Well, the site is a work in progress, but it’s live, including the page for Wander Bigger Running’s first event, the Wallace Falls Trail Run, with 50km, 20mi and half marathon races. The event will be Saturday, March 3, 2018, and registration will open December 1, 2017.
I’ve lived near Wallace Falls State Park for several years. I love the area and love running in and around the park. There’s a lot more to it than what the race covers, but it hits the big highlights. And I’m looking forward to sharing.
I also have another motivation for organizing this race now. Washington State Department of Natural Resources owns much of the land surrounding the park, including some of the land the course crosses. A lot of timber comes out of the hills around here, including from DNR land near the park, some of which runners will cross on the upper grade between Wallace Falls and Wallace Lake.
But there is a plan for more trails on DNR land on either side of Wallace Falls. They’d like it to be in partnership with Washington State Parks connecting to new trails in the park, and Snohomish County Parks connecting to the new trails off May Creek road. I’ve been out on a couple field recon trips with DNR looking at potential trails, and I’m excited about the possibilities.
The plan includes multi-use trails for hiking, mountain biking and equestrian use. It will probably be several years before it’s all done, but I think work is scheduled to start in 2018 on at least some of the new trails.
More people using the area for recreation will hopefully help convince DNR how valuable the area is for recreation, hopefully ease up on the DNR timber harvests, at least around Wallace Falls, and maybe give DNR and State Parks a nudge to get the trails built
I’d love to see you out there.
Wander Bigger,
Brian