Trail:Henrys Ridge
From Evergreen Trail Guide
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| Name | Henrys Ridge |
| Tech Rating | 
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| Grunt Rating |
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| Singletrack | 90% |
| Fire road | 10% |
| Paved | 0% |
| Total trail | 14+ mi. |
| Alt. change | 250 |
| Latitude: | 47.356734216126 |
| Longitude: | -121.998195648193 |
| Nearest medical: | Not set yet |
| Page adopted by: | Ralph Loewen |
| Get Directions | |
Trail Overview
Overview: Trail system being developed in cooperation with King County Parks. Similiar to Lake Sawyer system with somewhat more climbing/descending. Good drainage soils and tree cover. Currently about eight plus miles of trails plus new trails being built by Black Diamond Trail Coalition in conjunction with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance.
- Site Name: Official KC name is “Maple Ridge Highlands Open Space”. Some call it Maplewood’s. The neighbors call it “Henry’s Ridge”.
- Site management: This is a 4 to 1 set aside area. This means a developer had to put 4 acres into KC owned open space for ever 1 acre that was developed. The property is owned by KC Natural Resources and managed by KC Parks and Recreation.
- Size: This is actualy an unknown at this time. We have heard various acreage, 260 acres and 305 acres and 377 acres.
- Constraints: As an open area, the improvements on this site can take up no more than 5% of the total area. This includes trails, parking, storage, etc. We should plan on using no more than 4% of the site for trails to allow for parking, access roads, etc. Existing access roads may push the available portion of the site down to 3%.
- Narrow (singletrack) trails are considered to have a 6’ wide impact. 1 acre = 43,560 sq. ft. 1 mile of singletrack with a 6’ impact area = 31,680 sq. ft. Using 260 acres at 4% usage, as an example, we could build 14.3 miles of trail.
The project has broad community and King County staff support. King County staff has expressed praise of the trail construction done to this point.
How to find it
There are a few options for trail entry to Henrys Ridge:
- Ride from Lake Sawyer trails
- Use the : Gracie Hansen Community Center parking area
- Park at the Hacienda Del Mar (Mexican Restaurant) on HWY-169 and ride SE 276th (Maple Ridge) into the neighborhood. There are trail entry points near the water tower half way up the hill. Look for the blue "King County Natural Area Boundary" signs.
GPS Coordinates of some trail entry points in the neighborhood
- By middle water tower, behind basketball courts: 47.352309, -122.005360
- Below middle water tower, by storm water holding ponds: 47.350883, -122.003169
- Across from playground in the neighborhood: 47.351565, -122.009068
- Up at the very top of the hill: 47.356934, -122.004290
- The behind-the-fence-shortcut-connector trail: Go in here :47.35458, -122.00032 and catch the connector trail here 47.354430, -121.998805
Typical Conditions
See above.
Current Conditions
This is where folks will report how the trails were on a recent day.
Rode the whole restored & named section around the housing neighborhood. Trails are in great shape and very fun to ride. See ride map here [1] Luke 13:43, 11 July 2011 (PDT)
11-11-09: Rode a couple of sections of the "restored & named" trails after several days of heavy rains and the conditions were great. No major muddy spots at all. Great Fall/Winter riding spot.
9-11-2011: Rode “Anaconda” and “Viper”. Good ride. Nice and cool in the trees despite the hot weather. Picked a few blackberries while I was in there too. Good times. Love the new sinage. The trail crew has been putting in some time up there for sure. More info here: [2]
1-07-2012: Rode all areas of BD, both sides of Rt. 169, Church trails, and Herny's Ridge. Some mud but as usually great drainage and soil conditions. For more, check out my full report, here [3]
Turn-By-Turn Guide
This is where you describe the trail and route in detail.
Local Points of Interest
Black Diamond Bakery - Restaurant & bakery.
4 Corners has: Safeway, Fred Myers
Best local Coffee: Ristrettos Coffee & Wine
Best local Mexican food: Hacienda Del Mar
Best Local BBQ: Rooters
Local Bike Shop: Bike Master and Boards
Misc. Information
Here you mention anything that doesn't fit in the other categories.
Advocacy Information
The area is open space set aside from a housing development. Designated for mountain biking and foot traffic.
Butch Lovelace and Duane Jay Evans from King County met with Jon Kennedy (BBTC) and Ralph Loewen out at Henry’s Ridge on January 15th, 2008 to do a site assessment/walkthrough and to discuss trail building that’s been going on out there for sometime. The BBTC worked with Ralph Loewen and King County to forge an agreement to do trail work on the land. Work parties are currently being led by Ralph Loewen in the area. Trail map is updated periodically as new trail is built.
