Swan Creek Park

Swan Creek Park is a large untapped resource in Tacoma with several hundred acres of greenspace. The potential is great here for a huge regional park complex. There is no official parking area (yet) but several access points have parking on the street. For years, there has been a hiking trail in the wooden ravine that started at the north end of Swan Creek on Pioneer Road. There you will still find a small signed trailhead. Today, you can access the trail from many locations. The Swan Creek Trail has been described in local hiking books since the 70's and 80's. More recently, a large development of homes and schools has put emphasis on the western boundary of the park. This is where Swan Creek Park has acres of uplands to build standard park amenities. Plans are underway to develop these uplands western portions of the park, as funds are found. Currently, a community garden is in place but more is coming. The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance has been establishing bike trails in a designated area in the Douglas Fir Forest. Much of the uplands are an old neighborhood built for military families in WWII. All the houses and buildings were torn down but the paved streets still exist. It is a strange sight but the roads make for easy walking & kids would enjoy riding their bikes on these safe and closed off streets. These roads are occasionally used for training purposes by county and state police. So occasionally, they are blocked off from hikers and you can hear some exciting commotion going on. The ravine section of Swan Creek Park is also popular with bird watchers. You will hear dozens of bird species as you hike the canyon for its 2+ mile length. Swan Creek is also a salmon spawning creek so it receives extra attention and funding. It will take time but Swan Creek Park will slowly develop into one of Tacoma's biggest and best parks.

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