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Good beginner trails within driving distance of Seattle

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kudude

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hello all,

I'm new to the Seattle area, but as part of my move (up from norcal) my wife said she wanted a mountain bike. She's been on a road bike (not seriously, but some 15-20 mile hilly rides) for a few years, but like being outside and hiking, and thinks it would be fun.

This is great and all, but I don't have ANY idea where to take her for a first ride around Seattle.

I've only ridden at Tolt MacDonald. I had a blast, but I'm not sure I want to take her there. Between the initial climb that she'll have to walk a bunch of, and all the logs across the trail (that she'll have to dismount for most of) I don't know that she'll have a good time.

Is there anywhere within 1-2 hours of downtown seattle that you would bring a total beginner to introduce them to mountain biking (no, not the collonade)?

Thanks for the help
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the PNW! I'd definitely take her to Duthie Hill -- it's a great place for skill and confidence building. Two other good beginner options are St. Ed's/Finn Hill and Paradise Valley.

Depending on her level, you might also look into some of the Evergreen classes. My wife did a boot camp a few years ago and it did a lot to help her feel comfortable. And it takes some of the pressure off you to be the coach....
 
#3 ·
Dude, Kenmore - St. Edward's State Park, joined by Big Finn Ben Hill park, these trails are made for the enjoyment of "newbies" and those Seattle area people just wanting to get some "dirt" underneath their tires. Just be gentle with her, remind her pushing the bike is better than getting frustrated and it'll save you some serious chewing too. These trails are easy enough to allow her to figure out gearing, riding obstacles, is rideable during the wet months. Next I would venture out to Maltby - Paradise Valley, its more challenging - more roots, more obstacles but also has some easy stuff as well. I would invest in a pair of knee, shin, elbow pads for her so that if she falls the skin will stay in place - girls don't like the saying "you didn't have fun unless you bleed" - they like "skin stays intact" and will actually continue to suggest riding with you. Those are just a few of the places that'll give you a few places to ease her into the woods. Good luck.
Jon
 
#7 ·
Are new are you talking? If you mean new as in pretty much zero offroad experience, I'd ride the Redmond Watershed or Lake Youngs. it basically gravel roads, but it is a good way to start out and get a feel for riding off the road.
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
Mr. Lynch said:
Are new are you talking? If you mean new as in pretty much zero offroad experience, I'd ride the Redmond Watershed or Lake Youngs. it basically gravel roads, but it is a good way to start out and get a feel for riding off the road.
Click to expand...
So, her offroad experience is limited to riding aboug 3/4 of a mile on a dirt doubletrack path on her road bike.

She's ridden horses most of her life (not competitively, but is comfortable), skis very well and scares the bejeezuz out of me descending on a road bike. I don't think "gravel only" is a necessity, but I'm just afraid of her eating it on a wet log early in her first ride.

Funny story: we had friends in town who wanted to ride bikes around so we just sort of worked out which bikes people could ride (I ride L/XLs and 58/60cm bikes, she's on a 51 road bike) -- she's 5'3" and ended up on my L Trance. At one point she asked if she could ride up on the curb (she was getting kind of into riding with the smooth suspension on crappy roads compared to her road bike). I was like "sure". So what does she do? Just kind of rides straight into it (maybe at a little angle) at about 8-10 mph. That didn't go so well. She wasn't really mad, and it was kind of my fault, but I just assumed she'd think about standing up and pulling up on bars.
I'm working on better communication for the weekend
 
#10 ·
Like I said, kudude, better off letting someone else be the teacher sometimes. ;-)

I learned that lesson when my wife and I were up at Whistler where she was going to do the Dirt Series. We got into town too early to check in so we decided to take a quick XC spin. She was feeling really confident because we had just spent the week before on a big driving trip around BC/Alberta where we rode Revelstoke, Kamloops, etc.

So I figured, "River Runs Through It", right? It's close, it's pretty short and there's nothing mandatory. And besides, that's where she'd be doing some of the camp over the weekend.

Fast forward to me carrying her out up to the trailhead after she's popped her ACL ejecting off a ladder.

Yeah, I mostly leave the training to the professionals now...
 
#12 ·
Great advice and nice story Dude.....my wife was the mtb racer that taught me to ride by beating up on me until I actually could keep up with her. She's probably got a million of those stories that she could tell on me. I learned not to hook up the front brakes on super steep sections on Skookum - I rode out a face first downhill wheelie on one of those knarly sections with her just rolling and laughing her ass off, I look back now and laugh too, but at the time I wasn't laughing. All I could think of was how close I came to loosing the skin on my face on a bunch of those rocks. The suggestion about signing her up for a class might be the best option - and you'll not be the bad guy either. LOL!!
 
#15 ·
I was going to post the exact same question so this is a wealth of information for me. I am getting back into mountain biking after ~12 years so I figure I need to start from the bottom. I'll have to drop by Duthie soon. I have some friends in Bellevue so I can dual purpose the trip.
 
#16 ·
An actual wealth of information would include more than a "duthie, duthie, duthie" answer?

Tape Worm, Renton (aka Phillip Arnold Park)
South Seatac
Dash Point
All are very beginner friendly XC trails and closer to Seattle than Issaquah.
 
#17 ·
Don't forget to add Hamlin Park up north and St Eds in Juanita as noted. The beginner wiki page is great too as noted earlier.

Still blows me away that anyone would consider Tapeworm "easy". If Thom was dead he'd be rolling over in his grave. :skep:
 
#18 ·
Great thread, I had the same question but I live in Kirkland.

I have been riding off and on--mostly off--since the 90s. I was never any good and haven't ridden at all in a few years so I'm basically a newb again. I already plan to take the Evergreen class.

I don't even have a bike currently but intend to change that soon. My beloved antique Trek carbon Y-bike was stolen recently. :(
 
#19 ·
Lots of good info here. I just bought bikes for my wife and myself. I haven't road a bike in a long time and I'm not sure my wife has ever done any real trail riding but looking at some of these trails I'm sure we'll be fine. I do have a question though, are there any trails closer to Tacoma that are good for beginners ? I do plan on going to some of these but there a ways away. I live in Tacoma so hoping to find something a little closer
 
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