Reiter Non-motorized Trails Planning

Reiter Foothills Forest
Non‐Motorized Trails Planning

Location
Located 30 miles east of Everett, the 10,000 acre Reiter Foothills Forest sits directly between sub-alpine wilderness and the Skykomish River valley, surrounded by beautiful snowcapped mountain peaks.

High-elevation U.S. Forest Service land, including the Wild Sky Wilderness Area, makes up the eastern border of the planning area while a mix of public, private, commercial forest, and residential lands are located to the west. Nearby Reiter are population centers, which include the cities of Monroe, Sultan, Gold Bar, and Index. Wallace Falls State Park is located in between the western and eastern portions of the planning area. This 4,735-acre state park provides camping, hiking, and biking opportunities.

Background
In 2008, DNR began work on a plan which would guide future recreation in Reiter Foothills Forest. This recreation plan included an environmental and management suitability assessment of the lands in Reiter Foothills. The purpose of the assessment was to identify and map areas within the planning area that have long-term limiting factors that affect trail locations. Building on this suitability assessment, and with extensive public involvement, in April 2010, the Reiter Foothills Forest Recreation Plan was created and adopted.

The recreation plan was a broad scale in nature and identified general regions that were determined to be most appropriate for future motorized and non-motorized recreation. The plan was not intended to identify trail locations or replace future site specific analysis for individual projects.

Non-motorized Trails Planning Overview

Work on the design, and construction of motorized trails, generally in the eastern side of the forest, has been underway since the recreation plan was finalized. We now have over 22 miles of trails for various forms of motorized recreation complete, and almost 4 miles of non-motorized trails.

DNR has now begun a planning effort to identify the types and locations of additional non-motorized trails in Reiter Foothills Forest and we invite your participation. We will be looking for input on issues such as: your desired recreation experience, ideas for avoiding user conflict, locations to visit in the planning area, and opportunities for connections with adjacent public lands. Your ideas, thoughts, and concerns will help DNR to understand the opportunities and challenges for non-motorized trails in this working forest and to create the best possible trails plan.

Share your thoughts
To connect with our planning team, please send us an email and bookmark this page to stay up to date on this project.