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Whitehorse Trail
Please note: trail is designed for hiking, biking, and equestrian use only, no motorized vehicles.
Restoration work on the trail will begin on April 29, 2019 and is projected to be completed in October. The trail will be under construction from Trafton at 115th Ave NE to Swede Heaven Road between April 2019 and October 2019. Parks asks that visitors only use the open portion of the trail in Darrington.
The trail is currently impassible just east of Arlington due to a landslide and will be closed indefinitely until engineers can assess earth movement that is occurring above and below the trail.
Please visit the Project Page for details.
The Whitehorse Trail is a 27 mile-long corridor (totaling 458 acres), between the cities of Arlington and Darrington. Frequently paralleling SR-530 and the North Fork Stillaguamish River, the trail route winds through a series of farm, forest and river environments, and contains several fishing access points and river bridge crossings. The only open section of the trail runs from Darrington going west to the Fortson Mill Trailhead, which is approximately seven (7) miles.
The remainder of Whitehorse trail remains closed until resurfacing work is completed. A 3 mile section between the Centennial Trail in Arlington and the Tin Bridge in Trafton will remain closed until funding is secured for engineering, permitting and repair of the trail where it has been damaged from a large landslide and a trail bed washout.
Parks maintenance crews periodically maintain the trail right-of-way so that it is not overgrown by vegetation. The entire abandoned rail corridor and the open-for-public-use section was brushed out last year as part of this regular on-going maintenance. Since this is a closed section of property, it is not patrolled as often as the six-mile trail section that is open (Darrington to Swede Heaven Rd.). The surface is the original railroad ballasts with future plans for gravel. Nineteen miles of trail will be resurfaced and opened by October of 2019.
Construction Updates
Restoration work on the trail will begin on April 29, 2019 and is projected to be completed in October. The trail will be under construction from Trafton at 115th Ave NE to Swede Heaven Road between April 2019 and October 2019. Parks asks that visitors only use the open portion of the trail in Darrington.
The trail is currently impassible just east of Arlington due to a landslide and will be closed indefinitely until engineers can assess earth movement that is occurring above and below the trail.
Please visit the Project Page for details.
Description
The Whitehorse Trail is a 27 mile-long corridor (totaling 458 acres), between the cities of Arlington and Darrington. Frequently paralleling SR-530 and the North Fork Stillaguamish River, the trail route winds through a series of farm, forest and river environments, and contains several fishing access points and river bridge crossings. The only open section of the trail runs from Darrington going west to the Fortson Mill Trailhead, which is approximately seven (7) miles.
Trail Conditions
The remainder of Whitehorse trail remains closed until resurfacing work is completed. A 3 mile section between the Centennial Trail in Arlington and the Tin Bridge in Trafton will remain closed until funding is secured for engineering, permitting and repair of the trail where it has been damaged from a large landslide and a trail bed washout.
Parks maintenance crews periodically maintain the trail right-of-way so that it is not overgrown by vegetation. The entire abandoned rail corridor and the open-for-public-use section was brushed out last year as part of this regular on-going maintenance. Since this is a closed section of property, it is not patrolled as often as the six-mile trail section that is open (Darrington to Swede Heaven Rd.). The surface is the original railroad ballasts with future plans for gravel. Nineteen miles of trail will be resurfaced and opened by October of 2019.