# Mt Rainier area ride



## drfriend1978

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good ride in the Mt Rainier area please?

I'm looking for something around 60 miles starting from somewhere near Ashford. Apologies if that's a bit vague.

Are the roads/traffic cycle friendly?

Thanks.


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## bradkay

At this time of the year the riding is fairly limited. First of all, there aren't a whole lot of paved roads in the area, and some of those will be closed. 

The main road (Hwy 706) between Elbe and the Nisqually entrance to the park is fairly cycle friendly with good sight distance and a wide shoulder, but it is slightly boring IMO (long straight road but it does have the occasional nice view). Going south out of Elbe towards Morton gives you a chance to swing east onto a loop ride through Mineral Lake - pretty roads but high speed traffic and little shoulder. The climb up to Paradise is a popular ride among cyclists but I would wait until July so as to not have to deal with snow. 

A favorite road of mine is Skate Creek Road between Ashford and Packwood. It is very scenic, going up over a small pass and following Skate Creek for several miles on the southeast side of that pass. The downside is that it has no shoulder and some drivers treat it like a racetrack. BUT:a long section of it is closed every winter due to snow. In the spring when the snow has cleared the forest service keeps that section closed for a couple of weeks while they perform maintenance. This is the time to go ride it - a twenty mile stretch of scenic twisty two lane road with no cars (except for the occasional forest service employee). 

My gazetteer shows a few other roads in the area that might be paved: one route between Ashford and Eatonville and then some forest service roads up over the ridge towards Randle. The first is more likely to be paved than those latter - but I have never been on it so I cannot verify the ride.


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## drfriend1978

Thanks. I'll be there during the summer so should be able to look into all of those.


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## SwiftSolo

The best ride in the immediate area is up to Paradise. While the road is always open, icy pavement limits the wisdom of doing this ride until the days warm up in the spring. I usually start doing this ride on the first warm days in late March. It is an easy climb that averages about 4.5%.

The Skate Creek road is also a very good ride on weekdays. The road is often doable for a couple of weeks before it actually opens to motorized vehicles in early spring. Once summer starts, weekends become more busy on both of these rides, however, the traffic to Paradise is much more civilized than the Skate Creek road traffic.

Not far away is a series of rides near Randle, the best of which is the 26 road up to Windy Ridge. This ride is covered in another thread on this forum (many consider it the best ride in the Northwest).



drfriend1978 said:


> Thanks. I'll be there during the summer so should be able to look into all of those.


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## SantaCruz

drfriend1978 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good ride in the Mt Rainier area please?
> 
> Thanks.


The bike friendliest ride into the NP is on the north side, so not 60 miles starting from Ashford. But for 60 enjoyable miles, start in Sumner (or Orting) on the paved trail to South Prairie. A mile on Hwy165, then right on lower Burnett Road (skips the traffic to Buckley), Burnett, Wilkeson, Carbonado, then into the Park (Carbon River Ranger Station).


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## eplanajr

SantaCruz said:


> The bike friendliest ride into the NP is on the north side, so not 60 miles starting from Ashford. But for 60 enjoyable miles, start in Sumner (or Orting) on the paved trail to South Prairie. A mile on Hwy165, then right on lower Burnett Road (skips the traffic to Buckley), Burnett, Wilkeson, Carbonado, then into the Park (Carbon River Ranger Station).


What this guy said. It is very rideable year round.


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## SwiftSolo

drfriend,
We did Skate Creek to Paradise today. Skate creek is clean as a whistle but not open to cars. The entire ride was as good as it gets. If you only have a couple of hours, do Skate creek out and back. It likely won't open to cars for a week or two.



drfriend1978 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good ride in the Mt Rainier area please?
> 
> I'm looking for something around 60 miles starting from somewhere near Ashford. Apologies if that's a bit vague.
> 
> Are the roads/traffic cycle friendly?
> 
> Thanks.


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## bradkay

Thanks for the report, SS... I don't have any time off (well, one day this week) until Easter weekend. I hope that it is still closed to traffic that weekend. I'll give the Forest Service a call tomorrow to find out.


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## SwiftSolo

*a couple of photos of ride*

H












ere's a couple of photos


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## bradkay

I called the Gifford Pinchot FS office this morning. They aren't planning to open Skate Creek Road to automobiles until the end of April, so I will be able to go up there Easter weekend. I'm looking forward to it - I try to do it every year during this period but some years the road opens before I know it...

Nice pics..


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## SwiftSolo

dr friend,
Cayuse pass is now clear on both sides. It is not yet open to cars so it is a perfect time to ride. Probably easiest to start at the Crystal Mountain turnoff and ride to the Chinook pass fork. If you want more you can descend down to the stevens canyon road and reverse the ride back to your car.


drfriend1978 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good ride in the Mt Rainier area please?
> 
> I'm looking for something around 60 miles starting from somewhere near Ashford. Apologies if that's a bit vague.
> 
> Are the roads/traffic cycle friendly?
> 
> Thanks.


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## SantaCruz

SwiftSolo said:


> dr friend,
> Cayuse pass is now clear on both sides. It is not yet open to cars so it is a perfect time to ride. Probably easiest to start at the Crystal Mountain turnoff and ride to the Chinook pass fork. If you want more you can descend down to the stevens canyon road and reverse the ride back to your car.


Ohhh, thanks for the update. Even with cars permitted, this early in the season there aren't many. But I can't comment on the truck traffic. Anybody with 1st hand knowledge of truck traffic once the road opens?


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## SwiftSolo

Just a note to let you know that the Stevens Canyon ride on Mount Rainier (Grove of the Patriarchs to Paradise) is now open. It's a great ride with significantly more vertical than the Longmire side.


drfriend1978 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can anyone recommend a good ride in the Mt Rainier area please?
> 
> I'm looking for something around 60 miles starting from somewhere near Ashford. Apologies if that's a bit vague.
> 
> Are the roads/traffic cycle friendly?
> 
> Thanks.


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## bradkay

SantaCruz said:


> Ohhh, thanks for the update. Even with cars permitted, this early in the season there aren't many. But I can't comment on the truck traffic. Anybody with 1st hand knowledge of truck traffic once the road opens?


Commercial trucks are not allowed through Mt Rainier Nat'l Park, so between Crystal Mountain and the Gooseprairie turnoff you will encounter nearly no large trucks - but plenty of RVs and other vacationers.


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