The Greenway connects it all: vast forests. Meadow-strewn mountain peaks. Small farms that feed city markets. Rural communities, keepers of our region’s colorful past. Vibrant cities where people want to live, and companies want to locate. Broad swaths of land for wildlife to roam. Hundreds of places for skiing and hiking, kayaking, and cycling.
Weaving together the urban and the wild, the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area connects 1.5 million acres surrounding Interstate 90. More than 900,000 acres of land are now publicly owned, from city parks to expansive public forests. Another 100,000 acres are conserved as permanent private forests.
Key points of interest:
- Snoqualmie Falls: From time immemorial, the Snoqualmie Tribe has considered Snoqualmie Falls sacred – its birthplace of creation. Mists from the thundering 268-foot waterfall carry prayers to ancestors, and the Falls provide the gifts of food, water, life, health, and healing. Today, the Snoqualmie Tribe warmly welcomes all visitors to this sacred place to experience its power in their own way.
- Palouse to Cascades Trail – The Palouse to Cascades Trail spans Washington state from the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains to the Idaho border. Bicyclists, hikers, equestrians, skiers, and snowshoers experience Washington’s diverse and scenic landscape, traveling through evergreen forests and dark tunnels, over high trestles and spectacular rivers, and across open farmland and high desert.
- I-90 Wildlife Bridge – As you pass under this wildlife bridge, a good chance exists that elk, deer, coyotes, and/or numerous other large and small wildlife species are crossing just overhead. Watch for North America’s largest wildlife overcrossing bridge while driving along Interstate 90, between mileposts 61 and 62, about nine miles east of Snoqualmie Pass.