Garry Kampen

This year is the 20th anniversary of Newcastle, a small city that ranks high in livability, and the 15th anniversary of Newcastle Trails, a nonprofit citizens group that has worked for parks, trails and open space, in close cooperation with the city, since 1999.

I’m writing to celebrate Newcastle’s amazing and still-growing trail system, and to encourage you to explore it and enjoy it. Check NT’s website, www.newcastletrails.org; download our latest map and trail guide; join NT by emailing info@newcastletrails.org (for trail news, no dues); attend our Oct. 6 board meeting (7 p.m. at Regency Newcastle); and consider volunteering for the board, or lending a hand with trail work, computer work (GIS, web, writing), lobbying, fundraising — whatever you’d like to do.

Newcastle’s trails are part of a regional network used by walkers, joggers, cyclists and equestrians. The city lies within a Grand Loop, a triangle of trail corridors with its base on the existing Lake Washington Trail (future Eastside Rail Trail) and its apex in Cougar Mountain.

The sides of the triangle are the May Creek Greenway (mostly in Newcastle) and the Coal Creek section of the Mountains to Sound Greenway (mostly in Bellevue). The triangle is crossed north-to-south by Coal Creek Parkway (continuous sidewalks) and the heavily used Waterline Trail (few sidewalks, many trees), with downtown Newcastle and Lake Boren Park sandwiched between.

You can walk the loop and its cross-trails now, with two exceptions: Renton’s May Creek Trail (partly complete, bridge needed), and the parkway underpass for the Coal Creek Trail (due soon). The Grand Loop is mostly wooded nature trails: The May Creek and Coal Creek trails include creeks, waterfalls, bridges, historic sites and sections of an old railroad; the Terrace Trail has switchbacks, lovely rock steps, views, fallen trees and giant moss-covered boulders. The Marshall’s Hill and Red Town trails (in Cougar Mountain Wilderness Park) link wilderness trails with the remains of Old Newcastle and its coal mines.

The west-to-east CrossTown Trail is Newcastle’s major urban trail (nature trails and sidewalks), a central connector linking schools, parks, neighborhoods and north-south trails. It starts near 116th Avenue Southeast and Newcastle Way, and winds past or through Hazelwood Elementary School, Hazelwood Park, Donegal Park, the historic Newcastle Cemetery and Lake Boren Park, continuing on sidewalks to Beit Tikvah and, after a gap, southeast along the DeLeo Wall (woods, views) from Newcastle Vista to Cougar Mountain.

Fall projects include new trail signs citywide, and changes to the CrossTown Trail: rerouting it at the new middle school and the planned Renton School District Newcastle development (between Olympus and Hazelwood), and rebuilding sections of trail between Newcastle Vista and Cougar Mountain.

Newcastle’s trail system has benefited from the cooperation of many groups, including Renton, Bellevue, King County and the Issaquah Alps Trails Club (check their websites for trail maps and guided walks). Volunteers were also essential. Much of the trail work was done by Boy Scouts, and parents, from Newcastle’s Hazelwood Troop, and other troops from Bellevue, Kirkland and Renton.

The project, entitled “Black Forest (29,930,000 tons),” is spread across the forest floor in the form of nearly 50,000 pounds of biochar, environmentally friendly charcoal that appears similar to the coal that was once mined from the mountain.

“It was kind of the launching point,” artist Hans Baumann said, “this idea about rethinking what the park was, and trying to reinterpret its history in a way that might be visually compelling.”

By Kate Smigiel
Artist Hans Baumann spreads bio-carbon, a black charcoal often used as a fertilizer for agricultural crops and ornamental plants such as orchids, as part of a large-scale art installation on Cougar Mountain.

The Cougar Mountain trails hold the stories of the region’s past, which included about a century of mining. Park visitors literally stand in the midst of history as they pass abandoned mine shafts, find remnants of carts and railroads, and discover stray pieces of coal.

The park is the site of the lucrative Newcastle mining site, which helped transform Seattle into the dominant port city it is today. The mine operated for about 100 years until the mid-1900s. Workers extracted nearly 11 million tons of coal during that period.

It’s that rich history that attracted Baumann to the project about two years ago, he said.

“The park is an interesting place to visit, but then beyond that, the existing literature about it and the amount of historical interest in it, I feel, it made my project quite rich, because I was able to draw from it,” he said.

“Black Forest (29,930,000 tons)” was funded by 4Culture’s Site Specific Arts program. The number comes from the estimation that the mines emitted 29,930,000 tons of carbon dioxide during its heyday. Baumann received $20,000 total in site-specific grants.

The biochar has carbon sequestration qualities, allowing it to store carbon emissions and mitigate the harmful effects of greenhouse gases in climate change.

The idea is that the material will conceptually begin the sequestration process of 29,930,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the same amount released through the mine’s 100 years, Baumann said.

The project took about two years to come together, Baumann said, and much of that time was spent researching the history of the area.

The artist met with local groups, such as the Newcastle Historical Society and the Issaquah Alps Trails Club. Baumann specifically mentioned Cougar Mountain expert Steve Williams and Newcastle legend Milt Swanson as dutiful teachers as he learned about the park.

“This installation is, in part, an effort to make their work physically and visually present on the mountain,” Baumann wrote on his website.

Baumann recalled fondly visiting with Swanson at the Newcastle pioneer’s home on Lakemont Boulevard and exploring his vast coal-mining museum.

Swanson, who passed away Jan. 20 at 95 years old, was the premier historian when it came to the Newcastle mines. He was born and raised in Newcastle, and he worked in the mines as his father and grandfather did before him.

The art installation, which covers more than an acre of forest floor, and sits on what used to be a gravel mine, was unveiled to the public in a special ceremony March 15.

Baumann spoke about his project, provided a tour of the site and thanked the volunteers that helped spread the voluminous bio char.

“The only thing I hope is that people find it compelling on some level,” he said. “I’m just hoping that it affects people in some way.”

The art installation will remain in place until it decomposes, but visitors are encouraged to come early spring, before much of the piece will be covered by vegetation.