Clark County presents two trail concepts for 78th Street Heritage Farm

Clark County Parks and Nature presented two concept designs for a publicly accessible trail at 78th Street Heritage Farm and sought public input.

Lindy Wallach, a park and trails planner with Clark County Parks and Nature, said the county has been working with the Heritage Farm advisory team and farm users to develop the trail concept and gather community feedback. “Clark County Parks and Nature has been working with the Heritage Farm advisory team and the farm users here at Heritage Farm to help develop an idea for a concept of a publicly accessible trail here,” Wallach said.

County staff described two mostly similar trail concepts. An unnamed county presenter said the key differences are additional paths through a wooded wetland on the farm’s east side and different connection points in the site’s center. In the longer wetland alignment, the trail would come closer to active agricultural areas in the farm’s center.

Officials say the trail would link NE 78th Street to NE 68th Street and to Hazel Dell Community Park and would offer wetland and forest views and scenic vistas of Mount Saint Helens and Mount Hood. The presenter also noted a connection to a historic cemetery and said the design would include an interpretive sign program “honoring indigenous people, remembering its past as a poor farm and agricultural research site, and highlighting its role in the community today.”

Because staff cannot safely provide on-site access during the public input phase, the county produced a video to show what walking the future trail might feel like and to help gather feedback from residents who cannot visit the farm in person.

Next steps described in the presentation were limited to the public input phase and outreach; no formal approvals or votes were recorded in the transcript.