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Bikejoring Trails Around Seattle



What trails are good for bikejoring around seattle?

Urban Trails around Seattle:

Burke-Gillman/Sammamish Valley




This trail goes from Ballard in North Seattle around the North end of Lake Washington up the Sammamish River to Redmond. Each section can have its own challenge. Mostly, it is just the number of people on the trail. My favorite section is from Kenmore to Bothell as it runs by the River, is often shaded, has alternate routes, bridges and is by the river. My least favorite section is from Lake Forest Park to Log Boom Park. It is narrow (fence on one side, slope up to highway on the other) and no views. This trail is paved. This trail is owned by the City of Seattle within the city limits and by King County elsewhere.

Alki

This trail goes around the Alki area. It has good views of Puget Sound, but is really crowded. This trail is paved. It is owned by the City of Seattle.

Waterfront to Interbay

This trail goes along the waterfront in downtown Seattle right next to the Alaskan Way Viaduct. This is best run in bad weather or early. I would suggest running it in bad weather as people are generally sleeping around this trail early in the morning during good weather. Avoid workdays, good weather, special events and times when the ferries are crowded. This trail is paved. It is owned by the City of Seattle.

This trail extends through Myrtle Edwards park to the North. The park is open 24 hours a day, so expect to find people on the trail at all hours. We ended up yielding to other people walking and biking a lot. Further North there is a trail that extends into the Interbay area and cross connects to the Pier 91 trail.

WARNING, the main trail to Interbay is very narrow in places. If you meet oncoming bikes it is a significant problem. Also the signing for the trail is pretty well hidden. The Northerly trailhead is at the end of the drive into the railroad yard on the East side, while the cross connector to the Pier 91 trail and next Westerly street is to the West. We parked on the street to the West and used the cross connector trail.

Rural Bike Trails

The most enjoyable and memorable solution is to run rural. In the Puget Sound area we have rural bike trails. We even have one that crosses the Cascade Mountains. These are the best places to bikejor that I have found. For the dogs it is like going hiking, except they don't have to wait for me to walk slowly behind them.

Snoqualmie Valley Trail




This trail goes from Duvall to Carnation up by the town of Snoqualmie, where there is a gap. It restarts, goes through North Bend, under I-90 and up to Rattlesnake Lake where it meets the Iron Horse/John Wayne Trail. As of 2005 there is a washout between Carnation and Snoqualmie. This trail is pretty empty unless there is some sort of event going on. This trail has a relatively fine aggregate base, which is kinder on the dogs paws. This trail is owned by King County (www.metrokc.gov).

Trailheads exist at:

Duvall to Carnation 9.1 miles, no real elevation gain. Trail is close to being overgrown due to low usage.

The section between Carnation and Snoqualmie currently has a washout. Check with King County Parks. This section of the trail is mostly on the side of a forested ridge with limited views. I have run into people and had interesting conversations usually on the Carnation side. Not as many people on the other side, but a good bridge towards the Snoqualmie side.

Take the low road by the old sawmill pond if you are going through the gap. The upper road has no shoulder and blind curves. It is very unpleasent. Finding the Northwesterly end is difficult (keep looking). On that end the trail could go through a big culvert, but you would get into a rock quarry where they blast, so don't do it. The other end is easy to see as it is the end of a old elevated railroad bridge next to the road.

From Snoqualmie to North Bend is a short and flat run. What is fun is going through the middle of a golf course on the trail. The dogs are entertained and also serve as entertainment.

From Snoqualmie to 1-90 is about 5.1 miles with about 110 feet of elevation gain. There are generally people with off-leash dogs in this area. Be careful about cars too. Crossing the old highway can be challenging.

From I-90 to Rattlesnake Lake is almost 5 miles and has 420 feet of elevation gain. This is a pretty nice section of trail. It is forested, shaded and secluded. Limited views, but nice environs.

There are a lot of things at Rattlesnake Lake, a Seattle Public Utilities Watershed Visitors Center, a trailhead for Rattlesnake Ledge and Ridge, and the Western end of the Iron Horse Trail.

Iron Horse State Park and John Wayne Trail


Running towards Snoqualmie Pass from Twin Falls upper parking lot.


Snoqualmie Tunnel is over two miles long, lights, reflective vests, glow sticks, flashers, etc.


Lake Keechelus


Headed towards Easton above the Yakima River.


Coming out of the canyon next to the Yakima River on the way to Thorp.

This is the big trail. It goes across the Cascade Mountains from Rattlesnake Lake by North Bend to Ellensburg in Central Washington. From there the trail goes through desert to the Columbia River. We haven't run that portion, and probably will not. Snow dogs in the desert with rattlesnakes is not a good idea.

The aggregate on this trail is highly variable. The gravel on the bridges is big and hurts the dogs paws, so bring booties. There are some tunnels, for which you will need GOOD lights. You will also be a long way from help, so you will need to pack as if you are going for a hike. This trail is owned by Washington State Parks and most places you must pay their parking fee, but some places need a Northwest Forest Pass instead. I usually just keep all the parking passes visible all the time.

The places to access this trail are as follows (with parking permits required):

From Rattlesnake Lake up to Upper Twin Falls is a uphill incline of almost 5 miles with around 350 feet of elevation gain. The saving grace is that it is shaded. At the upper end you will go by a gravel pit and then a switchyard. There are some views of the mountains around North Bend as you gain elevation.

The trail from Twin Falls upper parking lot to Garcia is definitely the most interesting and consistently scenic portion of the Iron Horse Trail. There are lots of bridges and some cliffs. This is my favorite section of the trail. The catches are that your dogs MUST be well trained and it can be real windy. If it gets too windy walk your bike leaning against it as a brace. If your dogs start being pushed to the side, seek shelter. There is a portapotty in a bit from the twin falls end.

Just after Garcia you go around a knob. That section has cliffs and bridges without railings. It is also windy (see the discussion above). You MUST have a well trained team. They must be smart about not jumping off cliffs. They should be able to cope with wind. All that being said, it is fun.

Just after the McClellan Butte trail crosses the Iron Horse trail is a picnic area, camping area and outhouse.

From here on up to Hanson Creek, you will find some more bridges. In general, this section is more exposed than the lower sections, so this is not a good section to run on hot summer days.

From Hanson Creek to the tunnel is exposed and can be hot. You will go by an interesting snow shed and cross the Annette Lake Trail. Supposedly you can enter from the Annette Lake trailhead as well, but a bike and dog team are a bit much from my point of view.

The Snoqualmie Tunnel is over two miles. It is best attempted from the Hyak side. Running the tunnel is like running in a refrigerator with the light out and water dripping on you. It is a traditional August fun run because the cold air is good for the dogs. The floor has sort of a oily mud that is hard to get off the dogs. You will want a GOOD light. A normal bike light is not bright enough. I also put reflective vests and flashers and glow sticks on the dogs and have a backup headlamp on my helmet. Even if your lights fail, the dogs vision is likely good enough for them to run the tunnel using glowsticks on their collars. You will just have to follow them blindly. That is how I did it the first time. That is when I learned to trust my dogs and decided to invest in better lights.

The first time your dogs see the tunnel they may freak out. I actually introduced them to the concept of running it after running them at night. Then I took them to the tunnel one day to aclimate them after running a different section. I just took them a hundred feet in, then out, then a few hundred feet and so on. I gave them a few weeks to mull that over. The dogs have to know that they will get back out of this hole you are taking them into. I suppose in retrospect starting with shorter tunnels would have been easier.

Between Hyak and the Stampede Pass road you run along Lake Keechelus. There are good places to stop and enjoy the view. There is also a picnic, camping and restroom spot where the trail crosses a peninsula.

The section between the Stampede Pass road and Easton is pretty isolated. There is not really any way out that makes sense other than either end.

Note that Central Washington is generally warmer than Western Washington and this is the section you will start noticing temperature increases in mile by mile. Be careful. I only run these sections on days that are cold or when it is pouring rain in Western Washington.

There is a outhouse in the middle of nowhere. After running the other sections, this section seems pretty ordinary, except for a shorter tunnel until you get closer to Lake Easton. Then you cross the Yakima River on a bridge, go through a cut and by a cliff with a great downriver view. Once you are down to Lake Easton you will cross another bridge over the river/lake and a railway. There is also a very short tunnel just before Easton and you will pass a canal as you enter the outskirts of Easton.

If you want to just hit the good portion of this section, run it back from Easton to the second bridge across the Yakima River. We have also started from Lake Easton Park (at the most Westerly parking lot), but that was a temporary trail, pretty bumpy and not well marked.

A few roads between Easton and South Cle Elum.

Expect to encounter some loose country dogs along this section.

A road running East from South Cle Elum. Note: there isn't any parking available, so get someone to drive back to South Cle Elum.

The section between South Cle Elum and Thorp is an isolated canyon. There is a road on the other side of the river, but you can't get to it.

The lower part of this section has tunnels. Since one tunnel curves a lot, lights are required. The trail East of the tunnels is pretty chewed up from horses. This makes it harder to ride and not much fun for the dogs. Once you get out of the canyon the trail, and everything else is exposed. It is windy and will stay windy all the way to Ellensburg.

A few roads between Thorp & Ellensburg, but parking can be hard.

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