morning and keep the bathrooms clean. This is a great trail to enjoy miles of pavement without any cars.
Beautiful trail but crowded. This is not a bike trail for speed work. Kids, dogs, roller bladders, runners. Multi use trail.20 years ago it was empty but not so now.
A relaxing beautiful ride. The trail was relatively empty on Thursday in May. Didn’t have to be worried about others on the road. Planning to return in August.
Very smooth paved trail with lots of traffic. We rode a total of 29 mi R/T The trail keeps going to Sammamish lake and we turned around about4 miles into that trail. Lovely bathroom by the lake.
We rode this trail in its entirety over two different days. Our kiddo just learned how to ride a two wheeler and we’ve been practicing trail etiquette. This trail is crowded so if young kids are riding they should be prepared to stay to the right, use voice or bell when passing. The scenery changes throughput and there are many places and parks to stop and take a break, eat snack or use the bathroom
This is a nice trail with great parking and access. But, it’s very busy on weekends, and it’s frequented by many hard-core / fast bikers. So, it wasn’t great for our family with two young bikers and a dog, as we were constantly stressed about ensuring that our kids and dog stayed out of the hard-core bikers’ way, etc.
This wide and well-maintained trail is an absolute joy to ride. There are bathrooms at regular intervals in the scenery is the world and very pretty. There is no elevation change and a 15 mph maximum speed. On weekends it can get crowded with walkers, bicyclists and jogger strollers. If you were so inclined Redhook brewery is a long
nice and paved and 11 miles long.
Heavily used on weekends with any number of types of people and transport (walk, bike, roller-blade, even roller-skiing). Lots of dogs and kids. But during the week it is people going to work! And flat, flat, flat! Scenery is vast, hardly any trees and along sammamish slough, which is about ten feet down, but adds to the charm. Watch for high winds!
I've been skating this trail every week since my first review. It's actually pretty good trail for rollerblading. Pavement is most of the part in good shape, it's long enough, wide enough and never too busy. There's also great parking area at Marymoor park.
Skated this trail today from Marymoor to Bothell and back to Marymoor. Overall pretty okay experience. Close to Marymoor surface kind of rough, but manageable. When returning from Bothell (after 8 pm) there was a lot of all kinds flying bugs going into my eyes...river is a bit smelly; is it always smelling? I never skated this trail before.
I love this trail for biking and the fact that it seamlessly becomes the Burke-Gilman trail to extend your ride into Seattle. The trail is flat but can be crowded on nice days and during peak hours. Riding early morning you will often have the trail almost to yourself without worrying about dodging kids, animals, or adults who insist on walking four across. But all this should be expected on such a popular trail.
There is one part of the trail that bothers the heck out of me and that is between Marymoor Park and Wilmot Gateway Park in Woodinville. And that's because of the stink of the Sammamish River. It's just not pleasant. This isn't a problem along the rest of the trail I don't know if the cause is natural, due to the wineries and Red Hook Brewery along the way, or some other human endeavor. But riding hard and sucking in stinking oxygen is not necessarily the way I want to spend my exercise time. I first rode this part of the trail about ten years ago and then avoided it because of the smell. I rode it again in September 2014 and my odorous friend was still lingering. This part of the trail is still very popular so maybe I just have a low tolerance for these kinds of things. If you have low tolerance as well then you may want to start at Wilmot Gateway Park and head westerly on the trail.
I love the way this trail meanders along the east Sammamish river bank and wraps around nature and residential establishments along the river...Great photography, especially at sunset! I rode my Greenspeed trike and even though the road is gravel, it is quite densely packed so it was no issue putting in the miles even under the cover of darkness. I rode in mid January, so temps drop down into the upper 20's...Carry extra layers of clothing if you bike the darkness! I saw a gray wolf scavenging through the grassy area when I returned back to Marymoor Park. Awesome sight, I will return! Highly recommended and it seems a well kept secret! Only a few people spotted on the trail today...
We rode this trail out and back from Maryville Park on a Friday. It is now all asphalt, no dirt. Lots of comfortable stops, drinking fountains and restrooms. Surprisingly almost all flat and beautiful green along a sparkling river.
Gar and Elizabeth Salzgeber
"This is one of my favorite trails in the Seattle area. My wife & I have ridden numerous times between Tracey Owen Park & Redmond, a distance of about 12 miles, I think. The trail is 99% flat & there are usually many people jogging, skating or walking along the trail, especially when it's sunny outside. On occasion I see a cyclist speeding way too fast & it can get crowded in the summertime. The previous post mentioned looking out for ducks on the trail. I've come close to hitting geese & on my last ride, a chicken was crossing the road (this is not a cheap attempt at a bad joke). This trail is definitely worth taking the family on. There's a nice play area near the Woodinville restroom facilities.
I use the Sammamish to get to the Tolt Pipeline Trail, a great ride for mountain bikes only. There is a sign barely visible from the Sammamish River Trail telling you that you are approaching the Tolt. I found it accidentally one day & unfortunately do not recall where the turnoff is located.
Incidentally, the Sammamish River trail is an extension of the Burke-Gilman Trail."
"It's so nice to be able to see some cranes and ducks, which appear to be following you as you travel on this very nice trail. With numerous spots where one can sit on benches along the way, I definitely recommend this for a family of four. Watch out for the various (unannounced) duck crossings -- I've almost run into a couple."
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