Washington State Bikepacking Route

[Scatman]

It's hard not to notice the PNW section of the routes map is vacant.  Living in Seattle I know that there is great potential for a loop or point to point here in WA.  I'm calling out to all riders for ideas or thoughts on the matter.  I have a route I'm working on now between Chelan, WA and Redmond, WA. (what's better than a route that finishes at a brewery? Red Hook).  I'm guessing it's going to be at least 150 to 200 miles but I'd love to see it 300.  Can anyone say WA 300?

So let's here some ideas people.

Scatman
www.adventuresofscatman.com
Get out there!

[100milesperburrito]

have you been able to make any progress on that route? I also live in Seattle and think this would be a pretty amazing route to take. Coastal, mountains, desert. All the good stuff. Not to mention Redhook.

Anyhow, have you found other resources for Washington trips?

Thanks,

Dave

[AZTtripper]

I found this link when I was looking for info on the AZT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_Trail its listed as a National Scenic trail and says it's open to bikes.

[chrisx]

Washington has more trails than any one person can ride.
You can take bike paths from lake Union to Idaho with only 20 or 30 miles on roads.

http://www.olympicdiscoverytrail.com/
Lake Crescent is nice.  Is the trail complete now?
Take 6am ferry to bainbridge, bus 90 to Poulsbo 7 to four corners 8 to Sequim 30 to port Angeles
http://www.jeffersontransit.com/maps/areasigns-map.html
http://www.clallamtransit.com/images/downloads/maps/clallamoverallmap.jpg
under $15 each way.  Arrive in PA in time for lunch.  If the trail is complete to Forks now it should be good.  
Don't forget to try Vancouver Island, Nice there.

WA state map is worth getting.  Try 5Th floor of central library or city hall
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/bike/statemap.htm

http://evergreenmtb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

http://www.seattlerandonneur.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&id=4&Itemid=28

http://www.imba.com/epics/rides

There are millions of acres of national forest East of Seattle

Oregon has more trails than 1 person can ride
1 small example
http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/tillamookstateforest/docs/NonMoto_TrailGuides/NonMotoTrailGuide_vAug2011.pdf
nice here

http://nw-trail.org/
http://www.singletracks.com/bike-clubs/Oregon_181

[chrisx]

I found this link when I was looking for info on the AZT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_Trail its listed as a National Scenic trail and says it's open to bikes.

I emailed them 1 year ago and 3 years ago about bikes.  I never got an answer.  
I know the Olympic Discovery trial (part of pnt,) is open to bikes.  ODT is a combination of road, gravel, and single track.  When I rode it 2 years ago it was not complete.  It was well built with good signs.  If complete now, it should be exceptional.  ODT is open to bikes.  

The Olympic Discovery Trail is part of the Pacific Northwest Trail. IF also open to bikes, a person can ride from the Pacific ocean to the continental divide on a trail.  

edit; PNT broke away from the ODT. They are now different trails. Edit

Who wants to be first.  Will you be heading South on the Continental Divide Trail. Which is where PNT ends.

[Scatman]

Wow, great stuff guys. 

I've been busy but I have 90% of the route from Chellan to Redhook figured out.  I'd say 60% of that ninety is verified.  I added as much single track as I could, partly because it's already there and because I'm a sucker for pain and suffering.

So far I have just used http://evergreenmtb.org/home/index.php and google maps to find FSR (forest service roads).  Green Trail maps have helped me figure out where Wilderness Areas are.  My goal is to make it as rural as possible and challenging. 

If you put this link into the search box in google maps you can see what I have so far:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authuser=0&vps=2&hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&output=nl&msid=218395733862737123258.0004b774337675295d50e

I'm thinking the start will actually be at 25 mile park outside of Chellan, then use a combination of roads and trails to head SW to Klone Peak, down Chikamin Ridge to the long section of dirt roads to Cashmere (long green line on map. Then follow the rest of the route to Tiger Mtn.  From Tiger one would ride Grand Ridge, Duthie, to Soaring Eagle, to the Redmond Water Shed, and then follow the Thrilla Route to Redhook.
(this is a very simplified description but if you know the trails on the map it will make sense.)

Scatman

[briandunnington]

I have been working on figuring out a long-distance mountain bike route for a long time as well. Instead of running from Chelan to Seattle though, I have been trying to create a north-south route that covers the whole state. Your route from Chelan to Hyak had a few ideas for pieces I was missing, so today I am sharing the whole route that I have so far:

http://wambr.org (WaMBR = Washington Mountain Bike Route, WaMBR Trail rhymes with Amber Ale)

Take a look and see what you think. I can share the Google Earth/Maps files as well if anybody is interested. A large portion of this is still unverified, but it is a good start (I think).

Also, a useful tool for visualizing the Wilderness Areas is here: http://www.wilderness.net/map.cfm?xmin=-13432752.0514&ymin=6116058.7182&xmax=-13390775.6216&ymax=6195708.8325

[briandunnington]

I found this link when I was looking for info on the AZT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_Trail its listed as a National Scenic trail and says it's open to bikes.

I contacted the PNT folks as well and they confirmed that the PNT *is* open to bikes, but not on the portions that cross through Wilderness Areas. Since nearly the entire middle section of northern WA is a Wilderness Area, I could not see any satisfactory alternative route that stayed at all true to the PNT.

[danimal]

Hey all, I happen to live just north of the PNT.  I have ridden and slept on the first three mountains east of the sound many, many times.  A lot of clear cut forest and some great climbs and fine views of the Islands, Olympics, Canada and the Cascades and the odd bit of righteous singletrack.  If you have any specific questions about the Whatcom and Skagit county portions, fire away.  It's my backyard and I love it. 

[racing4thesun]

I would love to see a Washington version of the AZT race/ride! When would be a good time to start? Early fall to avoid the heat (ha who am i kidding, this is washington!) and early enough to avoid any early snow at higher elevations?

[jnsadventures]

I have been working on figuring out a long-distance mountain bike route for a long time as well. Instead of running from Chelan to Seattle though, I have been trying to create a north-south route that covers the whole state. Your route from Chelan to Hyak had a few ideas for pieces I was missing, so today I am sharing the whole route that I have so far:

http://wambr.org (WaMBR = Washington Mountain Bike Route, WaMBR Trail rhymes with Amber Ale)

Would love to help out with weekend scouting trips to create the WaMBR. My girlfriend and I live in West Seattle and we've been anxious to get out on some 'epic' rides. We're following you and Scatman on Twitter, and will be checking up on this soon to see if there's still interest in progressing more.
 

[briandunnington]

Glad to hear that a few other folks are interested in creating a long-distance route in WA.

I cleaned up the WaMBR digital maps that I had and posted it online here: http://wambr.org/WaMBR.kmz

Some sections are more detailed than others, and some definitely need to be verified in real life to make sure the roads/trails/etc even exist. If anybody wanted to tackle any portions at all and then report back, that would be great. Initially, even just riding the route and making sure it 'works' would be a good start. After that, a more formal verification would be great, including GPS coordinates, mileage, photos, etc.

If anybody is super familiar with a particular area or goes out and rides part of the route and has any suggestions on re-routing, I am all ears.

Hopefully Spring is here (or nearly) and it will become easier to get out and check out the route.

[Scatman]

To:  racing4thsun:  I think the best time of year would would be in Sept.  It's when the best mountain biking is.  Too early and the trails can be blown out and sandy.

To:  Briandunnignton:  I know Chikamin Ridge, Mission Ridge to I-90 very well. 

[ltlquail]

Hey guys this is great and just so Timely. I will be in the states for 7 weeks from late July to Early Sept to visit family in Washington and have booked a solid 10 days in early August for myself for a "grand adventure". Initially I was contemplating Colorado Trail however I am not confident I will be able to handle the altitude as I will have no time to acclimatise. I have been eying off the COR350 route that has been posted here in the past but it seems to utilise to much pavement for my liking. A route in Washington would also limit the need for me to travel very far.

Anyway I would be keen to attempt the entire route if possible even if it is just to help establish. I will be spending most of the rest of my time down near Mt St Helens and have plans for a couple of overnighters around that area so could possibly incorporate some of the lower sections of the route into these rides.

Briandunnington if I can help research anything remotely (ie from Australia) just let me know

Cheers

[briandunnington]

If you are coming later in the summer, hopefully we can get out and verify a larger portion of the route before then. Even at that rate, it will most definitely be an 'exploratory' trip and there is a very good chance that you will encounter something impassable (dead end, washed out roads or bridges, non-existent trails, etc). Assuming you are OK with that, it would definitely be a great adventure though. I hope to ride as much of the route as possible this year as well, both the get it mapped out and dialed in, as well as to just get out and see some parts of the state that I wouldnt otherwise have the chance to see.

As for helping out remotely, all I can suggest is downloading the Google Earth file that I posted, zooming in on a section, and then trying to research any information you can about the forest roads/trails/etc to see if you can find any information about them.

One thing I would like to get feedback about is the northernmost terminus of the trail. I routed it up a trail to the Canadian border to add more remoteness and avoid some road riding, but it does present an issue: If you want to ride north-to-south, you will have to ride quite a ways uphill just to get to the start, just to turn around and ride right back down the same section. There is another dirt road (Chopaka Road) that goes to the border that may be more appropriate - what do you guys think?

[ltlquail]

Love the notion of exploratory. I did spend some time in the past trying to plot a route from mt rainier area down to mt st helens trails but thought most of trails around ranier were closed to bikes. Very interested in any sections that contain single track. Can you guys recommend which maps to source both paper and gps before coming over?

[seatown7]

I'm interested in all of these routes and might be able to join in some scouting. Building a Surly Troll adventure bike and I'm about 50% done as of now. Doing the San Juan Hut ride from Telluride to Maob this summer...wanna get some climbs in and miles in my legs for preparation.  

[Lynne]

WaMBR -- what a great idea!  I just found this as I was trying to plan a trip to see Portland OR, ride a few hundred miles, and also visit my mom in Yelm WA.  I'm thinking of flying into Portland then riding this route as far as Ashford, before cutting east to see mom.

[briandunnington]

WaMBR -- what a great idea!  I just found this as I was trying to plan a trip to see Portland OR, ride a few hundred miles, and also visit my mom in Yelm WA.  I'm thinking of flying into Portland then riding this route as far as Ashford, before cutting east to see mom.

Just keep in mind that this trail is a work-in-progress. The route is being updated and fine-tuned on a daily basis, and the route provided on the WaMBR website is just a guide and does not list every road/turn/etc. In fact, I just posted a turn-by-turn list of the Ashford-Oregon section that includes:
 - re-routes to include Ape Canyon Trail/Plains of Abraham near Mt. St. Helens
 - re-routes to include Falls Creek Trail (singletrack)
 - changed end destination to Carson (since the Dog Mountain/Ausberger Mountain trails are closed to bikes)

Here it is: http://wambr.org/6-ashford-to-end.html

With that in mind, it would be a great adventure to get out and explore the route. If you do, please report your findings so we can make the route even better.

[Russ]

WaMBR sounds awesome. Just moved to Seattle from Colorado and I've been looking for a route to explore my new state. I'd be interested in helping out with scouting the route and lending my time in other ways.

I was trying to map my own route through the mountains east to west, but there are quite a bit of wilderness areas. North to south seems like a better option. Brian, let me know if you need some help with this project.