The trail follows the route of a former railroad grade and the engineered banks of the Sammamish River. When the Army Corps finished its channelization project, the resulting levee offered a natural corridor for a multi-use path, and King County opened the trail to the public in 1979. The path is paved its entire length and maintains a remarkably gentle grade, making it accessible to wheeled users of all abilities. An unpaved equestrian trail parallels most of the route, separated from the main path so that horses and bicycles share the corridor without conflict. At its northwestern end, the trail merges seamlessly into the Burke-Gilman Trail, which continues west through the University of Washington campus and along the Lake Washington Ship Canal all the way to the Ballard Locks. At its southeastern terminus, the Redmond Central Connector links riders to downtown Redmond and onward toward Lake Sammamish.

Midway along the trail, the small city of Woodinville has reinvented itself as Washington's most accessible wine destination. The trail passes within easy reach of Chateau Ste. Michelle, the state's oldest winery, whose French-inspired chateau and manicured grounds host summer concerts and tastings. Nearby, Columbia Winery and Silver Lake Winery draw cyclists who lock up their bikes and sample vintages before rolling on. The former Redhook Ale Brewery, once a craft beer landmark, has been transformed into a complex housing DeLille Cellars, Sparkman Cellars, and the dinner-theater spectacle Teatro ZinZanni. This stretch of the trail delivers something unexpected for a suburban path: a genuine tasting tour, accessible entirely under your own power.

The Sammamish River Trail is one link in a much larger vision. King County's Locks to Lakes Corridor connects the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard to the eastern shore of Lake Sammamish, a continuous trail network of roughly 44 miles spanning the urban core of Seattle to the foothills of the Cascades. When the East Lake Sammamish Trail was completed in 2023, the full corridor became a reality. The Sammamish River Trail also intersects with the Tolt Pipeline Trail, which climbs east toward the Cascade foothills, and the North Creek Trail, which heads north into Snohomish County. These connections place the trail at the center of a web of non-motorized routes that serve both commuters heading to Microsoft and Google campuses and weekend adventurers looking for a longer ride.

Between the wineries of Woodinville and the tech towers of Redmond, the trail passes Sixty Acres Park, a wide-open expanse of athletic fields and wetland restoration. The name is literal: sixty acres of flat ground where soccer games and cross-country meets unfold against a backdrop of cottonwood trees lining the river. Great blue herons stalk the shallows. Red-tailed hawks circle above. For a path that runs through one of the most expensive real estate corridors in the country, these stretches of open sky and birdcall are a reminder that the Sammamish Valley was farmland within living memory. The trail ends at Marymoor Park, King County's largest park at 640 acres, where off-leash dogs sprint through meadows, rock climbers scale an outdoor wall, and the velodrome hosts competitive cycling under lights on summer evenings.