Mountain Biking Near North Bend
Two Mountain Bike Trails Near North Bend
We are pleased to welcome our newest blogger Cailen McDevitt, an RN, graduate of the Western Washington University Recreation Program, and the author of https://wonderwander.home.blog, which journals a trip that she took with friends in Nepal.
Have you been dreaming of the perfect combination of endless sticky dirt and small-town vibes? Well, you can find a whole lot of that when you bring your freshly tuned mountain bike out for a spin on one of North Bend’s local mountain biking trails: Olallie and Raging River.
On the trail up Olallie.
Olallie Trail
At the lookout halfway up Olallie.
Olallie Trail is a dreamy two-way trail that gives you the feeling of being among the dinosaurs. The forest is expansive all around you and the ferns are huge. To start, park at the Rattlesnake Lake parking lot and ride east on the John Wayne/Iron Horse trail. About 2.5 miles in, the Olallie trail is on your right. The trail winds its way smoothly up Mt. Washington, eventually taking you to an outlook where you can look back at Mt. Si and Little Si. If you continue up, you’ll enjoy a bit more packed dirt trail before joining with an old logging road turned mountain bike trail. The way gets a bit rocky here but continues to give you outlooks of Si and the surrounding mountains up valley. The trail goes a total of 8.6 miles. This is an out and back so you can turn around whenever it pleases you to hoot and holler your way back down the zippy single-track flow trail. Just make sure to watch out for other uphill bikers. The trail is 8.6 miles each way and is accessed off of the Palouse to Cascades Trail (formerly known as the John Way or Iron Horse Trail). You can park at either the Olallie Trailhead near Rattlesnake Lake or at one of the trailheads just east of the park.
This trail is one of the newest mountain bike trails in King County. Starting on the Palouse to Cascades Trail, it consists of a mixture of 1/3 segments built on old roads and 2/3 new single track trails. The first segment of the trail was completed in 2017, and it is so new that Washington Hometown didn’t have it mapped until we started working on this blog post and realized we were missing the trail—a perfect example of how recreation data is never complete, and we are constantly working to add new information. The trail is so new that if the map inset does not have the trail, come back in two hours and it will be loaded.
Raging River Trail System
The Raging River Trail system in Raging River State Forest is another one of the new trail systems being developed in collaboration with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance and the Washington Department of Natural Resources. To get to the trails from Seattle, you can take Exit 27 and turn right after the off-ramp. Follow the road around to the left and up to the top of the hill. Where the road starts to level out, you will take a right into the parking area for the start of the mountain biking up track called Upward Mobility. There are 31 trails in total, and Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, along with Department of Natural Resources, has plans to continue building trails in this area. Currently there are trails that suit even the most modest beginner and all the way up to the confident free rider.
If you’re just getting started with mountain biking, you will love the smooth woodsy Flow State trail and when you’re ready to test your skill you can ride higher up to bike the whole Poppin’ Tops loop. If you’re looking for a long day ride, start early to climb up the entire Raging Ridge, loop around on Invictus or No Service, and climb back up Return Policy to joy ride the rest of the way down Raging Ridge. This 21-mile lollipop loop is a butt kicker, but it is completely worth it for the variety of trail and view of Mt. Rainier. As soon as the trail opens up just after the loop of the lollipop starts, there is a sitting area where you can sit back and enjoy the view for a bit before continuing on your dirt grind. You’ll enjoy swoopy banked turns, rooted descents, flowy packed trail, and plenty of up track. If you go between late June and August, you’ll likely get to feast on thimbleberries along the way!
On your way out of North Bend, you may find that you are parched and need a little refresher before the drive back home. Volition Brewing Co. in downtown North Bend is the perfect place to park yourself either outside or inside. Canine pals are welcome! If you stop by in the evening, there is often a food truck on the side of the building as well. Look ahead on their website to see which food truck will be hosted that day.
A great spot for Mexican cuisine is the family-run Rio Bravo at the east side of downtown North Bend. With outdoor seating, great tacos and burritos, and Corona with lime, this little restaurant really hits the spot on a hot summer day.
Photo credit for all of the pictures in this post: Cailen McDevitt