Building Trails For The Future
Our mission is to unite North Kitsap County with a regional system of land and water trails connecting communities, parks & open space, that promotes stewardship of natural resources and enhances our communities’ livability.
Rails to Trails Conservancy Invites You to Celebrate Outside:
Be a Part of History
Hosted annually on the fourth Saturday of April, Celebrate Trails Day is an annual spring celebration of America’s trails. Started by Rails to Trails Conservancy in 2013, the celebration encourages people across the country to get outside and enjoy the nation’s exceptional trails and trail systems. Use their interactive map to find schedule of events across the country.
Kitsap Great Give - April 16, 2024... Thank You!
Why Choose Trails
NKTA’s mission is to unite North Kitsap County with regional land and water trails, promote stewardship of our natural resources and enhance our communities’ livability.
The North Kitsap Trails Association (NKTA) is entirely volunteer and donation-powered.
Look what your donations have funded:
In 2023 NKTA, as a partner in the Puget Sound to Pacific (PS2P) collaborative, co-funded a successful Federal Transportation “RAISE” grant application that awarded our region $16.3 Million Dollars! This project brought together 13 entities; local governments, tribes and WSDOT to work together across Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam Counties, and will fund ten years of planning and design. The goal is to to connect 100 miles of trail gaps, and improve community connections and safety from the Kingston and Bainbridge Island ferries all the way to the WA coast. This BIG Vision is for the PS2P Trail to connect the Sound to Olympics and Olympic Discovery Trails, and complete the westernmost segment of the Great American Rail Trail from WA DC to the Washington State coast.
Locally NKTA helps build and maintain trails enjoyed by growing numbers of trail users by sponsoring work parties and providing materials, tools and equipment for volunteers. Recently we funded projects in Kingston and the Port Gamble Heritage Park and partnered with Kitsap County, REI and Rotary.
NKTA continues to work toward improving non-motorized "active" transportation & recreation options through multiple trail access points and safe, reasonably direct routes between North Kitsap communities, parks, schools, open space, local ferries and popular destinations.
NKTA also:
-
Joined with Forterra, Kitsap County and local donors by helping organize, publicize, and fund the purchase of timber rights on 756 acres of trees in Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park, saving them from being clear-cut. A six-hundred-foot-wide corridor of mature trees were conserved along a mile of Sound to Olympics Trail, part of a set of carefully selected tree stands. Protecting these trees will speed the transition from industrial forest to a more diverse and resilient forest ecosystem with wildlife habitat where people can enjoy being in nature.
-
Recently pledged $3,000 to purchase a diverse mix of native plants to start a pilot restoration project that will begin to diversify the Port Gamble Forest Park. Both the tree purchase and restoration planting of appropriate native trees and understory flora, will help speed the transition of the park into a more natural, resilient, bio-diverse and beautiful forest ecosystem for the enjoyment of people and the health of forest wildlife.
NKTA’s mailing list now includes over 1,000 supporters! NKTA is entirely volunteer-powered. We have upgraded our website and are building e-lists for trail work opportunities, event support, newsletters and breaking news! Add your name to our mailing list or learn more at the NKTA website. We’re on Facebook and Instagram, too!
With your ongoing support, NKTA can continue its work to preserve open space, create forest and habitat diversity, and plan, build and maintain trails for future generations.
Thanks again for giving a donation to North Kitsap Trails Association during the 2024 Kitsap County Great Give. If you missed the deadline, you can still donate directly to NKTA today with our Donate button !
Urgent action needed to ensure non-motorized trail across Kitsap
NSTO Needs Your Help
Just imagine a safe non-motorized trail as a linear park across Kitsap County planted with native vegetation that attracts wildlife connecting our communities to our parks, schools & open spaces which also serves as a wildlife corridor.
We urgently need your participation in advocating for such a vision… the incredible North Sound to Olympics Trail. Kitsap County has just completed their preferred routing feasibility study, a carefully designed shared use path from the Kingston Ferry Terminal to the Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park. NKTA supports this trail and the county’s effort to study the most feasible route with community input and in-depth analysis. The route can be viewed HERE.
Over the past decade pedestrian & bicycle fatalities have increased dramatically. Please send individual letters to our Kitsap County Commissioners & staff (listed below). This is critical to assure that this plan gets approved so it will be eligible to compete for funding. Even if this plan is approved by the County Commissioners, there is no guarantee it will be prioritized for funding, or that grant funds will be applied for. Many projects in both the annual Six-Year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and the County’s Non-motorized Plan are never funded or built.
Your input will make the difference.
Send your comments directly to the following elected officials and staff:
1. Katie Walters. KWalters@kitsap.gov
2. Christine Rolfes, CRolfes@kitsap.gov
3. Charlotte Garrido, CGarrido@kitsap.gov
4. David Forte, DForte@kitsap.gov
---------SAMPLE LETTER BELOW---------------
Commissioners Garrido, Walters, and Rolfes,
As a resident of Kitsap County, I want to show my support for the “preferred alternative” of the North Sound to Olympics paved trail from the Kingston Ferry Terminal to Port Gamble Heritage Park. Just imagine a safe non-motorized trail as a linear park across Kitsap County that connects our communities to our parks, schools & open spaces that is also planted with native vegetation that attracts wildlife. What an incredible investment for our community!
As you know, Kitsap County is not currently a safe place to walk, bike or roll for most of us and over the past decade pedestrian & bicycle fatalities have increased dramatically across Washington state. This paved, shared use path will enable all people of all ages and abilities a much safer location to enjoy the great outdoors, whether we are 3 or 83. Thank you for leading the way for a safer and healthier community.
A visionary plan is a great start and I encourage you to prioritize funding of this wonderful community asset in the County’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) process. The county’s non-motorized plans have been terrific dreams. Let’s make this particular dream come true.
“Your Name, Your Community”, Washington
Seattle's pedestrian walkways to be reused on the Puget Sound to Pacific (PS2P) Trail
New Home For Pedestrian Bridges
An elevated walkway being removed from the Colman Dock ferry terminal will be re-use on the Puget Sound to Pacific trail corridor – a collaboration of the Sound to Olympics Trail and the Olympic Discovery Trail in Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam counties. This non-motorized route from the Bainbridge Island WSF ferry terminal to La Push is the westernmost leg of the Rails to Trails Conservancy’s Great American Rail Trail, from Washington DC to the Washington Coast.
Imagine a trail that reaches from the Puget Sound to the Pacific Coast
Puget Sound to Pacific
Imagine a trail that reaches from Puget Sound to the Pacific Coast, linking the small towns, rural communities and views of our spectacular mountains and waterways with a safe multi-use trail. One hundred miles are complete after 35 years of hard work by advocates and local agencies that know the value of giving people a place to get outside. That leaves only one hundred miles to build to fill the gaps and complete the connections for all our communities.
RAISE Grant Recipients Announced
$16.13 Million Grant Awarded for PS2P
U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06) announced that the City of Port Angeles has been awarded a $16.13 million RAISE Discretionary Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. This grant will be used to plan and design approximately 34 active transportation components, addressing approximately 100 miles of gaps, community connections, and safety improvements for multi-use trails connecting Bainbridge Island, Kingston and Port Townsend ferry terminals on Puget Sound to the Pacific Coast.
Board is looking for awesome new members with soil in their blood
NKTA Seeking New Board Members
NKTA fulfills several functions in carrying out it’s mission to improve non-motorized, multi-modal transportation in a more sustainable Kitsap County. Our most visible role is to plan and organize trail improvement projects in existing parks and open space.
However, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Our most important functions entail advocating for regional non-motorized transportation routes like the Sound to Olympics Trail and the Great American Rail Trail.
NKTA partners with like-minded non-profit organizations like the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation, the Peninsula Trails Coalition, Leafline Trails Coalition and the Heritage Park steward groups. We also monitoring local government agencies to ensure that they include non-motorized transportation in their long-range plans.
NKTA’s "working" board members are local like-minded community trail advocates. If you have an interest in promoting trails in our community, please send us an email at northkitsaptrails@gmail.com or talk to a board member. The main requirements are a love of trails and a willingness to help expand and maintain them throughout North Kitsap.
