Qualla: Interurban Trail (King County)

Interurban Trail (King County): Introduction

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Robert Ashworth from Bellingham, WA., USA, CC BY 2.0. The tracks vanished decades ago, but the corridor remains. Where the Puget Sound Electric Railway once carried passengers between Seattle and Tacoma at 60 cents a ride, a pair of paved trails now thread through the suburban heart of King County. The Interurban Trail -- split into a northern and southern segment -- follows the ghosts of electric railways that shaped the settlement patterns of the Puget Sound lowlands before automobiles rendered them obsolete.

Image: Robert Ashworth from Bellingham, WA., USA | CC BY 2.0

Interurban Trail (King County): The Railway That Built the Valley

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0. On September 25, 1902, the Puget Sound Electric Railway celebrated its inaugural run between Seattle and Tacoma, a 38-mile electric interurban line backed by the Boston-based Stone & Webster Management Company. The route started near Pioneer Square, ran through South Park and Ren...

Image: Joe Mabel | CC BY-SA 3.0

Interurban Trail (King County): Two Trails, One Memory

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Interurban Trail North begins as a signed bicycle route in downtown Seattle, threading through the Fremont neighborhood, up through Phinney Ridge and Greenwood, and becoming a proper paved rail trail near 110th and Fremont Avenue. From the City of Shoreline border, a wide non...

Image: Joe Mabel | CC BY-SA 3.0

Interurban Trail (King County): A Green Thread Through Suburbia

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0. From the air, the Interurban Trail appears as a narrow green line cutting through the suburban grid of south King County, distinct from the roads and highways that replaced the railway. The southern trail connects to the Green River Trail where the waterway curves through Kent, a...

Image: Joe Mabel | CC BY-SA 3.0

Interurban Trail (King County): Following the Corridor from Above

Sun, 22 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Dennis Bratland, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Interurban Trail corridor is most visible from low altitude as a linear gap in the suburban development of the Green River and Duwamish valleys. The northern segment runs as a distinct path through Seattle's Fremont and Greenwood neighborhoods before becoming a wider greenway...

Image: Dennis Bratland | CC BY-SA 3.0