Hill at High Point

Perched above the busy scenes of a growing Puget Sound region, Tiger Mountain and the Issaquah Alps are home to an expansive and well-loved network of trails. As our region grows and we increasingly recognize the importance of nature to our health and happiness, more people than ever head to close-to-home trails.

Just a 20-minute drive from the heart of Seattle, the Issaquah Alps draws hundreds of hikers every weekend. Tiger Mountain alone sees over one million visitors annually. For hikers headed out on sunny afternoons, access to trails is often limited by crowded trailheads and full parking lots.

For decades, conservationists and avid hikers of the Issaquah Alps have eyed a five-acre property next to the High Point trailhead on West Tiger Mountain. Though small in size, the Hill at High Point property had the potential to unlock miles of trails, connect adjacent public lands, and establish a new, much-needed trailhead. This puzzle piece represented the last critical piece to complete the full vision for Tiger Mountain.

Numerous efforts to conserve the Hill property over the years had proved unsuccessful. In 2020, however, working alongside public and local partners, The Trust for Public Land acted to permanently conserve the Hill property.

Now protected forever, the Washington Department of Natural Resources will construct a new trailhead on the Hill property, which will alleviate pressure on popular trailheads in the area and provide access to 95 miles of existing trails. Plans for new trails will extend its reach by an additional 40 miles.

Every year, the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust takes hundreds of kids out to West Tiger Mountain to hike and learn outdoors. Now a public resource, the Hill property is also the future site of an educational and interpretive center that will expand outdoor learning for kids throughout King County.

Protecting this last puzzle piece ensures that the Tiger Mountain we know today will welcome hikers for generations to come. Hill at High Point will see thousands of new hikers every year, expanding access to nature in our growing region to ensure a healthy, livable future.

We thank King County, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Issaquah Alps Trails Club and the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust for their partnership on this project and their continued work to expand access to nature in our communities.

Since 1990, The Trust for Public Land has worked alongside public agencies and local trail groups to expand public access to the Issaquah Alps. Our work has created public access to hundreds of miles of trails through the Issaquah Alps up and along Tiger, Cougar, and Squak mountains.