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East Lake Sammamish Trail
About the trail
The East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) is an 11-mile, fully paved waterfront trail that offers a scenic connection between Redmond, Sammamish, and Issaquah. It forms a key link in the 44-mile paved Locks to Lake Corridor, which stretches all the way from Seattle’s Ballard waterfront to Eastside communities and the Cascade foothills.
Along its southern end in Issaquah, the ELST connects directly to King County’s Issaquah–Preston Trail. At the north end, the trail meets the Marymoor Connector Trail in Marymoor Park and continues north on the Redmond Central Connector Trail to Redmond Town Center, providing seamless access to the Sammamish River Trail and to Sound Transit’s Link light rail stations in Redmond.
King County Parks purchased the 11-mile East Lake Sammamish corridor in 1997, opening a narrower, gravel-surfaced interim trail in 2006. Fully developed trail segments were completed in Redmond in 2011, in Issaquah two years later, and Sammamish in 2015, 2018, and 2023.
ELST closure beginning June 1 2026
A section of the East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) will be closed starting June 1, 2026 and last through the rest of the year so crews can replace aging culverts under the ELST.
Although the construction area is short, its location will temporarily split the trail into two separate sections. There will be no detour around the construction closure. The 600 ft trail closure area is located between Louis Thompson Rd NE and NE Inglewood Hill Rd.
Once the culverts under the trail have been completed a new wide paved trail section will be built.
Once complete, this will open high‑quality salmon habitat on George Davis Creek and finish the last section of the ELST.
Thank you for your patience as we work to help recover local Kokanee salmon populations.
Learn more about the City of Sammamish’s partnering culvert project including Cone Zone, where subscribers can get weekly updates on road work in Sammamish.
Trail history
The trail a half-century in the making
The East Lake Sammamish rail corridor (ELSRC) was built in 1889 as part of a rail line running from Seattle to the coal mines in what is now Issaquah. Over time, the corridor changed owners several times, with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) as the final rail operator.
In 1997, BNSF chose to stop using the line and sold the corridor to the Cascade Land Conservancy and King County. King County had already identified this section as an important future part of the Regional Trails System. In 1998, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the County’s request to “railbank” the corridor, which protects it for possible future development while allowing it to be used as a trail. That same year, the Cascade Land Conservancy transferred its interest in the corridor to King County.
In 2000, the King County Council approved funding to build a soft surface trail along the corridor. King County Parks worked with communities across the region to develop the East Lake Sammamish Trail Master Plan. After resolving legal challenges, the interim trail opened in 2006. Fully developed trail segments were completed in Redmond (2011), Issaquah (2013), and Sammamish (2015, and 2018, and 2023).