Trail Description:
Ignore Kirkendall's description of the trail. The guy gives directions for riding up some of the best single track in the state. Don't we live for awesome single track down hill? Ride up the access roads underneath the chair lifts to the summit house. The access roads are steep but you can make the 3.5 mile climb in about an hour. Head north out Crystal's Northway Trail and get ready for babies butt smooth single track, spectacular views of Mt Rainier, wild flowers in all colors and beautiful old growth forest. Sweeping banked turns and several sharp switchbacks make the Northway Trail a fast and rowdy ride.
How to get there:
Take Hwy. 410 from Enumclaw. You will pass through Green Water. About 20-30 minutes after green Water take a left at Crystal Mt. Blvd. Park in the ski area parking lot. Parking lot is six miles up from 410.
| Posted by: PTUX on 9/8/2008 |
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Rode yesterday, 9/7. Went up the Gold Hills route through lakes and up to top. 2 hour climb, quite a bit of hike-a-bike. Downhill is awesome, especially lower half. Top half wasn't too bad either. 3 hour ride total with pics at top. 3K feet of climbing.
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| Posted by: Brandon Cope on 10/18/2007 |
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Awesome ride! Spent a couple of hours climbing tortorously upward only to meet up with a group coming up the back side who had no trouble at all. Oh well... the downhill makes it all worth it.
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| Posted by: The Martay on 7/8/2007 |
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We parked at CM resort and went up the cat service road to the Summit House, the views are well worth the slog up, the slog up... a hump and a half... nuff said. The ride down is great, better than described above, it's getting a bit sandy from the horses so use your wider tires. I would suggest you wait 'till after a rain to do this ride if your going to climb up the singletrack, let the sand compact a bit. The views are better than Sun Top if you can believe that. Enjoy.
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| Posted by: jonny boy on 8/18/2004 |
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This trail is excellent and can be made into a day's worth of riding - depending on your style. My suggestion (I used to live at Crystal) is to ride up the Gold Hills road which starts accrossed the Crystal road from where the Northway Road goes in (actually it's before you go acrossed the creek) on left. Park at the resort, cycle back down to this point, ride up to the Jim Town trailhead - there's 4 roads there. From there ride up to the top of the valley into the South backcountry area of Crystal and up to the summit. Then ride the trail back down. This is a great ride - fall is best when you can pick fresh huckleberries!! But its a great long ride anytime. Bring a lunch.
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| Posted by: max on 10/12/2002 |
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Rode it last w/e. Conditions were optimal. Opportunities to ride it this year are dwindling...
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| Posted by: MAX on 8/16/2001 |
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DO IT BACKWARDS! START AT THE LOWER NORTHWAY LOT, GRIND UP THE SINGLE TRACK. ENJOY THE VIEWS ALONG THE WAY. RELAX AT THE SUMMIT HOUSE & RELOAD YOUR ENERGY STORES. CURL AROUND THE FRONT SIDE, DROP IN ON THE CAT TRACK, "TIPTOE" ACROSS BEARPITS AND HEAD SOUTH FOR THE LAKES. SWIM AND EAT SOME MORE. COME OUT NEAR GOLD HILLS & BLAZE THE FS ROAD BACK DOWN. IT IS ALOT OF WORK GETTING UP FOR A MERE 8 MILE DH. 2 OF WHICH IS FS ROAD. THE HORSE TRAFFIC IS MAKING THE CLIMB TOUGHER (LOOSE). SINCE LAST YEARS NORBA RACE THE DH HAS GOTTEN BETTER. IN A WORD, EPIC.
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| Posted by: JP on 8/18/2000 |
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Park near the horse camp (about 3 miles from 410) on the right side of Crystal Mountain Blvd. The climb up is about 4 miles of steep, rooty and rocky single track filled with switchbacks. The first lookout has great views of Mt. Rainer and Norse Peak. Follow the single track thru the meadows filled with flowers to a logging road. This road leads to the summit house and spectacular views of Mt. Adams and St. Helens, etc. If your up to it, take the NORBA track (just the beginning) down to Elizabeth and Hen Skin Lakes. Look at the TOPO maps for more details. This is a great ride, very technical and filled with beautiful views that will make you a better rider.
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| Posted by: PK on 6/6/1999 |
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These directions leave out about half the singletrack riding... don't take the access road up, just do Kirkendall's version backwards. This way you can still come down the best part of the singletrack, and stay off the "roads" as much as possible. ONe benefit to doing it Kirkendall's way, though, is the great views of Rainier you can get during the last half of the climb... kinda hard to take a good look when you're bombing down a
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| Posted by: Joe Duram on 5/7/1999 |
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I would rate this trail even higher if it was a little longer. A hard steep climb to the top and then a super sweet twisting ribbon of dirt down to the base of the mountain.The only problem is that it is so short that when you finish you want more.
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