Cheasty Mountain Bike/Pedestrian Trail Pilot Project

Updated: September 18, 2025

Fall 2025

The North Loop Trail has reached physical completion! All trails are constructed and open for riding. If you want to help maintain the trails long-term, please consider volunteering with the maintenance parties at the South Loop and North Loop: www.evergreenmtb.org/calendar/work-parties. 

Please join us for the grand opening event on Saturday, October 25, from 12—2 PM. Watch this page for more details on the celebration!

The project was divided into two phases: Phase One, the South Loop, was completed in fall 2023, and Phase Two, the North Loop, was completed in summer 2025. SPR will monitor trail usage and impacts throughout the three-year pilot program.

Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR), Friends of Cheasty Greenspace at Mountain View, Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, and the Seattle Parks Foundation (SPF) thank the community for their input throughout this project.

Volunteers Encouraged

For more information on volunteer opportunities, contact Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance: www.evergreenmtb.org/calendar/work-parties. 

Volunteer opportunities to help with the ongoing forest restoration activities are also available through the Green Seattle Partnership. 

Location

Cheasty Natural Area, Cheasty Blvd S & S Della St, 98144

Budget

The project budget is $571,000.

The Cheasty Mountain Bike and Pedestrian Trail Pilot project is a public-private partnership funded by State and local grants, the Seattle Park District Fund, Department of Neighborhoods Grant, and the Seattle Parks Foundation. The project provides recreational opportunities for families and neighbors to access nature through our urban park green spaces. Please visit Donate to Cheasty Trails and Bike Park to contribute through the Seattle Parks Foundation.

Schedule

Construction Phase 1: May 2021 - Late Spring 2023
Construction Phase 2: Spring 2024 - Late Spring 2025

Project Overview

The idea of a bike trail was first suggested by community members almost a decade ago. What started as a desire to provide more recreational opportunities as well as deeper connections with community and nature became what we now refer to as the Cheasty Mountain Bike and Pedestrian Trail Pilot Project. 

The proposal is a bicycle and pedestrian loop trail system. There would be limited grading and no significant trees are proposed for removal. There are identified Environmental Critical Areas (ECAs) located within the site. It is also worth noting that the proposed trail alignment has been reconfigured from the 2015 proposal: the new alignment further avoids the wetland complex and steep slopes. This is not a permanent use, but rather a pilot project. It is not being rolled out within all of our greenspaces: this particular proposal is only occurring within Cheasty. This three-year pilot will commence once the mountain bike trails are open. During that time, SPR will conduct an evaluation, which includes monitoring the trails and assessing impacts to wetlands, erosion control, habitat disturbance, and parking impacts. After the conclusion of the pilot period, SPR will decide if we will continue to allow mountain bikes on the trails within Cheasty Greenspace.

Background

This community-initiated project created Seattle’s first forested mountain biking trails. Led by the Friends of Cheasty Greenspace at Mountain View and built under the guidance of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the trails offer new opportunities for families and neighbors to access nature through our urban park greenspaces. 

Almost a decade ago, the Friends of Cheasty Greenspace at Mountain View, along with other stakeholders, had an idea. They wanted to build community and provide more access and opportunities to an underused green space. Through many conversations, community grants and hundreds of volunteer hours, that idea gained traction when Seattle Parks and Recreation began examining the feasibility. The result was the proposed bicycle and pedestrian trail pilot project within Cheasty Greenspace, which is located in southeast Seattle at Cheasty Blvd. S and S. Della St.

This project included bicycle and pedestrian trails within Cheasty, which provide additional opportunities for families and neighbors to access nature through our urban park greenspaces. The proposal was quite intentional and was designed to minimize environmental impacts by utilizing best management practices for protecting wetlands and enhancing the stability of the steep slopes. 

In 2015, SPR studied the potential environmental impacts of the Cheasty Mountain Bike/Pedestrian Trail Pilot Project and found there were no significant environmental impacts and issued a Determination of Non-Significance (DNS). That decision was appealed to the City of Seattle's Hearing Examiner. On Jan. 26, 2016, the Hearing Examiner found that there was insufficient information for SPR to issue a DNS at this time and that more information and study are needed about wetland impacts, including drainage/hydrologic impacts as they relate to wetlands, impacts to trees, including through compaction and altered hydrology and any associated impacts to wildlife habitat.

In 2017, the City's Survey Crews completed the surveying groundwork and mapping of the proposed trail alignment. Environmental consultants completed the seasonal wetland evaluation and re-evaluated the trail alignment, including the trail's buffer areas, with special emphasis on issues that were raised by the Hearing Examiner related to environmental impacts. The result of this work is an updated proposal that has been reconfigured from the 2015 version: the modified trail alignment further avoids the wetland complex and steep slopes. SPR has evaluated the impacts of the proposal as it relates to these limited areas of the environment and feels confident that the project can move forward. A Determination of Non-Significance was issued on October 15, 2018. The appeal period ran through November 5 and the public comment period was open through November 13, 2018.

Community Participation

Process

The beginnings of the Cheasty Mountain Bike and Pedestrian Trail go back to at least 2013. SPR has worked closely with both internal and external stakeholders. Some highlights of the conversation include:

  • The issue of Bicycle Use policy and/or the Cheasty Mountain Bike/Pedestrian Trail was before the Board of Park Commissioners at least four times, between 2013 and 2015. 
  • The Seattle Board of Park Commissioners held a public hearing on the Cheasty Mountain Bike/Pedestrian Trail Pilot Project on April 9, 2015.
  • SPR convened a Project Advisory Team (PAT) for the Cheasty Mountain Bike/Pedestrian Trail Pilot Project, which included a five-month public process.
  • Robust community outreach, two site tours and input from a Landscape Architect, Geotechnical Engineer and Environmental Consultant.
  • Hundreds of public comments and input throughout the process helped shape and ultimately improve the proposed project.

Documents

Year 3 Monitoring Reports

Monitoring Period Reports

Year 1 Monitoring Reports

Year 2 Monitoring Reports

May 2023

North Loop SEPA DNS

April 2023

North Loop SEPA Checklist and Attachments 

2022

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

Zipped Files

Parks and Recreation

AP Diaz, Superintendent
Mailing Address: 100 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA, 98109
Phone: (206) 684-4075
Fax: (206) 615-1813
pks_info@seattle.gov

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