Parks Archives | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Parks office returns to Strawberry Hill, thanks to Foundation, park expansion

Parks office returns to Strawberry Hill, thanks to Foundation, park expansion

The Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District has officially relocated its administrative offices to a newly repurposed building on the east side of Strawberry Hill Park. This move marks a significant milestone in the Park District’s ongoing efforts to improve facilities for staff and better serve the community.

The new office at 7686 NE High School Road is part of a larger expansion of Strawberry Hill Park, which received a $1.1 million grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation in April 2024. This grant funded the acquisition of a 9-acre parcel formerly owned by Comcast, located along High School Road. The lightly wooded property expands the park’s footprint, bringing its total size to 38 acres.

The newly repurposed office building was originally Northland Cable and later the Bainbridge Island Broadcasting station. The structure was initially deemed unsuitable for renovation. After acquiring the property, […]

Parks office returns to Strawberry Hill, thanks to Foundation, park expansionDouglas2025-01-16T11:06:20-08:00

Join us for the MLK Day of Service, Jan. 20

Join us for the MLK Day of Service, Jan. 20

Join Bainbridge Island Metro Parks, the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation and supporting partners for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 at Blakely Harbor Park.

Conservation projects for all ages are planned: planting native wildflowers, mulching young plants, and removing invasive species like ivy, spurge laurel, and blackberry. Park District and Parks & Trails Foundation staff and volunteers will be on hand to share knowledge about the park and its restoration. All tools are provided.

Sign up to volunteer as an individual, family, team or club. […]

Join us for the MLK Day of Service, Jan. 20Douglas2025-01-08T10:04:30-08:00

A warm December welcome for 8 Acre Woods

A warm December welcome for 8 Acre Woods

Befitting a park with trailheads on three sides, everyone seemed to come to 8 Acre Woods from a different direction, metaphorically speaking.

Andrew Schmid grew up on nearby Manitou Park Boulevard and knew the Skiff Point parcel as all woods and no trails, too dense and impenetrable even for rowdy kids on BMX bikes.

Those more recently familiar with the land knew it precisely for trails, built with intention over the years by the property owner who invited all to walk and share the land.

Then there’s Jim Kondek. He’s lived on neighboring Falk Road for almost 40 years and reckons he’s walked every mile of Bainbridge Island trails, but had somehow never crossed the green threshold into what would become known as 8 Acre Woods.

“I knew it was here and was a good-sized parcel, but I had no idea there […]

A warm December welcome for 8 Acre WoodsDouglas2025-01-13T13:34:21-08:00

Gift of fir, pine highlight Moritani restoration

Gift of fir, pine highlight Moritani restoration

Len Eisenhood has enjoyed Moritani Preserve since its opening, often walking the park’s winding paths with friends to slow down and chat and enjoy the wildlife. A landscape painter, the resident of nearby Grow Community has also captured the preserve’s quiet scenes and settings as part of an art-centric healing journey.

“In walks, I’ve seen pileated woodpeckers,” he recalls with a painter’s eye, “that red shock among all the green, you can’t miss it.”

Eisenhood used proceeds from the sale of his artworks to fund the gift of two new trees, a Grand fir and a Shore Pine, to the Preserve. Gifted through the Parks & Trails Foundation, the trees were installed this week during a year-end restoration event with Bainbridge Metro Parks staff and volunteers.

The trees commemorate the lives of a neighbor and a college friend whom Eisenhood recently […]

Gift of fir, pine highlight Moritani restorationDouglas2024-12-16T16:02:57-08:00

Welcoming two new Parks & Trails Foundation staff

Welcoming two new Parks & Trails Foundation staff

We’re pleased to welcome two new team members to the Parks & Trails Foundation, Heidi Urish, Community Programs and Event Manager, and Kevin Stroman, Administrative Assistant.

Heidi Urish

Heidi grew up in Central Illinois, surrounded by the wide-open spaces of a farming community. Her love for nature deepened as she moved to Colorado to study Natural Resources and Environmental Communication. There, she worked as an outdoor instructor, guiding multi-day backpacking trips and further cultivating her passion for the environment.

Heidi later moved to the Pacific Northwest with her future husband, Matt Martin, where she earned a master’s degree in education and a teaching certificate. Her studies focused on permaculture and integrative skills for sustainable change. She went on to teach at Pacific Crest Montessori, a middle school in Seattle with a farm on Vashon Island.

In 2012, Heidi and Matt relocated to Bainbridge Island to raise their three children in a place rich with […]

Welcoming two new Parks & Trails Foundation staffDouglas2024-12-17T13:36:02-08:00

8 Acre Woods dedication is Dec. 12

8 Acre Woods dedication is Dec. 12

Join the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation and Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District to dedicate the island’s newest park, 8 Acre Woods, at 2 p.m. Dec. 12.

Nestled in the woods near Skiff Point, this beautiful property has been donated to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District by a conservation-minded donor for use as a walking-trails-only park.

The owner has allowed neighbors to enjoy the property for years, and this generous gift will make it a park in perpetuity.

8 Acre Woods is located at the corner of Manitou Beach Drive and Mountain View Road at Skiff Point.

8 Acre Woods dedication is Dec. 12Douglas2024-11-27T14:17:18-08:00

Take the Summer Walk Challenge!

Take the Summer Walk Challenge!

DOWNLOAD YOUR CONTEST CARD COMPLETE THE PUZZLE WITH THE QR CODE OR WITH THIS LINK

Take the Summer Walk Challenge!Douglas2024-07-09T13:26:44-07:00

Parks & Trails Foundation funds 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park with $1.1M gift

Parks & Trails Foundation funds 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park with $1.1M gift

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A $1.1 million grant from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation has funded a 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park.

The grant funds acquisition of the former Comcast property on High School Road by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District.

The lightly wooded property is adjacent to Strawberry Hill Park along its east boundary, making it a natural acquisition to expand the park. A concept planning process for the newly expanded park is now underway.

The Comcast property expands Strawberry Hill Park to 38 acres, following the acquisition of another adjacent 10-acre parcel, the former Hayashida property northwest of the park, in 2022. That property was acquired for the planned Strawberry Hill Bike Park and an expanded dog park.

Strawberry Hill Park has now more than doubled in size, from […]

Parks & Trails Foundation funds 9-acre addition to Strawberry Hill Park with $1.1M giftDouglas2024-06-25T11:59:12-07:00