Vancouver, Wash. – For the first time, Clark County Parks will put seasonal trail restrictions in place at Whipple Creek Regional Park to preserve the park’s natural surface trails.

Beginning Nov. 1, dirt trails will be open only to foot traffic at the 300-acre park off Northwest 179th Street. Equestrians and mountain bikers can continue to use gravel trails year-round.

The park’s trails have been plagued by persistent, heavy mud because of poor drainage, clay soils and steep slopes. To improve trail conditions, volunteers have donated 7,600 hours over the past six years to build reroutes, improve drainage and spread gravel across the park’s main trails, making them accessible year-round. Volunteers also realigned and restored a series of natural surface, or primitive, trails.

“A lot of time, effort and money have gone into these trails,” said Karen Llewellyn, volunteer program coordinator for Clark County Public Works. “Volunteers worked hard to create a trail system that offers varied experiences to users. Some people prefer gravel trails, some enjoy natural trails.

“But the fact is, primitive trails get muddy in the rainy season,” Llewellyn said. “To preserve them and the hard work that goes into them, primitive trails will be open only to foot traffic in the rainy season.”

Clark County Parks will post signs at main entrances to Whipple Creek Regional Park explaining the seasonal closures and displaying a map of the park’s gravel and primitive trails. Signs also will be posted at each primitive trail entrance reminding users that the trail is open only to foot traffic during wet weather.

A map showing the park’s gravel and primitive trails has been posted on the county’s website, www.clark.wa.gov/parks. Parks also has reached out to equestrian groups and other stakeholders about the upcoming seasonal restrictions.

The county does not yet have a date when natural-surface trails will reopen to all users; that decision will depend on weather and trail conditions. After the rainy season, the condition of the primitive trails will be evaluated to see if the seasonal closure was effective.

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CONTACT
Bill Bjerke
Parks manager
Public Works
360.397.2285 ext. 1656
bill.bjerke@clark.wa.gov