Printed courtesy of North Kitsap Trails Association:

On Sept. 5, 2025, NKTA participated in a “Policy Ride on the Sound to Olympics (STO)” route that was facilitated by the City of Poulsbo & West Sound Cycling Club, along with the help of Cascade Bicycle Club, the Leafline Trails Coalition, Kitsap County, Wa. Dept. of Transportation, Bainbridge Island Metro Parks & Recreation District, BI Parks & Trails Foundation, Night Owl Cycling, Squeaky Wheels Bike Club, the Suquamish Tribe, Kitsap Transit and local bicycle-pedestrian safety & accessibility advocates. NKTA provided the food and beverages for all the participants, along with a few board members riding in the 13-mile event. This STO bike ride was to raise public awareness and urge our elected local officials to make progress on the remaining sections of the STO trail design and future construction.

As you may already know, NKTA is a partner in the Puget Sound to Pacific (PS2P) Collaborative, and we helped fund and facilitate a US Dept. of Transportation R.A.I.S.E. (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) Grant application. This active-transportation grant will fund the PS2P route planning and design to connect the 100-miles of gaps in the existing route, along with creating new community trail connections and improving safety on some of the existing STO & Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) routes from the Bainbridge Island to LaPush, WA on the Pacific coast. This grant funding awarded over a dozen jurisdictional agencies $16.12 million to do just that… to linkup the STO with the ODT to the west and the Mountains to Sound Greenway to the east, forming the final western segment of the coast-to-coast Great American Rail Trail (a project of the national Rails to Trails Conservancy).

As quoted from Leafline’s event article: “Imagine being able to get on a ferry in downtown Seattle with your bike, enjoy a beautiful ferry trip across Puget Sound, disembark on Bainbridge Island or in Kingston, and then connect with the Olympic Discovery Trail to ride to Port Townsend or all the way to the Pacific coast on a multi-use trail,” says Vicky Clarke, deputy director for Cascade and Washington Bikes. “That’s the future we envision–and we know it’s possible with trail investment.”

“The Sound to Olympics Trail is important as it provides a route for safe non-motorized transportation, enhances connectivity, increases the quality of life for all community members,” said Bainbridge Mayor Ashley Mathews

Poulsbo’s Mayor Rebecca Erickson welcomed the riders at the start, stressing the importance of this collaborative work on the trail. “This trail is essential to connecting our communities and providing a safe separated route from vehicles,” said Mayor Erickson. “The planning work being done today for the STO Trail will benefit generations to come, linking our communities and furthering sustainable transportation. Thank you to our elected officials for taking time to learn about this vital route.”

The sunny skies and fair weather enticed a wide variety of elected officials from the City of Poulsbo, Kitsap County, City of Bainbridge Island, and Bainbridge Island Metro Parks & Recreation District to join 40+ cyclists on a first-time policy ride to learn first-hand about the forthcoming STO Trail. The ride was tailored specifically for elected officials, organizational representatives, and key stakeholders to ride, learn, and connect with one another while cycling a 13-mile section of the STO trail from Poulsbo to Bainbridge Island.