Fall City horse arena revitalized by community volunteers

Published 1:30 pm Friday, May 22, 2026

A group of Fall City community members is restoring Fall City Arena, a part of the town’s riverside park once beloved by the local equestrian community.

Friends of Fall City Arena held an open house May 3 to showcase the work that has been done on the arena, with equestrian demonstrations, family activities and a ribbon cutting with the SnoValley Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The arena at Fall City Community Park was originally built in 1983 by the Raging River Riders, a local saddle club formed in the 1960s. Today, the arena is owned by King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks, which operates the parks in the unincorporated Fall City.

The Raging River Riders disbanded around the Covid-19 pandemic, and the arena fell out of shape, as Fall City resident Jim Hutchins discovered when he tried to prepare the arena for an event a few years ago.

“I went over to the arena with a pointed shovel, and I tried to put it into the surface, and it only went down about a quarter of an inch,” he said. “This is such a wonderful community asset to the horse community, and it’s not being utilized like it should, and maybe because it got a reputation for being, basically, a dangerous surface.”

Hutchins is the founder and president of Friends of Fall City Arena, formed to raise funds for and partner with King County on the arena’s restoration. He also owns an equestrian education center in Fall City called the Northwest Natural Horsemanship Center.

He explained that a safe arena includes a foundation with some cushion to reduce impact, as well as a surface that the horses won’t slip on. When he started his work on the arena, it was made up of thick, dry silt that had washed in during flood events. Silt is slippery when wet and “rock hard” when dry, Hutchins said — not an appropriate surface for horse riding.

Today, the arena’s footing (top layer) is made up of just sand, which will be kept at 2 to 3 inches. Many arenas used a mixture of sand with rubber or fabric, Hutchins said, but the nonprofit chose to stay away from artificial materials due to the proximity to the river.

And if the area floods again, silt will return and have to be dealt with, he said.

In order to do this work, Friends of Fall City Arena received a community partnership grant, in which the county works with a local organization to complete projects on Parks property.

The agreement, Hutchins said, is that the county will groom the arena once a month, and Friends of Fall City Arena will provide supplemental maintenance as needed, especially during riding season, to keep things safe.

“We’ll continue to promote [the arena] and do events and continue to make the improvements that are necessary to make it available,” Hutchins said.

In the future, Hutchins also hopes there will also be parking improvements at the park and a safer crosswalk across State Route 203. Currently, the designated horse crossing near the park — just north of the roundabout — has low visibility, especially if a driver is speeding on the highway.

To continue these improvements, as well as maintain things, Friends of Fall City Arena is collecting funds through donations, sponsorships and memberships, which can be done at fallcityarena.org.

The arena is open to the public every day, except when reserved for an event. To reserve the arena, contact King County at 206-477-6150 regional.scheduling@kingcounty.gov.

“We’re here for the equestrian community,” Hutchins said. “We want to bring [the arena] back to its former glory, so to speak.”