Our Parks & Trails Foundation Board Member Andy Maron delivered remarks at the Oct. 1 dedication ceremony of the Lost Valley Trail. Andy served on the City of Bainbridge Island Open Space Commission in 2004, when properties and trail easements were acquired to help make the Lost Valley Trail possible. We’re pleased to share Andy’s remarks here, putting the Lost Valley Trail in its historical context: 

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Today we open the Lost Valley Trail – the last connection in long-sought goal of walking from Winslow to Gazzam. We are here to celebrate this connection – and the greater trail.

What does this connection and greater trail do? – it creates a route for Bainbridge Islanders to walk an almost 7 mile long trail right here on the island. No need to go to the Olympics or Cascades. Walk here.

Of course, you don’t have to walk all that distance. There are many shorter trails within the longer network – as many of you know from walking or biking them over the years.

That’s what we now have. How did it get here? The answer spans 70 years. I’ll tell it to you, not to bore you with what happened in the old days. Rather, the story highlights the desire of the citizens over many decades to create such a trail, and also to tell how dogged, hard work, and money can get you there some day.

I am told that the City of Winslow – actually the Town of Winslow — bought this site along Cooper Creek in the 1950’s to drill wells. And those wells, 7, are still here – there – and are still used. Last year, they pumped 68 million gallons, which is 23 percent of the City’s water.

In the 1970s, the City bought additional land up the stream, presumably to protect the wells.

Meanwhile, community members began working to create a waterfront trail in Winslow. And then, in 1995, the community approved a $2.25m bond issue to buy Gazzam Lake as a public park. The concept soon surfaced to extend the incipient waterfront trail to Gazzam.

In 2001, the citizens again approved a bond issue, this time $8m, for purchase of open space. The City created an Open Space Commission to recommend which properties would be purchased. Some members of the OSC are here.

One Open Space Commission member, who lives nearby, recommended that the City buy properties in the Cooper Creek watershed. The purpose was to protect the watershed and possible create a trail system. The OSC walked it – i remember a rainy day in January 2004 – and found this amazing valley upstream from here. We quickly dubbed it “Lost Valley.”

We were enthralled, and quickly negotiated purchase of some pieces of land and easements that would allow both — protection of the valley and creation of a trail to Fletcher Bay Road. The city council approved the purchases.

But, at that time one property owner wouldn’t sell an easement, so there was no public trail connection.

Life went on.

The Parks & Trails Foundation gets it done

Enter the Parks & Trails Foundation 15 years later in the last 2010s. The Foundation decided to begin to work to create this as a public trail. The trail had been more or less unofficially created by unknown people over the ensuing years, as is often the case with social trails.

First, the Foundation purchased easements to get around the missing link. And then, the hold-out property owner decided to sell the property, and the Foundation purchased a public trail easement before the sale.

But, now we had to energize the City to begin working on the trail. The City was very interested, but it was involved with other priorities and processes, plus a pandemic occurred. The staffs of both the Foundation and City kept working on the trail – improvements needed to be made including a

boardwalk across a wet area. Money needed to be found, as well. The Foundation stepped up, and with the help of many donors, raised the funds to make the needed improvements.

The Park & Recreation District was very interested in this connection, as it has built and owns portions of the connecting trails west of here, and of course owns Gazzam Lake Park. The City has an agreement with the District that allows the District staff to construct trails and boardwalks for the City. That was done in this case, and so the Park District staff actually built the boardwalk you will see today.

In the end, this connection, and the entire trail system from Winslow to Gazzam, was a product of community cooperation between two governments, the City and Park District, a non-profit, the Parks & Trails Foundation, many property owners, and many, many individual donors. Congratulations to the community of Bainbridge Island.

Andy Maron
Board member
Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation