Northwest Trek

About Northwest Trek

Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is a park of native Pacific Northwest animals near Eatonville, Washington. Wikipedia states that the park covers 723 acres, and the park's website describes a 435-acre Free-Roaming Area where hoofed animals live in a natural setting. Its mission, as stated on its About Us page, is awakening a connection to Wild Life with everyone in the Pacific Northwest, and its vision is a future where all people in its communities are engaged in the care and protection of nature.

The park is a facility of Parks Tacoma, which its website describes as an independent government agency that has created healthy opportunities to play, learn and grow since 1907. A five-member Board of Park Commissioners governs Parks Tacoma. The park states that it is nationally accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). Its sister facility is Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, and together the two make up the Zoological and Environmental Education Division of Parks Tacoma.

The Northwest Trek Foundation is a Washington state registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes conservation, education and recreation through the display of native wildlife at the park. According to the park's website, Northwest Trek is funded through sales tax revenue, grants, donations and earned revenue, including admission fees and food and gift sales.

History

The park's history page begins on August 23, 1971, when David "Doc" and Connie Hellyer officially donated the land that became Northwest Trek to Parks Tacoma. Construction began immediately and the first animals arrived soon afterward. The park was officially dedicated on July 17, 1975. The page quotes Doc Hellyer describing it as a place where people, especially children, might experience animals in the dignity and beauty of a nearly wild state within a natural setting.

The park lists these milestones.

• 1985: accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
• 1987: Cat Country debuted as the first major addition since the park opened, featuring bobcats, cougars and lynx. In summer 1993 two new bear habitats opened for the resident grizzly and black bears.
• 1999: the original Hellyer family cabin was repurposed as the Hellyer Natural History Center, which remains in the Free-Roaming Area and is accessible only through private events.
• 2000: the Northwest Trek Foundation funded a bronze moose statue at the entrance, made by local artist Jeff Oens.
• 2014: two six-year-old black bears, Benton and Fern, were named through a public voting contest.
• 2016: Kids' Trek, a half-acre nature play area, opened.
• 2018: Keeper Adventure Tours began, followed by Wild Drive Tours in 2020.
• 2019: the Eagle Passage habitat opened and doubled the space for the park's resident bald eagles. The park states that Eagle Passage won the AZA's Top Honors Exhibit Award in 2021.
• 2024: a new Tour Station and electric tram fleet opened.

The About Us page adds that in 2000 Pierce County voters passed a countywide sales tax measure that the park says supports more than 40 percent of its budget. In 2005 Parks Tacoma bought 100 acres at the northern end of the park, protecting the tram route and providing space for future conservation work. The Zoo/Trek Authority, made up of seven elected officials, was established in 2001 to oversee the disbursement of that sales tax revenue to Northwest Trek and Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The About Us page also records that Doc Hellyer died on January 20, 2006, and Connie Hellyer in July 2012.

Exhibits and habitats

The park's Welcome page states that Northwest Trek is home to more than 40 species of native Northwest animals.

Free-Roaming Area. The 435-acre area of forest, meadow, hills and a lake is seen on tours. The park's Free-Roaming Area page lists moose, mountain goats, Roosevelt elk, American bison, caribou, black-tailed deer and bighorn sheep. Three kinds of tour are listed on the park's website: a Discovery Tram Tour narrated by a naturalist, Wild Drive premier tours in which guests drive their own vehicle through the area, and Keeper Adventure Tours in an open-air Jeep with a keeper. The park's history page states that the tram fleet is now electric and describes the trams as quieter and more eco-friendly.

Walking paths. Forested pathways lead to habitats for grizzly and black bears, bobcats, wolverines, gray wolves, river otters, lynx, badgers, eagles and other animals, according to the Welcome page. Cat Country and the two bear habitats are among the exhibits described in the park's history, and Eagle Passage houses the park's bald eagles.

Kids' Trek. This nature-inspired play area lets children slide, climb and jump, and the Welcome page states that it is free with admission.

Cheney Discovery Center and trails. The park's trams and trails page describes the Cheney Discovery Center, with hands-on activities and smaller residents including northern leopard frogs, Pacific tree frogs, boreal toads, newts and a banana slug, and the E.H. Baker Cabin, where visitors can see a gray wolf up close. Paved and primitive nature trails are free with park admission.

The park's Discover page also lists native plant information, weddings and events, and learning programs including an Online Wildlife Academy, Virtual Super Scouts and Nature at Home.

Conservation and programs

The Discover page lists community science programs, including bat counts, stewardship and amphibian surveys. The park also describes Eagle Passage as created to highlight the recovery story of the bald eagle and to reinforce its conservation mission.

The park's 2005 land purchase, made with Pierce County, the Land Conservancy and private donors, is described as protecting the tram route from residential encroachment and providing space for future conservation initiatives. The park states that since 2014 it has used names for individual animals to connect people to the animals in its care.

Planning your visit

The park's address is listed as 11610 Trek Drive East, Eatonville, WA 98328, and its phone number as 360.832.6117. Admission prices, tour prices, membership and hours are on the park's website. Tickets for Wild Drive and Keeper Adventure tours are listed as requiring advance online booking, and the Welcome page states that Discovery Tram Tour seats are assigned at check-in at the gate.

Wikipedia states that the park is near Eatonville, Washington. The Welcome page describes forested walking paths that lead to the animal habitats in the central area. Kids' Trek is included in general admission, and the park lists Keeper Adventure Tours as open to guests ages five and up.

The Hellyer Natural History Center is accessible only through private events, so it is not open to general visitors.