Parks and Recreation

Map Book of the Centennial Trail

The Centennial Trail is county-owned property along portions of the old north/south abandoned Burlington Northern railroad right of way. Unlike the Cascade Trail, which is in a rails to trails conservancy as per federal legislation, this property has been purchased outright. The county owns a few connected sections of the trail, but several pieces are not connected. One 1/2-mile section of Centennial Trail is open for public use in Skagit County. The trail head is off State Route 9 in south Lake McMurray. The trail ends at the Snohomish County line and is posted.

Snohomish County has announced plans to extend their portion of the existing 17-mile Centennial Trail north to the Skagit border in 2010. Efforts are underway in Skagit County to explore the feasibility of opening additional sections of Centennial that are county owned for public use, to look for ways to connect existing sections that the county owns by exploring easements with private property owners and to make improvements to the current trail.

In 1992 Skagit County passed a resolution (No.1439) for the development of the Centennial Trail. The project vision was to develop an attractive and pleasing recreational pathway and transportation route between Whatcom County on the north, and Snohomish County on the south. The resolution put $156,000.00 general fund dollars to match an Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation [IAC] grant. A trail coalition was formed and they began to contact each property owner along the old railroad right-of-way and acquire the property. The process never saw completion and Skagit County Parks and Recreation has several pieces of this property interspersed throughout the old railroad right-of-way. One of these pieces has recently been opened to the public for hiking, horseback riding, or bicycling. 

Centennial Trail Pics