Last updated: 04/18/2007
If you are looking for Eastern Washington specific trails are
here
Before Mountain biking, make sure you are ready for the ride, you, in shape, a
good bike in working order, and so on.
There is a list of the 10 essentials that you should have when you mountain
bike
And add to that whatever you need to fix bike on the trail, like a spare tube, pump, patch kit, chain tool, basic bike tools, and duct tape :)
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If you ride down to Marymoor there are a couple of trails that I have noticed
across E Lake Sammamish. When you get to the entrance to MaryMoor park, turn in (right). As soon as you cross the bridge, STOP, hoist your bike over the curb, and start down the hill on the path that runs between the river and the windmill. Stay on the path. For awhile it's single-track, which then opens up to about 6 ft. wide gravel. Do not enter the dog excercise area, instead, go to the other side of the area and find the path that becomes dirt again, winding gently through a woods next to the Sammamish river. You'll encounter a wooden bridge you have to hop up to and back down at the other end. After some more trail, it becomes a wooden walkway over the marsh and estuary of the lake where it feeds the Sammamish river. Get on it and ride carefully. It terminates at an observation platform on the north end of the lake. It's often very pretty there. Instead of going back the way you came, exit via the other approach to the platform. After a few hundred more yards of wooden walkway, it turns into a blacktop path that winds through an arboretum (that's trees with documentation). Eventually the blacktop emerges from the woods and gives way to a gravel path that runs alongside some fenced meadows to the left (this is the other side of the non-leash dog area). Follow the gravel until it lets out onto the paved parking lot/driveway of that area. When you get out to the main park road, turn left. This will take you back toward the entrance of MaryMoor. Instead of going back out to Sammamish Pkwy, however, turn right onto the Sammamish river trail just past the bridge. (The trail is between the bridge and Sammamish Pkwy). Ride the trail out to the 1 Mile marker (near Shari's restaurant). Turn right off the trail at the mile marker, and start up the sidewalk of Redmond Way. At the first stop light, turn left. After you turn left, take the first right, which is Old Red Road. Ride up Old Red Road 1/2 mile and turn left on to the first road you see. It dead-ends into 60th St. Turn left onto 60th and follow it until it dead-ends into 156th Ave. Turn right onto 156th and take it back to Microsoft. Kissing the trail, Marymoor park and beyond. It's not hard at all, a little bit fuzzy for the explanation while riding in the Redmond watershed (take the map of this area), not enough single track. The downhill on the Tolt pipeline are fun, like all the downhill. I think it's a good ride for this winter, ~3 hours to do it, you don't have do drive to much. Or it can be a good one to do if you want to get in shape after the winter. |
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The connector trail between Bridle Trails and Marymoor Park, From 40th St. turn
north onto 156th Ave. Turn left onto 60th St. Follow 60th over the 520
underpass to where it stops and another road (I forget the name) takes off at a
right angle to the right. Don't change your heading from 60th St. Instead, at
this junction look for a trailhead marked by 3 or 4 square wooden posts. This marks a multi-use trail (bikes/pedestrian/equestrian) that cuts straight through to Bridal Trails park. It occupies a neutral corridor that threads between many private properties and alonside a golf course. Most is dirt, through the part between 148th and 140th is gravel Starting at 140th. the trail gets fairly steep and then rolls with the terrain. Once you get to Bridal Trails park, you are forbidden to ride the trails within the park, but who wants to squish around all that horse poop anyway? One thing I do instead is ride the easements between the properties that surround Bridal Trails park. The neighborhood across the street from Bridal Trails has approx. 20 ft. wide corridors so people can get their horses in and out of their yards. It's kinda fun to ride these. Anyway, it's probably about an hour round trip to get on the trail at 60th and ride all the way out there and back. |
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The Tolt Pipeline crosses the Sammamish Valley about 4 miles north of Redmond. You can pick it up at three points: 1) near the Redhook brewery, 2) Out near Duvall, 3) someplace in between] or [to get there.., take Samammish river trail (from Marymoor park) about 5.5 miles (not sure of the exact distance..) and off to the right, the pipeline trail breaks off... there is a sign there for it. |
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Novelty Hill (across the hill from the redmond watershed). To get to the
trailhead. Take 520e to the end, go down avendale road until it crossed Novelty
Hill Road, take a right up Novelty Hill road. Climb up the hill, in about 2 or
so miles, it drops down and there are a set of power-lines and you park here... Easy. Novelty Hill is always muddy. I've never ridden there when I haven't come back covered in mud--even when it is at its driest. Two weeks ago, it was in typical form. Lots of large puddles & some sections of mud bog, but lots of riding in between. You shouldn't be riding anywhere that's muddy this time of the year anyway. If, as a mountain bike rider, you'd like to keep your privileges on the few remaining trails where it's still legal to ride, don't tear them up by riding when it's been raining. That pretty much rules out riding Novelty Hill (and other places) from late-October to mid-June, with a few breaks when it's been dry for a couple of weeks at a time. |
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From: Thomasr I have been going to a place up HWY 2 past GoldBar off of Rieter Road. This has mostly been a haven for Motorcyclists, with all sorts of burms, hills, etc. However, if you continue past the dirtbike pit, and go up about another mile or so, you will see trails all over the place. Try to work your way to the right towards the power lines (I used them for land markers). You get a bit of everything from creeks and streams, to gravel, sand, tough ups and downs, etc. And I have never seen a Mtn. Biker there yet. Most everything finally ends up dumping you back on to the road (gravel), and you just work your way back to the car). |
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In case you don't know, the three
single track trails on the back side of Tiger Mountain (
Preston, Iverson, Northwest Timber
) will be undergoing a seasonal
closure from October 15th until April 15th. For better or for
worse, this is the DNR's strategy to keep the trails healthy for the long term.
Anyway, the trails are in wonderful shape right now, and it is clear that there
has been a large investment in trail maintenance by the DNR over the last
several months. So, I encourage you all to get out and ride on these wonderful trails now that their open season is drawing to a close. In particular, the Preston Railroad trail offers a thrilling single-track descent. Below is one popular ride on the mountain. DIRECTIONS: The loop starts at the Tiger Summit parking lot. (Access from route 18 about 4.5 miles South from I-90) Take the right hand fire road from the lot and climb for 20-40 minutes. (NOTE: This is a tedious climb if you haven't been doing alot of miles, but hang in there. The rest of the ride is well worth it!) There is a wonderful view spot about 60% of the way up where you can stop for a breather and stunning views of Rainier. Keep climbing from there until you reach a Y in the road. Take the left fork (the right one goes to east tiger summit) and continue up the road for another 0.4 mile or so. You will see the entrance to the Preston Trail on your right. Preston starts as rolling single track and transitions into a series of switchbacks. It is an endless descent (35-60 minutes) You will eventually spill out onto a fire road. Take a left and go for about 0.2 miles. Bear right and follow the fire road for 3-4 miles. You will eventually dive down a steep part of the road and then sweep back up another short but steep fire road climb. A little ways after the climb crests, you will see a sign on the right for the Northwest Timber trail. This is a 15-30 minute rolling affair that is also a lot of fun. This spills you out onto the same fire road you started on. Turn left and ride the short hill down to the parking lot. Strong riders can do the loop in about 90 minutes. Folks with a few less miles under their belt might want to budget 2.5 to 3 hours. It is well worth it! BTW, if you are doing this ride late in the day, bring a strong light. The back side of the mountain gets *very* dark even when there is still 30-45 minutes of light left in the sky. After you've completed the Preston ST and are cruising about 1/2 way down the logging road, just as the road opens up to awesome views of the surrounding valley (this is not a scientific measurement) there is a trailhead on the RIGHT marked (and legal) for mt. bikes, horses and hikers --- it is called "Northwest Timber Trail" This is a newly constructed ST complete with bridges (the longest bridge on Tiger Mt. at 55 feet!), which meanders across the mt. through a very cool fern garden and having some fast, smooth downhill sections. Not as technical as Preston, but it's a great warm-down and a stark improvement to riding a hot, dry logging road back to the parking lot. This trail will drop you back out on the logging road used to grind to Preston, hang a left and your back at the parking lot. I highly recommending checking it out, this ride has quickly reached my "Top 5 Rides in Washington" listing based on the recent ST addition, so please don't tell your friends ;) It is documented in the book Kissing the Trail from John Zilly. |
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| St Edwards St
Park
. South of Bothell along the shore of Lake Washington. Take
NE 68th Ave south from Bothell Hwy (522) and at the top of the hill on the
right is the entrance (it is about at 148th St.) Not all trails in the park are open to bikes. The best open-to-bikes trail is the main trail going down to the water from the old seminary building. There are 2 other tempting, steep, very erosion prone trails that go down to the water - please, please don't take these - the mtn bike community worked hard to have bikes allowed in the park at all. There are also several relatively flat trails tooling around the plateau on top (through nice forest) that are open to bikes. If you bike there, consider coming out to one of the frequent workdays (once a month, usually Saturdays) to do trail maintenance. Signs are posted in the park indicating the dates. There are maps all over the park, so just park by the seminary and you should be able to find your way around. It's off of Juanita drive just north of the QFC, it's the Big Finn Hill area. |
There is a very similar ride in
Kissing the trail from John Zilly.
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Ride 10 from
Kissing the Trail of John Zilly I have went there with my gps to map the area because there are a lot of super single tracks in there. If you are interested in getting what I have done here is the very detailed version map of the area. |
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I did the Wallace Falls ride (Ride 31,
Kissing the Trail, second edition). Right now, the trails are
essentially dry and in excellent condition. In particular, all the rocky
sections on the trail between Wallace Lake and Wallace Falls are completely dry
and great fun to ride. It took us just three hours and we were dawdling (we
didn't stop to see the falls, however).
Under current conditions, this ride would be a good choice for a novice of reasonable physical condition, looking for a ride to a scenic destination. If you go, go early, the parking lot and trails fill up with hikers (and mtn bikers) in the early afternoon. |
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Ever get the urge to test the limits of your body and bike, in wilderness
settings well away from crowds and traffic? If so, I recommend you go to the Methow Valley! Drive to the town of Winthrop, pick up a copy of Steve Barnett's "Hardcore Methow Valley Mtn. Biking" at the Mountain Shop, carefully note the location of the Winthrop Brewery and head for the hills! There is a lot of mountain biking in the Methow, including many easy-to-moderate (*FUN*) romps on well-marked trails. Steve's guide is for those who want more. There are just thirteen rides in his guide (at $8.95, it is NOT a bargain). All save one (his Sun Mountain Trail) will take you to the limit of your technical ability and several will take you to the limits of your endurance and strength. I have so far done just three of his rides (Sun Mountain Trail, Starvation Mountain Loop and Tiffany Mtn Loop), and hiked two others (Angel's Staircase and Driveway Butte). I hope to get in one more before the season is out. Steve's descriptions are spare and include intriguing remarks about connecting trails and continuations, so maps, compass and the knowledge to use them should be considered essential. If you try one of the rides I haven't done yet, please let me know how it went. I want all the 'beta' I can get before I tackle any of these. Outlaw Pale Ale at the Winthrop Brewery is wonderful way to recover from one of Steve's rides. I just returned from an extended weekend trip to Winthrop where we rode around the Sun Mountain trail system. SM has about 40 miles of MTB/CC Skiing trails; there are a wide array of trails that cover almost all skill levels. Most of the trails are nice cruisers, we did not find any super tough (Cooper River like) singletrack; oh well speed thrilled anyway. They do have some righteous downhills that will make even the craziest rider use their brakes. I highly recommend this area. |
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