We are delighted to share the winners of the 4th biannual Trail Awards, honored at the Friday evening Awards Reception in Wenatchee. Our congratulations and thanks to them all for their contributions to Washington’s trail network.
Lifetime Service Award: Barbara Robinson
Hike, bike, or drive in the eastern Columbia River Gorge and you will undoubtedly see the impact of Barbara Robinson. For decades, Barbara has worked to protect, preserve, and steward the unique landscape of the gorge.
In the 1970s, Barbara was instrumental in the creation of Tom McCall Preserve. She worked closely with conservationist Nancy Russell to protect threatened areas of the gorge. Recognizing the value of this special place, Barbara purchased the land that would become Tom McCall Preserve and later transferred ownership to The Nature Conservancy for inclusion in the preserve.
In 2002, Barbara became a founding member of the Klickitat Trail Conservancy and later served as vice president and president. Her contributions to the unique co-management of the Klickitat Trail have proven invaluable thanks to her knowledge of the area and her ability to develop effective cooperative working relationships with key personnel and local landowners. Barbara secured two key grants for the Klickitat Trail, which will fund bridge repairs over Swale Creek and a replacement trestle that will reconnect a missing link in the 31-mile Rails to Trails route.
Barbara has also been at the forefront of public education in the gorge. She is sought out for her local wildflower expertise and passion for the Oak woodland forest — leading hundreds of recreational and educational hikes for local community groups and students. Today, many iconic areas in the eastern gorge, including Catherine Creek and Tom McCall Preserve owe their extensive fields of native balsamroot and lupine to Barbara and her volunteer-led planting efforts.
Barbara’s dedication to outdoor recreation and trails has come full circle. Today, she continues to kick rocks, pull invasive weeds, collect trash, and greet visitors at the Klickitat Trail which she helped create.
Trail Leader Award: Hyden McKown
Hyden McKown is an exceptional trail leader in every sense. As a longtime Recreation Manager for Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Hyden is known throughout the community for his effective stakeholder engagement, dedication to public service, and his extensive, long-lasting impacts on Washington’s trail network.
Hyden serves as a DNR recreation representative with local governments, often working on complex, trail-related issues. Recently, Hyden spearheaded development efforts at Olsen Creek recreation area, a priority in the Baker to Bellingham Recreation Plan. Hyden’s team successfully charted a permitting pathway and made outstanding progress towards a brand-new recreation area, which is no easy task in the Lake Whatcom Watershed. In the past two years, Hyden and his team have completed critical area and cultural resource assessments, designed a future bridge over Olsen Creek, obtained necessary permits for ground disturbance within the watershed, completed the State Environmental Policy Act and Hydraulic Project Application processes, conducted an environmental assessment on a recently acquired property adjacent to the planned trailhead, and built nearly five miles of multi-use trail.
At Blanchard Mountain, Hyden developed and managed a grant that resulted in a new ADA-accessible restroom facility at the upper trailhead and has cleared the way for backcountry toilet installation. With support from the Washington Mountain Bike Coalition, Hyden played an integral role in sanctioning Blanchard’s first black- and double-black diamond bike trails. Additionally, since he began overseeing recreation management on DNR’s North Mountain last year, Hyden worked on an agreement with Evergreen Mountain Bike Association to provide the first agency-funded trail system maintenance since its inception. His effective communication and dedication to partnerships have resulted in an undeniably impressive list of accomplishments that will benefit the recreation community for years to come.
Emerging Leader Award: Angelic Friday
Angelic Friday first joined Washington Trails Association (WTA) in the summer of 2022 as a member of the Lost Trails Found crew. Her motivation, laughter, joy, and trail work grit was instantly appreciated by the crew, and Angelic was soon recommended for the role of crew lead in WTA’s Emerging Leaders Program (ELP). ELP is a paid, 14-week program in collaboration with Washington State Parks designed for a diverse cohort — including Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) individuals and other shared identities — who want to form an inclusive community and build leadership skills to support future careers in natural resource stewardship and outdoor recreation.
As the ELP crew lead, Angelic trained seasonal assistant crew leaders, facilitated leadership and mentorship discussions at WTA’s Crew Leader College, and coordinated the first ever BIPOC crosscut certification class for ELP cohort members and community partners across King County. She stresses the importance of movement and safety at trail work parties and finds ways to make technical trail work training accessible and fun. She brings her lived experiences to every space she is a part of and continuously paves the way for BIPOC leaders in trail work spaces. Angelic earned her crosscut certification during her time with ELP, which also enabled her to crew lead the first BIPOC Lost Trails Found hitch.
Angelic demonstrates what an Emerging Leader looks like through her continuous support to the crew members and staff she connects with. She brings joy to co-working spaces and continues to steward the land through mentorship and conversation. Angelic is a strong force in the trail work world and the outdoor community.
Outstanding Trail Award: East Lake Sammamish Trail
The East Lake Sammamish Trail (ELST) is an 11-mile trail following the path of a former rail corridor in Redmond, Sammamish, and Issaquah. The trail is an integral piece of the Locks to Lakes Corridor which connects Seattle to the Eastside and is part of the Leafline Trails network, which comprises over 500 miles of paved, nonmotorized trails across Western Washington.
The vision for the ELST started in 1971 when King County identified the old rail corridor along Lake Sammamish as a crucial future link in its regional trails system. Decades later, the county successfully petitioned for the abandoned corridor to be ‘railbanked’ and began working with Parametrix to lead a region-wide community engagement effort to guide corridor development through public meetings and workshops.
An interim gravel trail opened along the railbed in 2006 while the team finalized plans for a wider, paved trail with full amenities. The trail corridor involved 78 wetlands and 46 streams, as well as cultural resources, and required balancing adjacent land uses and environmental issues while still meeting design criteria. The final project included the installation of roughly 4,700 trees and 98,000 native shrubs, eleven fish passage culverts, and ten acres of wetland mitigation.
From 2011 to 2023, the permanent trail was constructed in five segments. The final trail features a twelve-foot-wide asphalt surface with two-foot-wide gravel shoulders and a one-foot-wide clear zone on each side, along with rest areas, improved drainage, fencing, and signage. The trail provides immeasurable economic benefits by turning the land — which was once a dilapidated railroad — into an activated linear park. In addition to its recreation opportunities, the ELST connects several parks and town centers, offering an alternative transportation option and connecting communities along the lake.