Issaquah High Point in Grand Ridge Park is the city’s high point in Issaquah Highlands. Due to area expansion, it now sits on someone’s fence, aka private property. Meanwhile, Tiger Mountain rises above Interstate 90 to the south.
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Issaquah High Point at a Glance
Access: Issaquah-Preston Trail (info)
Round Trip: 6.6 miles
Elevation Range: 460′-1110′
Gear: none
GPS Track: available
Dog-Friendly: yes
Issaquah-Preston Trail to East Fork Trail
Behind the Issaquah Highlands neighborhood nestles the city’s discreet high point. It instantly connects to the Grand Ridge Park extensive trail network. But in hindsight, I could’ve combined it with the trip to Grand Ridge.
From Issaquah-Preston Trail, I crossed the creek at High Point to East Fork Trail in half a mile. The 1.5-mile-long trail zigzagged up the forested hillside before veering west at 800′. Soon, I reached Grand Ridge Drive and took a left.
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En Route to Issaquah High Point
It drizzled as I made my way through the cookie-cutter neighborhood. Then it was a short walk from Harrison Drive to the end of the public road at the gate. En route, I passed Harrison Park, which looked too small to house the whole community.
A woman ahead and her two dogs went to the water tower on the hilltop. The high point was 150′ south of the flat terrain in the woods. But I didn’t feel like fumbling through someone’s backyard and stuck around to photograph the area.
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Leaving Grand Ridge Park
Soon, the woman and her little dogs returned. A quick question about the dogs’ vests soon became a half-hour conversation about life. But I forgot to ask about life in the Highlands, which I’ve always been curious about.
Despite having been to Grand Ridge’s high point, I decided to avoid the neighborhood. Then I met three folks before looping thorugh the water tower. The rain picked back up as I made my way through the half a mile to the car.
See more trip photos here.