Thank you to our friends from Snohomish County for joining us this year. We are delighted to share their presentation. This is a great overview of how Snohomish County intentionally approached engaging with their community as a collective effort. We were honored to host them at our Summit.

Recorded at the 2017 Outdoor Recreation SUMMIT by Varvid.

Snohomish County Trail Towns: Re-imagining Community Connections Along the Trail

Snohomish County residents have long valued regional trails for recreation, open space and transportation. More recently, long-distance trails in the County are recognized as important geo-cultural routes, bringing economic benefit to the communities located along the way. Now, Snohomish County is supporting new, regional grass-roots tourism efforts between diverse cadres of stakeholders, to re-imagine downtown districts as trail towns, where visitors can find needed services and amenities along the trail.

Using examples from the Whitehorse Regional Trail, this session will explore the nature of this grass-roots process; discuss the significance of the trail town concept and how through budding regional collaborations, diverse groups with interests in access, small business opportunities, history, culture and education, can work together to re-imagine visitor amenities for trail users along shared regional routes.

Facilitator: Annique Bennett, Snohomish County Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Amy Lucas, Snohomish County Parks, Recreation and Tourism
Amy Spain, Snohomish County Tourism Bureau

Todd Elsworth

Todd Elsworth is one of the many “Mossy-haired lunatics roaming the dripping peninsulas”, described in “I’m Here for the Weather” by Tom Robbins. As executive director, he works to fulfill our mission to teach the health benefits of nature, promote outdoor recreation, and steward the places where we play.