No. 233 NAKASHIMA HERITAGE BARN

NAKASHIMA HERITAGE BARN NORTH TRAILHEAD

32328 State Route 9

Arlington, WA

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Started in 1989 during Washington State's 100th centennial celebration, the Centennial Trail is a 30 mile long paved pedestrian walkway. At 12 feet wide, slight grade this trail is popular for walkers, hikers, dogs, cyclists and even riders on horseback with the flanked grassy path running parallel to the trail. The Centennial Trail runs from downtown Snohomish to the north to the Skagit Valley County Line. With future plans to expand and connect it other popular area trails in the north and the south such as Woodinville's Burke-Gilman Trail. 

Since 2011 Snohomish County has added 9 miles to the Centennial Trail which runs through the towns of Snohomish, Lake Stevens, Marysville and Arlington as a "Rails to Trails" project repurposing a former Burlington-Norther Railroad line.

The most recent expansion was a 4-mile long extension to the trail from Bryant Lake to the Nakashima Barn. This portion of the trail crosses over to the west side of SR-9 and begins its meander through cedar and spruce wetlands. This section is also called "Eagle's Landing" for its frequent sightings of bald eagles in the trees. 

There is ample parking at the Nakashima Heritage Barn for pedestrians and a few spaces for horse trailers. There is a year round porta potty available but no water fountain. 

Nakashima Dairy Barn

Headed south towards Pillchuck Creek 

Bald Eagles off the trail

Red Tailed Hawk spotted in a clearning

Red Tailed Hawk passing by 

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No. 08 1954 Hat & Boots Oxbow Park Georgetown (Seattle)

Hat and Boots Park 
Oxbow Park 
6430 Corson Ave S, 98108

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 This is a famous landmark south of Seattle, originally part of a cowboy-themed gas station built in 1954 named "Premium Tex." The orange hat, 19 feet tall and 44 feet wide, sheltered the station office; the boots were Cowboys and Cowgirls bathrooms (the slightly smaller one was for the ladies). Its owners hoped to expand the gas station into a Western-themed shopping center named "Frontier Village," but the effort proved unsuccessful. The gas station closed in 1988, and Hat 'n' Boots sank into a period of decay and vandalism. Skateboarders cracked the brim of the Hat.
A local community council raised funds to help save Hat 'n' Boots, which in 2003 were moved to Oxbow Park in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood, a half-residential, half-industrial section of the city. The Boots were restored to their original state in 2005. But the Hat remained a wire skeleton for years until its restoration was finally completed in 2010. There are plans in the works to have it house an interpretive exhibit on the history and meaning of the Hat 'n' Boots.


By the late `80`s it looked like trail`s end for the Hat n` Boots gas station. Then Georgetown residents saddled up to save the 'soul' of their community.

Hat and Boots Restoration Project 2002

This is a famous landmark south of Seattle, originally part of a cowboy-themed gas station built in 1954 named "Premium Tex." The orange hat, 19 feet tall and 44 feet wide, sheltered the station office; the boots were Cowboys and Cowgirls bathrooms (the slightly smaller one was for the ladies).

Its owners hoped to expand the gas station into a Western-themed shopping center named "Frontier Village," but the effort proved unsuccessful. The gas station closed in 1988, and Hat 'n' Boots sank into a period of decay and vandalism. Skateboarders cracked the brim of the Hat.
A local community council raised funds to help save Hat 'n' Boots, which in 2003 were moved to Oxbow Park in Seattle's Georgetown neighborhood, a half-residential, half-industrial section of the city. The Boots were restored to their original state in 2005. But the Hat remained a wire skeleton for years until its restoration was finally completed in 2010. There are plans in the works to have it house an interpretive exhibit on the history and meaning of the Hat 'n' Boots.

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