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Clallam County updates Olympic Discovery Trail acquisitions, plans field walk with DNR and federal partners
Summary
County staff reported a newly purchased 1.6‑mile segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail, described ongoing negotiations over corridor widths with private landowners and DNR, and said a field walk with WSDOT, DNR and Western Federal Lands is planned to clarify alignment options.
Clallam County staff told the Trails Advisory Committee that the county has finalized and purchased a roughly 1.6‑mile stretch of land intended to complete a key segment of the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT).
County staffer Steve Gray said the purchased corridor covers about 35.3 acres and stated that trail widths along planned segments vary widely — from around 30 feet in constrained locations to proposed 150 feet where the county hopes to secure more room for trail alignment and safer grades. "The green little strip is about 1.6 miles long," Gray said while showing the committee the updated maps.
Why it matters: the width and ownership of the corridor determine whether the county can build a separated, full‑standard trail or must instead place the ODT in existing rights‑of‑way. Gray said several EFM‑owned parcels are in appraisal and negotiation; some landowners have asked for narrower corridors, which could reduce available width to about 80 feet in places, and the county expects a timber cruise is needed because merchantable timber was identified.
Gray told the committee he and staff will meet in the field with Washington State Department of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Western Federal Lands design staff to walk the segments ‘‘and talk about the alignment’’ with the aim of maximizing what can fit in existing right‑of‑way. "We're going to walk those segments, talk about the alignment, and just, hopefully get, buying," he said.
The presentation also flagged constraints where DNR parcels limit full 150‑foot corridors. Gray said staff is planning to maximize trail placement within state or federal right‑of‑way where possible and to use physical separators (concrete ecology blocks two to three feet off the pavement) where the alignment must remain near the roadway.
Committee members raised questions about a narrow pinch point by the river and about whether federal funding and NEPA processes will allow alternate routings. Gray reiterated that Western Federal Lands has not discounted alternative routes, but NEPA and property constraints remain to be resolved.
The committee also discussed a related county pre‑application for a Floodplain‑by‑Design planning grant that could fund analysis of alternatives to recurring flooding at the bridge crossing and potentially influence trail alignment and grade changes for safer crossing points. Gray emphasized the grant would fund planning, not construction.
The committee did not take a formal action on acquisitions during the meeting; staff said they will return with results from the interagency field review at a future meeting.
