North Albany Natural Area trail: County and City of Albany collaborative project

In 2016, the County initiated a master planning process for North Albany Park and the recently donated 10 acre natural area and 3 acre wetlands. The facilities within the Park were reaching the end of their useful lifespan and significant residential development was taking place adjacent to the Park. The addition of substantial acreage spurred the planning process into action.

The final Master Plan was the result of a community engagement process over a 7-month period. The Master Plan was completed in October 2017 and adopted by the Board of Commissioners in December 2017. The master plan recommends improvements to major park features; one of them being trail and path improvements.

The first phase of the improvements is constructing a natural surface path within the natural area to connect neighborhoods and provide additional access points to the existing North Albany Park.

Benton County Natural Areas and Parks and the City of Albany Parks and Recreation are partnering to complete construction of the Natural Area loop trail system by the end of September 2018. During the County’s planning process, the City of Albany was actively engaged as a community partner to help create the vision for North Albany.