Trails & Pathways

Olympia Walking Paths website

Check out the City of Olympia’s webpage and map detailing interesting walks and simple hikes in our area.

History of NENA pathways projects

For more than 15 years, NENA has been working on projects to transform our neighborhood into a safer and more beautiful place for folks to get active and get connected. Some of these projects include Friendly Grove Park, the Mission Creek Nature Park, the sidewalks on Miller, San Francisco, and Quince Streets, the traffic safety improvements at Roosevelt School, the Joy Avenue Pathway and Edible Forest Garden, our Graffiti Busters program, and much more. We have a number of other projects in various stages of development that you can learn about at the end of this page.

In 2011, based on the success of the Joy Avenue Pathway pilot project, the City Council decided to budget $125,000 from the City’s Parks and Pathways fund to pay for this program. In November 2012, seventeen projects were submitted to be considered for funding. The City chose eight projects to move onto the second round of review. Three of those projects were within NENA’s boundaries.

Current pathways projects

* Bethel Street to Priest Point Park along 26th Avenue – We proposed to build a pathway along the south side of 26th Avenue to link Bethel Street to Gull Harbor Road and the east entrance to Priest Point Park. This pathway will make it safer and easier to walk to Priest Point Park from our neighborhood. The proposed path is along a stretch of 26th Avenue with no shoulder and fast-moving traffic. Design work for this path may begin in 2019.

* The Puget Pathway and Garden – This was originally proposed in 2012, reapplied for in 2015 and is currently paused until further notice. The Puget Pathway and Food Bank Garden project is an opportunity to put public land to public use to build a better-connected neighborhood – NENA has applied through the City’s Neighborhood Pathways program for funding to build a pedestrian and bike path in the Puget Street ROW connecting Miller and Jasper streets. As part of this project, we’ve asked for support to landscape the corridor with fruit and nut trees and to install raised beds to grow food for the Thurston County Food Bank.

Want to help with pathways projects?

Transforming our neighborhood into a safe and beautiful place to get active and get connected. If you’d like to learn more about or help with pathways projects, send an email to Peter Guttchen at pguttchen@gmail.com.