PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County public works officials are negotiating and acquiring rights of way to extend the Larry Scott Memorial Trail about two more miles south.
The latest acquisition would stretch the trail from near the north end of Discovery Bay Golf Club, at South Discovery Road near Douglas Way, south to near Milo Curry and Four Corners roads, where a parking lot would be built at the terminus, said Monte Reinders, county engineer.
“We’re trying to stay within the [former] railroad right of way as much as possible up to South Discovery Road,” Reinders said.
County officials are hoping that within the next two years, an 8.5-mile stretch of the trail will be completed from the Port of Port Townsend’s Boat Haven Marina to Four Corners Road.
Larry Scott Trail is part of the Olympic Discovery Trail system, which will ultimately connect Port Townsend with LaPush, about 130 miles.
As planned, the trail will move south from Four Corners, looping the head of Discovery Bay and go through Gardiner, Diamond Point, Blyn, Sequim, Port Angeles, Lake Crescent and Forks.
Clallam County’s stretch now extends from Blyn to Sequim to Ediz Hook in Port Angeles.
Eventually, Jefferson County’s section would stretch 26 miles from Port Townsend’s waterfront to the East Jefferson-Clallam county line.
Last summer, volunteers with the Jefferson Trails Coalition cleared a half-mile section between Cape George road and South Discovery Road at the golf course, winding through a network of private roads.
“It’s all usable, except with a road bike,” Reinders said of the newly cut trail section.
The narrow trail will be widened to a 10-foot hard-surfaced multi-use trail for hikers, bikers and equestrians.
About six miles has been developed to date.
Jefferson County commissioners recently authorized negotiation and acquisition of the latest stretch to Four Corners, with just compensation estimated at $265,600 in Washington State Recreational and Conservation Office grant dollars.
Grant ranking
“On the ranking, we looked pretty good,” Reinders said of Jefferson County’s trail development, which the state office ranked fifth out of 36 recreational projects up for grants.
In October 2007, the county completed a mile of the trail from state Highway 20 east near Nelson’s Landing Road, connecting to a trailhead parking lot off Cape George Road.
The most popular segment of the trail runs along Port Townsend Bay south and continues along Highway 20 south of Port Townsend. That section was completed in the mid-1990s.
The trail in Jefferson County has been supported by Peninsula Trails Coalition, Jefferson Trails Coalition, Port Townsend Bicycle Association and the Buckhorn Range Chapter of the Backcountry Horsemen of Washington.
County Public Works crew members create the trail’s surface with crushed gravel 8 feet wide and raised about 6 inches off the ground.
The width, required as part of the federal grant funding, allows access to all, including wheelchairs and baby carriages, and county vehicles can get access for trail maintenance.
Amenities such as benches and foliage planting are part of the project.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
