Chasing Trains On The John Wayne Trail

After a couple of stressful weeks, I decided that it would be a good time to get out of town for a day and do something fun. I had wanted to ride the John Wayne Trail again while the weather was still nice.

 

The John Wayne Trail is a cross state trail system that starts at Cedar Falls just outside North Bend and continues across the state to the Idaho border. It follows the old Milwaukee Road railroad and utilizes a lot of the old trestle's and tunnels. My goal was to ride from Cedar Falls, through the Snoqualmie Tunnel and back. I have never started at Cedar Falls before. Usually I started at Twin Falls.

 

I like to start my road trips early in the morning, so I was loaded up and on the road at 0530. After a quick stop in North Bend for breakfast, I was at Cedar Falls and ready to ride at 0804.

 

Most of this rail/trail is of very easy grade, after all, it was made for trains. It is also really a hard packed gravel road and is also used by service vehicles for phone and power services. I soon got into a rhythm riding uphill and averaged 9 mph to the tunnel. The weather was great! It was sunny and warm, but because I started early in the day, it had not warmed up too much.

 

I got to the west portal of the Snoqualmie Tunnel. After a short stop, I turned on the headlight and rode into the darkness. The tunnel was cool and there was some water dipping from the overhead in places. I soon was into the daylight again on the east side of the Cascade Mountains just below the Hyak Ski area. There is a large parking area here. Many people that ride the trail start here, ride through the tunnel and then downhill to Cedar Falls where they can catch a shuttle bus back up to the Hyak Trailhead. I don't know a lot of people that ride both ways.

 

After a short stop, I rode west through the tunnel and had a fast cruise downhill to Cedar Falls, arriving at the truck at 1208. Total distance I rode was 43.6 miles and elevation gain was about 1500 ft.

 

After quick stops at the North Bend Outlet stores and Harbor Freight, I was home in the early afternoon.

 



 

 

 The John Wayne Trail starts at Cedar Falls in the Iron Horse State Park that extends across the Cascade Mountains.

 One of the many original trestles that I rode across. When I first rode this trail in 1994, there were no guard rails on these bridges.

 This is a reconstructed snow shed to protect the trains in avalanche areas. It was standing in 1994 when I rode here, but was demolished in 1997. Volunteers rebuilt it from the original material that was still on site.

The West Portal of the Snoqualmie Tunnel. This is a 2.3 mile(actual length may vary depending on what you read) tunnel that passes below the ski areas of Snoqualmie Pass. Elevation at the east end is 2620 feet. The tunnel has had various closures and openings depending on restoration efforts. It originally opened in 1914. The last train passed through it on  March 15, 1980. It was closed from 2009 to July 5th 2011 for restoration. It is closed annually from Nov 1st to early May.

 

 

A short video of my ride.