[cocheese]

I went over to ride this trail today only to find the the directions from the guidebook were incorrect. Either that or I am an idiot. I followed until they said to turn off on FR 2860. I found 2880, 2840, and 2820, but only a dug-out road where 2860 would logically be. I also followed the signs to "TRAILS" but found nothing.

The directions I have read as follows:

Directions: Travel north on US Highway 101, past Quilcene and Discovery Bay. Just south of Sequim Bay State Park, turn left on Louella and start your odometer. At 0.9 mile, turn left on Palo Alto. When the road forks at 6.8 miles, bear left on Forest Road 28. At 7.7 miles, take the right fork on FR 2860. Pass East Crossing Campground on the right. Then at 10.8 miles, park alongside the road near Gold Creek trailhead.

Does anybody have some directions of how to get to the trailhead for Dungeness/Gold Creek? Thanks!

Thanks!

I skunked on the riding, but it was a beautiful day for a drive. Man, the views went on forever!

 

[MarkHL]

Map

Normal ride is to park at the trailhead and ride up the fireroad until you come to 3 O' Clock and enter the trail to the left (It's about a 45 minute climb). As I remember you start looking for the trail shortly after hitting the summit of the climb. Ride the loop in a counter-clockwise direction. A minor epic ride that will take about 4 hours and cover about 17 miles with 4000 feet of elevation gain (most of the gain is climbing on the fireroads). However the last 6 miles back to the trailhead looses 2000 feet and is about as good as it gets. Note, riding left off the trail (in places) on Gold Creek can get you killed, only experience bike handlers should be riding GC.
If you have a GPS these are the coordinates to the trailhead and 3 o'clock

Trailhead
N 47.93271
W -123.09409

3 o' clock
N 47.91175
W -123.11156

 

[cocheese]

Thanks Mark. Yeah, that's the road...the 2860 that no longer exists yet the new guidebooks still say to take that road. Semi-waste of an afternoon due to that little typo.

Is the Gold Creek danger just due to a cliff or something? I mean, I enjoy mountainbiking but it ain't worth dying over. Is the trail substandard or is there something that I should look out for?

 

[Monte]

Thanks Mark. Yeah, that's the road...the 2860 that no longer exists yet the new guidebooks still say to take that road. Semi-waste of an afternoon due to that little typo.

Is the Gold Creek danger just due to a cliff or something? I mean, I enjoy mountainbiking but it ain't worth dying over. Is the trail substandard or is there something that I should look out for?

Bummer on the route description.

The "danger" is due to the trail doing a lot of sidehilling on a fairly steep sidehill. If you go off the trail in some spots you'll likely tumble a ways down before stopping. Unless you hit a tree and stop quickly. The trail is better than standard, just watch your left.

Monte

 

[MarkHL]

Typical GC

Pictures tend to distort vertical perspective, however the drop to the left is significant - Gold Creek Trail

 

[cocheese]

Ok, thanks for the clarification guys. I only asked because I ended up driving way up FR 28 and some of the drops off of the road up there would result in certain death. Man, it sure is beautiful country up there! I could ride the road the whole time doing nothing but oooo's and aaaahhh's.

Again, I appreciate the info on this. I'll get out there at some point!

 

[Trigger]

Funny to see this posting. I was in WA recently and wanted to ride the Gold Creek & Lower Dungeness trail...followed the directions given on several pamphlets I had, but couldn't find anything resembling Gold Creek. I ended up driving all the way up to the intersection with upper dungeness and lower dungeness trails, and riding the lower stuff all afternoon. A little frustrating not being able to find it when you have a good map and supposedly good directions. I acutally got the directions off a pamphet I received from the WA visitors bureau about hiking and biking around Olypmic Park - not impressed with that guidance.

Anyway, the lower dungeness stuff was pretty good. I did witness a few trail areas that had been hit by mudslides/rock fall. There were a few spots of trail that I had to climb/push/crawl over to connect the trail....with some pretty steep exposure to the opposite side. Nothing to deadly though If I had to do it again I would probably hit Mt Muller instead - easy to find the trail head and you can do a loop, rather than an out-and-back.

 

[cocheese]

Trigger, as a Washingtonian I am sorry for the hassle it caused you. I was pretty tocked myself to never find the trail that day. The new guidebook I had contained faulty directions. I was so desperate that I ended up looking for cars that had bike racks and still found nothing!

 

[Trigger]

The trail is pretty sweet though....if you can find it!