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Go ride the Mountain Loop Highway from Granite Falls

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Go ride the Mountain Loop Highway from Granite Falls

Old 05-29-17, 02:16 PM
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Seattle Forrest
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Go ride the Mountain Loop Highway from Granite Falls

You'll thank me later, but it isn't necessary.

Park in downtown Granite Falls, there's ample street parking. Take care of whatever food/water/bathroom/iced cream needs you may have, then start riding. As you leave the smallish town, you enter the woods, enjoy a big hill, pass through a small community with the only store you'll see, and then the scenery gets very natural and beautiful. The road hugs the Stillaguamish River, and there are occasional glimpses of peaks that are still snow-capped. At this point the road serves campgrounds and hiking trails. The way civilization gives way to nature makes a very pleasant ride.

You can turn back 30 miles later at Barlow Pass, or make a ~90 mile loop if you can handle (15 miles of) dirt and gravel. (If you do the loop, take Jordan Road back from Arlington.)

Here are a few pictures from yesterday. If you do this ride, I'd love to see yours too.









Here's a map:

https://www.google.com/maps/@48.0831.../data=!3m1!1e3
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Old 05-30-17, 01:44 AM
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Yup. Thanks. I've been dreaming of a camping/biking trip over that way.
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Old 05-30-17, 08:42 AM
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Great scenery, thanks for sharing. I'll add this to the cycling dream/bucket list.
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Old 05-30-17, 09:19 AM
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Originally Posted by SpinThrift
Yup. Thanks. I've been dreaming of a camping/biking trip over that way.
I hike up there a lot so I drive this road a lot. It's much nicer on a bike!
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Old 05-30-17, 09:50 AM
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I don't know which is more beautiful, the photos or the bike in them.
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Old 05-31-17, 10:26 AM
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Thanks for posting this ride.
I have ridden 530 out to Darrington, and the South Skagit Hwy - but not the Mountain Loop Hwy.
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Old 05-31-17, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by wgscott
I don't know which is more beautiful, the photos or the bike in them.
Thank you kindly!!!
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Old 05-31-17, 11:00 AM
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Originally Posted by Wildwood
Thanks for posting this ride.
I have ridden 530 out to Darrington, and the South Skagit Hwy - but not the Mountain Loop Hwy.
I'd suggest going soon, the mountains are still snow-capped, it isn't too hot yet, the river is pretty full. Somehow I had a much better time on this ride than I expected. It's just really nice right now.

Be aware the Mountain Loop Hwy is not paved from Barlow Pass until near Bedal, around 10 miles from Darrington. Some gravel but mostly hard-packed dirt. (Pic) It's about 15 miles of this.

If you want to make a loop, the obvious route looks like you should take Hwy 9 from Arlington toward Granite Falls, but don't. Take Arlington Heights Road which turns into Jordan Road. It's rolling farm land, with ponds, a view of the river, and almost no traffic.
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Old 05-31-17, 11:19 AM
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I should take my 'ultimate gravel grinder + downhill roadie demon'
Builds character and muscle when ridden as a single.
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Old 05-31-17, 08:33 PM
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Seattle Forrest - Nice photos, as always.

Did you do the full loop on this ride? I was wondering how the dirt part was this year.
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Old 06-01-17, 03:22 PM
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I haven't seen the dirt section yet this year, but I was passed near the end of my ride, and Strava's flyby shows that somebody did the full loop this past weekend. The title he gave the ride was something like "I wish I knew there were 15 miles of gravel, I got 4 flats." So I assume it's passable on a bike, especially if you're prepared for dirt.
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Old 06-01-17, 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
You can turn back 30 miles later at Barlow Pass, or make a ~90 mile loop if you can handle (15 miles of) dirt and gravel.
I did the full loop last year, in the opposite direction; started from Arlington, set out on 530 toward Darrington.

The gravel section was stunning.



(If you do the loop, take Jordan Road back from Arlington.)
Burn Road is also good fun. Both are beautiful. Jordan is more rolling, whereas Burn starts with a climb, keeps going overall uphill-ish for a while, and then goes overall downhill-ish for a while until you reach a couple miles of flats into Granite Falls.

If you wanted to do Burn but have a splash of more Jordan-esque vibe toward the end, you could do burn until getting to the left turn onto Moen rd/Engebretsen rd and take that to the Jordan/Quarry roundabout.

Lots of options.
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Old 06-27-17, 03:36 PM
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I want to go to there.

Is this worth the drive from, say, an hour south of Portland?

And that photo of the gravel section looks pretty gentle, but the description of four flats makes me wonder. Would 32c Conti 4000s be sufficient? They've been fine on most gravel so far for short stretches, and 100% great on mostly-dirt gravel roads.
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Old 07-13-17, 12:04 PM
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@Masque

It’s a long drive. Getting to the start of this ride takes about an hour’s drive north from Seattle.

This is a fantastic ride, the dirt section is mostly pretty good, I’m sure you would enjoy it on 32s. That’s answering a different question than “is it worth the drive” though. Don’t know if I can really answer that for you. There are a lot of great roads (paved and not paved) that are closer to you. I hate driving so I probably wouldn’t make the trip, or if I did I’d want to stay a few days.
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Old 07-19-17, 09:14 PM
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I lead a group ride on the paved section at least once/year. This year we did it from Snohomish, avoiding main roads as much as possible, and made a century of it to Barlow Pass and back. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/13085792

One of our riders this year rode to Darrington from his Everett house and met us at the pass, then rode with us back as far as Snohomish, thus doing the loop plus some. I think it was 200k+. He says the gravel rides fine on 25s. He's not your average rider, though.

This is also a very beautiful ride in fall if you can get a sunny day before a storm has blown the leaves off. Don't forget to take the side road into the lower parking lot at Big 4 and admire the view.
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Old 01-19-18, 01:06 AM
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Anyone ride the Whitehouse Trail in Darrington to Arlington to make it a loop back to Snohomish? Saw the Snohomish county webpage but not sure if phase 1 is completed. Even if incomplete, I'd be OK with gravel. Have an email out to their project manager but thought this would be an easier place to get replies and firsthand real answers.
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Old 01-19-18, 04:05 AM
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Originally Posted by yamsyamsyams
Anyone ride the Whitehouse Trail in Darrington to Arlington to make it a loop back to Snohomish? Saw the Snohomish county webpage but not sure if phase 1 is completed. Even if incomplete, I'd be OK with gravel. Have an email out to their project manager but thought this would be an easier place to get replies and firsthand real answers.
The 6-mile open portion between Darrington and Swede Heaven is pretty good for much of the year, decently smooth dirt. When I was on it last spring, though, there was lots of mud and it was partially flooded.

There's a 3-mile pseudo-open portion starting in Arlington where the Whitehorse Trail connects to the Centennial Trail, and ending at Trafton. The surface is railroad ballast, very thick and loose. If it hasn't been cleared in a while, it's also prone to be covered in blackberry thorns.



The rest of the trail is closed, and much of that corridor basically consists of rough ground that gets occasionally semi-cleared. It's more "unstarted" than "incomplete."
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Old 01-19-18, 08:38 PM
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I rode a short section of the Whitehorse Trail that paralleled 530. Not suitable for 32 mm tires. I got back on the highway at my first opportunity. Blackberries reaching across the trail didn't flat me, but were a nuisance.
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Old 01-19-18, 10:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest
I rode a short section of the Whitehorse Trail that paralleled 530. Not suitable for 32 mm tires. I got back on the highway at my first opportunity. Blackberries reaching across the trail didn't flat me, but were a nuisance.
Which portion of the trail? Closer to Arlington or leaving from?
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Old 01-20-18, 05:52 PM
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It was near Oso, I think. I'll see if I can find the GPS data.
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Old 07-03-19, 07:48 PM
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Thanks for the tips! Going to attempt the loop tomorrow.

Forrest what's the bike in the photos? Never seen it before, custom carbon?
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Old 07-05-19, 12:40 PM
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That was a GT Grade.

https://www.gtbicycles.com/usa_en/gorogue/
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Old 07-12-19, 11:40 PM
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Nearby in Darrington. Suiattle River Road.





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