Blakely Hill Trails Archives | Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation

Marking National Trails Day on Halls Hill

Elias Gordon and family were among the many islanders who turned out Saturday to celebrate #nationaltrailsday with a walk on the new Blakely Hill Trails north of Blakely Harbor.

The mile and a half of public trail easements were donated last summer through the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation. The trails are seeing ongoing work by Bainbridge Metro Parks, with graveling, a footbridge and other enhancements for safe, year-round use. Find the trailheads at points along Old Mill Road (east of the cemetery road) and Blakely Hill Road, with a great new path meeting the Cemetery Trail halfway up from Blakely Harbor.

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Blakely Hills Trails dedicated for public use

It’s not every day that a mile and a half of already-built trails fall into the public domain.

Alice and Dave Shorett have hiked local trails for years and years, wrote the book on them actually, and they can’t recall an instance.

“I don’t know that there’s ever been a more significant gift,” says Dave Shorett, co-author with his wife of the definitive “Thirty Walks on Bainbridge.”

“It’s unusual for someone who’s buying property to think of trails first,” adds Alice. “It’s pretty phenomenal.”

And yet: The 1.5-mile Blakely Hill Trails have been donated to the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation for public use by islanders Ty Cramer and Steve Romein, on approximately 55 acres they recently purchased east of the historic Port Blakely Cemetery.

The trail easements have in turn been transferred to the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District for management as part of the island’s public trail system.

The name is new, but […]