I have a newspaper article from 1996 that first told me about the Walker Preserve. At that time, the only access was by climbing over a padlocked chain link fence. There was no parking, but the article assured the reader that the Preserve was open to the public. I tried it, but without a decent trail, it was just an exercise in walking through knee-high vegetation while trying to avoid the prevalent nettles. I left quickly and didn’t return for many years.
Since then, there have been countless volunteer hours, including two Eagle Scout projects, that have made the Walker Preserve worth visiting. It has its own trailhead now, and shares a small parking lot with Grace M. and T.A. Wilson Park. The City of Normandy Park continues to host regular “Ivy Pulls” to remove English Ivy and other invasive species.
You can take the Main Loop, 1.1 miles round trip from the trailhead (0.9 mile from the map sign). Side loop trails allow you to get to two small creeks that flow through the Preserve on their way to Puget Sound.
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