Kirkland's October Runs North to South This Year, and Part of the Trail Is Closed
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
Kirkland's October 2026 calendar starts at Juanita Beach Park North on the 3rd and ends at Marina Park on the 31st. In between are stops at The Village at Totem Lake, North Kirkland Community Center and Kirkland Urban. All five venues sit along one north-south line through the city, and the Cross Kirkland Corridor usually ties that line together without a car.
This month the corridor is better at one end than the other. The north end gained a signalized connection to Eastrail at Slater Avenue NE in June. South of downtown, King County closed the trail on September 8 between NE 52nd Street and 108th Avenue NE, and it stays closed until about early December. Whether a given Saturday is easy depends on where you start.
The dates run from north to south, so the list reads like a map.
Four of the six fall on Saturdays, and both Saturdays with two events put one venue near Totem Lake and the other farther south. That pattern is what makes trail conditions matter this month.
October 24 is the day to plan most carefully, because the two Halloween events run at different hours and do different things.
The Village at Totem Lake's event runs in the middle of the day, and the center says plainly that it is not a trick-or-treat event. It works for families who want characters, crafts and a stage show before naps or dinner. If your child is set on collecting candy, choose the evening event.
Kirkland Urban's Treat Street begins three hours after the Village event ends. Participating Kirkland Urban businesses hand out candy, and the plaza has three themed areas: the BOO-tanical Garden Corn Maze, a Monster Bash Dance Party with a live DJ, and a Trick-or-Treat Candy Wall where a live hand reaches through with a trick or a treat. Balloon artists and costumed entertainers fill in around them, and costumes are highly encouraged. You get up to four hours of free parking with validation from any Kirkland Urban business, which covers the full event plus dinner nearby.
With noon at Totem Lake and 5 p.m. downtown, families can do both. Going by trail between them uses the part of the corridor that is still open, from Totem Lake south toward downtown. The closed section sits farther south.
King County's August 25 project update states the schedule this way:
Full trail closure for three months, starting September 8.
The closed section runs from Northeast 52nd Street to 108th Avenue Northeast. Crews are repairing a damaged culvert under the Eastside Interceptor Section 14 sewer pipe, building a retaining wall to support the slope, and stabilizing the stream nearby. The Eastside Interceptor is one of the largest pipes in the regional sewer system. It carries wastewater from local systems between Kirkland and Renton to South Treatment Plant.
Three months from September 8 lands in early December. The County has not promised a specific reopening day. The City of Kirkland has a page for this closure with the same September 8 start and three-month duration. The City's general closures page still describes periodic closures that end sometime in fall. For the current schedule, use the County bulletin and the project-specific page.
The County has posted a detour. Its map marks detour points, including one on a steep section of trail, and labels NE 52nd St, Lake Washington Blvd, Lakeview Drive, NE 68th St, 106th Ave NE and 108th Ave NE. It shows the route but gives no written turn-by-turn directions, so look at the map before a stroller or bike ride rather than relying on signs alone.
Neighbors of the work site will notice more than the closed trail. The County lists weekday work hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and noise from heavy equipment during those hours. A temporary above-ground diversion pipe keeps sewer service running, and it brings 24-hour lights and pumping, a generator and some odor at the diversion sites. The diversion pipe is about 3,000 feet long and runs along the west side of the trail. Crews will remove it and restore the site when the work is finished.
The north end improved this year. The new signalized crossing at Slater Avenue NE and 132nd Avenue NE gives people on foot and bike a protected way across and links the corridor to Eastrail. The City reported the project complete with signals working on April 24, 2026, and held the ribbon-cutting on June 22. On October 3, that crossing sits on the trail side of a Totem Lake afternoon. Starting at 2 p.m., The Village's Hispanic Heritage Celebration is a short ride from the corridor's north end.
For residents south of NE 52nd Street, the month works the other way. Getting to Marina Park on October 31 or Kirkland Urban on October 24 by trail now means the posted detour on Lakeview Drive and Lake Washington Blvd.
Kirkland has one confirmed new option and two that are still unconfirmed.
The Slip at 80 Kirkland Ave is open again under chef and restaurateur Ricky Eng. WhatNow Seattle reported in April that Ricky and Maria Eng were taking over the restaurant and planned a spring reopening. It is a short walk from Marina Park on Catrina Walk day.
Bamboo Sushi's Kirkland location at 128 Lake St still says "Coming Soon" on the company's own site, with every day listed as closed. WhatNow Seattle first reported the restaurant in July, and no opening date had been announced at that time. In the north, The Village at Totem Lake lists Lime Social Margarita at 12670 120th Ave NE, Suite 166, also as "coming soon." Until either posts hours, don't plan an October evening around it.
The planned Marina Park dock and shoreline renovation does not affect this season. The City's schedule puts the start of construction at July 5, 2027, with work continuing through spring 2028. The Catrina Walk on October 31 uses the waterfront as it is today. For this year's Halloween, the trail closure south of NE 52nd Street is the only major change to the waterfront route, and the County's three-month estimate points to a reopening in early December.
If you live near the corridor and want to understand how trail access and projects like the Eastrail link affect your home's value, I'm glad to go through it with you. Tom Covello offers a free home valuation and consultation, built on the street-level changes that happen in Kirkland year to year.
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