Explore the best rated trails in Mount Vernon, WA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Olympic Discovery Trail and Pigeon Creek Trail . With more than 35 trails covering 4088 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Much of the asphalt is severely buckled in the miles heading toward Bothell. So many that you cannot avoid or bike around big sections of long and high ridges and cracks. The bumps cover far more area than smooth pavement. There is also a stretch of very large rock gravel on a narrow, elevated path near where the path intersects with 405.
Part of this beautiful trail is closed for salmon restoration. You can still access most of the trail by going to the parking lot and trailhead with port-a potty at 356st off of state highway 202, Fall City Road. Head past the porta potty head basically north.
I’ve been on a lot of trails. This one rates a B. The asphalt is excellent and wide until one enters the Seattle district. Then Boom it suddenly turns into a C trail when I’m feeling generous. It’s knarly and narrow with tree roots. Barely wide enough for 2 people to pass. Get it together Seattle. Lots of people come here for the trails and we spend money. Not that Seattle seems to care about that.
I liked this trail. Asphalt was almost perfect. Nice and wide. The scenery was above average not spectacular. Definitely worth doing.
I loved this ride. The trail was the best gravel trail I have ever been on. It’s worth checking out.
Loved this ride, but sadly last year, August 2023, found it hard to navigate through the Ballard section with the market days. Had a fall on the poorly marked/paved road, and broke a bone. Going to redo the ride tomorrow and I know it will be awesome! (Now that I know the pitfalls)
We ( recumbent trike & e-bike) headed West from the Kiwanis park. Turned around after 9km as the surface was really tough on the trike. There’s 2 good wheel tracks for bikes, but the trike had to ride partially in the coarse trail ballast. Scenic area with farm views and a huge windmill farm in the distance.
76° on a late afternoon Sunday in July, but the asphalt Centennial Trail from the Pilchuck Trailhead in Snohomish to Arlington was only lightly traveled - occasional families and friends cycling or ped’ing - on my year-later return visit cycling this rural trail.
Pilchuck trailhead, it turns out, while a couple miles further north from the endpoint in Snohomish itself, is faster to get to from Seattle. It's actually about .2 miles north of 6398 S Machias Rd., the address I’d put into Maps, but keep your eyes open: its large gravel parking lot (with portapotties) on the east side of Machias Road is hard to miss.
Embarking north from Pilchuck trailhead, the trail parallels S Machias Rd for 2.8 miles, passing one farm after another, then crosses it at a signal before angling into the countryside; at 3.3 miles it reaches a train depot with restrooms - the Machias trailhead.
At 4.1 miles the trail returns to paralleling Machias Rd as the valley narrows. At 4.8 miles the terrain transitions from farmland to sylvan and what was mostly flat trail angles up to a slightly uphill grade that over the next four miles takes cyclists and peds from the valley to the ridge.
At 5.9 miles, the Lake Stevens trailhead’s large gravel lot signals a bit more than a mile of light industrial, the Hartford trailhead turn off early in that mile, before we return to forest. At 7.8 miles, a mown wide shoulder on the east side of the trail sports sections of single track paralleling the paved trail, for the more adventurous among you.
At 8.8 miles, reaching the ridge, the trail flattens once more. At 9.5, on the west side, look just beyond the kiosk, picnic tables, and portapotties, where a wooden bridge provides access to Lake Cassidy. At 10.9 you pass the Getchell trailhead with its large gravel lot just to the east of the trail; just a hundred feet further, you may want to use the crossing signal for busy 84th St NE.
At 11.7 miles as you cross beneath Highway 9, you're at more or less the highest point on the trail, and begin the five-mile decline to Arlington. But you don’t get a view out across the valley until 13.2 miles from the Pilchuck trailhead, where a half mile or so of breaks in the forest and underbrush reveal lovely views of farmland below and the Olympics in the distance (not to mention a trailside billboard (!) advertising home lots with views just below).
Don’t be confused when you reach Armar Road at 15.9 miles and the trail appears to veer west - it’s just a leg off to the trailhead there, and more importantly a signal to horse riders to take the turn and not continue horseriding to Arlington. Cyclists and peds: to stay on the Centennial Trail, continue straight.
I turned around at 17 miles, when the trail began to literally be a sidewalk along busy 67th Ave NE, as it approaches Arlington.
The parking, the restrooms, the signage no longer exist.
Instead of going east from here to Concrete, we drove to Concrete and then took the trail west.
The park in Concrete was convenient and shaded.
Much better than parking at Baker lake road, even if it was available.
Best trail in Seattle. Very urban, although the eastern stretch is quieter in terms of foot traffic and road traffic, whereas the western side has more city vibes. If I can't do the whole thing I like to start at UW and either go up to Golden Gardens (western half of trail) or up to Woodinville (eastern half of trail). Lots of lunch spots or pack a picnic and enjoy.
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