Washington Trail Log
List of trails I have ridden. Non exhaustive list of trails in the area.
Favorite Scale: *Good | **Great | ***Fantastic
Click on Underlined area for Trailforks link!
Issaquah
Tiger Mountain:
A fantastic trail system that is just as beautiful as it is fun! Spectacular views of the cascade mountains from the top and along various trails. Though seldom, they do host shuttle days and enduro races. Don’t expect to shuttle yourself however. There is a gate that stays closed to prevent this. Located just off of the highway, it is extremely accessible with tons of parking and pit toilets available. There is a bit of everything here from easy flow trails that you can bomb to quite difficult tech trails that’ll challenge almost anyone. Possibly one of the most diverse and well maintained trail systems in the area. Everyone I’ve ran into here riding has also always been so pleasant, an added bonus! A definite must ride location if in the PNW. Particularly because of its accessibility from Seattle! Another bonus is there are trails coming off of the access roads and along different spots on the climb trail. So if not feeling a big climb but still want to ride, this place has got you covered.
A fairly smooth climb to the top but I wouldn’t go as far to say easy. A little steeper climb, so your legs and lungs will be burning. That said, it isn’t a bad climb. Still a fun grind to the top that makes for a good fitness marker. The better shape you are in, the more fun you will have (obviously). But this could also be an excellent trail to ride to measure progress in your fitness journey or use as a training climb to prepare for some other rides!
The last essentially half mile of the climb to the top of Tiger Mountain. This is brutal. Gets very steep with a few switchbacks. Connect to this after Master Link to complete the climb to the top.
Access Road Climb to Tiger East Summit:
This is another option to climb to the top. Can just push your bike up here if that sounds more pleasant. Really not any easier than the climbing trails mentioned above, but keeps you off the tail if your plan is to walk the entire thing and is a bit shorter a walk this way. But in turn, that means it is steeper.
This is an awesome trail! Super fast and smooth ride! Big berms, some root drops, a bit of tech here and there (nothing to crazy), and some fun table top jumps and pops to it! My caution would be there are a couple of hard to see turns straight into some roots or root drops. But an excellent trail and my favorite trail here so far!
Lots of flowy goodness! Big berms, jumps, and smiles to be had on this trail. It was blown out and lots of breaking bumps and holes when I rode it. But still was an excellent time and amazing descent! Definitely some bigger jumps than on East Tiger Summit but all tables.
I rode the trail in reverse as I used this to connect back to the parking lot after riding East Tiger Summit to Side Hustle to this. So for me, there was primarily climbing back to the parking lot. But had some neat views and was a pretty easy pedal back overall. A couple rooty techy bits but everything was pretty manageable. Nearing the end is a short and fun downhill back to parking lot.
About halfway up Master Link. This trail ahs some fun fast flowy sections and other sections you really got to work for the speed and hustle a bit. Still fun and definitely not a bad option if you aren’t wanting to climb to the top. About half way into this trail, it turns into a more downhill expiernce. Use this trail to connect to Atlas, Joy Ride, or Silent Swamp. Can be a bit confusing based on the name, but this trail is one way. There are signs on the trail dictating this. Not sure if people will get upset if you chose to go the opposite direction or not given the trail is called inside passage. In my opinion it should be a 2 way to allow for better connections to some of the trails at mid mountain.
Neat trail to work on your skills and get a almost East Coast style ride in! Definitely a tech trail through and through. I would say this is closer to a black tech trail than blue. Tons of cool rock and root gardens, drops, steep sections, and fast tight turns. My wife rode this trail with me and said this was her favorite trail here that she has ridden so far! Definitely worth the ride on this trail if you like technical riding!
Probably one of the most popular trails in the area. Starting as a split from East Tiger Summit Trail, this trail has some fun little jumps, drops, and lots of roots! The trail is genuinely fantastic! Personally, I don’t think its worth the ride from the top of the trail though. The first section is a blast but then turns into a slower flatter section with another climb up to part 2. Part 2 starts at the split for OTG or NOTG just off the road after all the climbing is complete on Master Link. This Section of OTG is fast, technical, and just a flat out good time! I would recommend climbing to here and riding this section and climbing back up to here to hit a second lap on NOTG and end with Atlas.
***Not Off The Grid (NOTG): (Black)
This trail is an option route down OTG. Starting at the split of OTG and NOTG after completing the Master Link Climb just off the road. NOTG is my personal favorite trail at Tiger (so far)! It has less sharp turns than OTG does and is definitely steeper with a bit more jenk to it. Some super fun chutes and drops along this trail if jenk is your vibe. Expect this to be more difficult than OTG. Steeper, looser, techier, and faster. An absolute must in my opinion!
A favorite for my wife and I! the trail is FAST! Can be dusty and blown out so watch out for holes. But it is put together so well! some great rooty bits, fun drops, steep berms, and neat little poppers to get some air. The absolute best way down the trail system heading back to the parking lot. This trail is so much fun! A good one to ride when wet as well! Hard to not smile and laugh your way down this trail! I’d call this a tech flow with a spicy blue rating!
This trail is very meh. A bit overgrown and just kinda boring. Definitely contains some rocks and roots, but lots of sharp turns and flat trail make it more of a boring slog than a thrilling ride. A couple spots fun to attempt but overall would avoid this trail unless trying to connect to something below it.
A connecting trail to the other side of the mountain. A pretty easy pedal in either direction it seems but we rode it in reverse and didn’t find it a hard pedal. It is a very scenic trail as it takes you through the forest that feels like being trapped on Endor. The forest seems to change “style” along the way constantly interesting ride if you look around. A couple steep and fun short descents but mostly fairly flat or up all the way back to the parking lot.
Greenwater
410/ Mount Rainier North:
This trail system is really more of a shared system with ATVs and motorbikes. The system is also significantly more remote than a lot of other systems in the area. I would also HIGHLY recommend only planning to ride the trails out here as a shuttle with a group of friends. Most of the rides out here require quite a bit of pedaling and climbing. We saw people pedal all the way to the top of Suntop, but they looked exhausted. If you want to test your fitness or a huge mountain bike ride then this is perfect. Otherwise just shuttle and have fun on the descents. They are neat trails with SPECTACULAR views of Mount Rainier and the Cascades. regardless of your method to the top, you will have amazingly long descents back to the bottom! This is a fantastic area to plan to come stay for the weekend and camp, bike, hike, and fish in the beautiful rivers below! Definitely more of an adventure ride area!
This trail has absolutely stunning views of Mount Rainier from the top! It looks massive! You can park at the parking lot and pedal the mile up the road from there to the summit or connect to the trail from the parking lot since the upper section of trail comes back through there. We rode the trail in August so it was very dry. The top section is steep loose bouldery descending. A lot of fun if you like this but maybe not worth it if it makes you too uncomfortable. I’d rate this section of trail black because of the looseness and big rocks. The second portion of trail starts off with a climb. It is steep and seems to go on forever. I think maybe for about 2 miles. If you shuttled the ride like we did, congrats you still get a climb! There are a couple false summits that will make you believe you are at the top, but there is more climbing. Once you reach the real top (just follow along on Trailforks) rest for a snack and water and take in the cool views. There is fortunately a gap in the trees here to be able to take it in. The descent was very sandy loose and steep in spots. There were also sections that had some exposure as well. No serious cliffs but definitely some narrow spots along near cliff faces that would send you in a 20 foot tumble into trees. It was quite blow out from some motor bikes that we watched dig up the trail. For that reason alone, I would give the trail a black rating. Under normal situations, definitely blue. Very fun fast riding that goes on for a long time. No big features except for a few rock gardens and pops and drops you can hit if you want. A few steep rocky sections but nothing too insane. Recommend riding in the fall when its a bit wetter.
Olympia
North Slope:
A super cool trail system located inside Capital State Forest. These are some neat well built and maintained downhill trails. They run an Enduro race wit the Race Cascadia series here. The trails here are legit. Some big drops and jumps, steep lines and chunky rooty riding. The trails here are designed to be shuttlable! Grabbing some buddies and shuttling yourselves up these trails makes for an amazing day of riding with endless laps! definitely expect some bigger fun features!
Shuttle Road: A-Line to A-5000
The road is all gravel but pretty well maintained. If you choose to pedal it, it isn’t too bad a pedal. About 2 miles to the top with a couple steeper spots.
Upper section of trail seemed to have a bit more tech involved with it that made it really fun. A couple of rocky spots and drops mixed in with some smaller jumps. The lower section of trail has lots of table top jumps berms, and fast steep sections down to the access road. Fun fast trail!
This is very much a black tech trail. Some very steep loose spots that can get rooty and rocky. A couple sharp blind turns into roots. Lots of various line choices through out the trail that make it fun to keep coming back to. It is very technical but all flows together well and is definitely exhilarating! Has an alternate blue line you can take called Bowfinger. I am not sure about this option though as I have not ridden it yet. This is a must ride trail for my technical riding lovers out there!
An alternate trail off of Stormy. It is fast and fun and full of rooty goodness. A couple steep bits but overall nothing is too crazy. A fun fast trail. Would avoid when wet however just due to all the roots.
Favorite trail in the system. Definitely a black. This is one of the longer runs on the North Slopes. Top section has some tight corners and some big loose rocks but is fast. The mid section flats out a bit but is still fun. No crazy features. The lower section is the best. Fast with lot of chunk and some really fun successive log drops and steep sections. Can really bomb this trail once you know it. I definitely recommend taking it a bit easy on your first lap down just to lay eyes on some of the features. None of them are super challenging, but they are blind features. The last log drop right before the trail ends will launch you to the moon and land flat if you aren’t careful.
Tacoma
Swan Creek
This is a much smaller trail system in comparison to the trail systems in the area. This is in the middle of Tacoma, a decent sized city south of Seattle. This system is not in the mountains, so don’t expect any type pf terrain like that. However, it is nestled on a small hill that actually has created some pretty neat and fun trails and skills areas that are absolutely perfect for running session laps. All the “downhill trails” here are actually pretty fun and flow pretty well. All of them are flow trails varying in jump size and difficulty as well has a few drops. There is a pump track, drop zone, and numerous skinnies in the area as well. There are also a few short XC loops surrounding the system. It isn’t super well maintained, so some of the wooden features are beginning to fall apart, but overall it is still a really great location ride. I do advise to park in the large parking lot on the north side. The surrounding neighborhood isn’t the best area and maybe not a place to park a car with expensive bikes and bike stuff.
This is a pretty fun XC loop that circles that trail system. It has a few blue sections that stem off it as well. Mostly smooth and easy to follow, a few sharp turns, roots, and a handful of playful lines including drops, dirt walls, and pump and jumps. A pretty fast and flowy XC trail.
This is a freeride trail with a couple small jumps and berms. The last set of berms is a bit tight and takes all your speed away. If you go straight through them and hit it as a jumps, this trail is then quite fun.
This is a flow trail with some small to medium table top jumps and one large table at the very end. Be careful on this last table as it can rocket you into the sky. Do not need a lot of speed to clear this jump. Some fun berms along the way. Trail is fast, flowy, and fun!
This is a fantastic flow trail that is great for everyone. I had some issues clearing a couple of the jump, but overall found it a great trail to run laps on to practice jumps, holding speed, and holding speed in berms! Probably the fastest and flowiest trail here and definitely my favorite!
This is a just a very small, low consequence, jump line that is designed for beginners learning to jump. Also makes for an excellent warmup prior to hitting some of the bigger jump trails.
Very Very easy pedal to the top of each downhill line. Anyone can run laps all day without getting super tired on these climbs.
Port Gamble
Port Gamble Forest Heritage Park:
This is a really neat trail system. Porta Potties available. You park at the bottom then pedal up to the top of the trails. If you head towards the center of the system, it turns into a a bike park. With huge slopestyle jumps with viewing areas to east jump lines to learn jumping and each and every line designed to be easily sessionable! Not sure if events take place here, but wouldn't be surprised if they do. It is definitely setup to be able to handle events. Mostly everything is jump lines but there are a couple tech trails snuck in. There is also a drop zone with 4 different sized drops to practice on! When done playing around on the top section of trails, there a a few larger decent options back to the parking lot that are super fun! Note there are a number of trails not marked at Trailforks that are some of the best trails here. My favorite trail being Trail 4 (which is actually #5 on the trail map on location).
You can use this as an alternative climb to the top. Or to connect to different trails. Gates across road prevent shuttling.
This is a pretty easy climb and not very long. A couple of steep switchbacks but overall is fairly mellow. Will connect to access road to complete the climb to the top. Trailforks shows this as a Blue, but signs on location call this a green. I would call it a Dark Green.
Unmarked Climb Trail:
This trail isn’t on Trailforks. From the parking lot follow the access road for a very short bit to where Ranger ends on the right of the road. There is a trail designed to push your bike up that weaves through the downhill trails so you can lay your eyes on everything. Definitely worth the push up if this is your first time here. Some big features on some of these trails.
One of the three downhill trails back to the parking lot. A neat trail with tight big berms and a couple rock rolls here and there. Nothing to challenging aside from a sharp turn and a couple steep sections. Pretty short trail but fantastic option down!
Super short and easy climbing trail back to the top of the trail center to run laps on the trails here.
A very short and easy beginner jump line. Small table tops and forgiving lines.
A very short and easy beginner jump trail. Small tables and berms but can ride at high speeds. Fantastic for building confidence and learning how to jump and ride berms.
An intermediate jump line good to use as a step up from the greens. Well built table tops and fairly easy jumps.
Fun jump line to progress on after the green jump lines above. Easy jumps that a bit larger than the greens and a few berms. A step up at the end that is fun to clear!
As the name suggests, some serious berms! Berm after Berm on this trail! High speeds, big berms, and some cool jumps! This trail is a blast! A really neat side hip out of a berm towards the end that can get big if you want. Be cautious of the pumps. They can buck you off pretty easily if you aren’t ready.
A very easy short climb trail.
Very fast and fun slalom course. very loose but definitely a blast and worth the race with friends!
Trail 4: (Blue)
Technical trail that is super fun. My favorite trail in the upper section of the system here. Can absolutely bomb this trail. Some fun rooty and rocky sections. One steep section between a couple trees. One slightly exposed section leading into the steep section. Not on Trailforks. Up past the slalom course a bit. Is #5 on the map at the park.
Port Angeles
Dry Hill:
Dry Hill is an incredible true downhill experience! Most of the time, the gates are closed and you are required to pedal to the top if you are wanting to ride here. However, they have started hosting shuttle days that you can sign up in advance and pay $75 to ride all day and have food included. They aren’t advertising this yet however, so out of respect I wont post the link until they begin advertising. They host a downhill race here and possibly an enduro race. A really cool community of riders with some seriously huge features and extremely well built trails.
This is the shuttle road to the top. A fairly easy pedal but definitely better to shuttle if you are wanting to do a couple laps. Gravel road well maintained.
An easy flow trail. No features except for maybe a couple places to pop off some small lips. A few steep spots for being a green and extremely loose. Perhaps really a dark green in rating.
This is a pretty fun trail that is new to the park and one of the longest trails in the area. It is a flow trail with berm after berm all the way to the bottom. Fast and fun! It was quite bumpy when we rode it, but it was very dry and hasn’t seen any rain yet to allow packing the trail in. I imagine it’ll get smoothed out.
This is on the lower section of Dry Hill. A really well built and fun flow trail with good tables and berms. Super fast and makes you feel like a pro going sideways in these berms! Definitely a fun ride. If the gate is open, you can self shuttle this section. More often than not, expect to pedal up the access road or climb Lower Uproot to the top of this section.
This was my favorite trail on the lower section. It intersects with Worm Hole to get a couple of styles in one descent. This trail is a tech trail with some fun drops and a few rooty bits. A couple cool rock rolls as well. You can really bomb this trail if you want! The intersection to Worm Hole is on a Berm that you can enter as if its a drop! More often than not, expect to pedal up the access road or climb Lower Uproot to the top of this section.
This was a really neat and well designed jump trail. Some HUGE jumps in here. Big tables and Hips throughout with a handful of more slopestyle jumps as well. If jumping is your thing, you’ll love this. I am not the greatest at jumps and couldn’t really clear anything so it wasn’t my favorite trail of the day. This is a trail that would be well advised to pre-ride, re-ride, and then fully send just due to the nature of the jumps. Definitely a couple spots that could get you into trouble if you don’t know the trail.