Blue Mountain Ridge
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General
This ride is a logging road climb like Tiger or Rattlesnake (2500 vertical), a ridge line ride, and a downhill gravel, and then paved return road to your car. It is located north of Sultan, WA in the Snohomish county watershed southwest of Spada Lake. The west side of the ridge is a forested area where the clearings provide good view points.
Spada Lake Recreation area, The city of Sultan.
Navigation
Take Stevens Pass highway to the East side of Sultan, WA and head North on Sultan Basin Road. Stay on the road for 5 miles until you reach the map marker location just past the Lake Bronson community entrance. Park at the fire road gate. You can also park at Olney Pass and do the loop counter clockwise.
At the start you have a level fire road for a ways and then a lighter climb beginning to enter the watershed infrastructure and then the forested areas. At 2-3 miles, about 1700' altitude, the climbs get steep until the west end of the ridge line.
Ride Reports
Timing the rains
I sat worried about the muddy single track we have now and figured a long double track ride could be done until the trails dry out. I've been watching the fronts go by, dumping hail, and rain, along Highway 2 for the last couple of days and I tried to time the next "wave", like a surfer would, to...
Olney Falls to Culmback Dam
Been in Florida for a family theme park tour and a trip to the Space Coast. I missed the delayed SpaceX launch so I needed to make up for that by getting back into some real topography. Also, my unofficial version of a COVID test, is a lot of miles or a lot of vertical, or both. I started with th...
Wallace and Olney Falls Roaring
Had a wonderful excursion ride below the snowline but high enough to get my vertical in. After the rains, I wanted to see the falls and the weather forecast was good. I parked just outside the DNR gate and began the climb and then made an attempt to ride up the Wallace River road but it is too ov...
All clear except for the sky.
Began early in the morning fog hoping the drier day would help the sun burn off the fog by the time I reached the ridge. I started climbing the west side of the ridge and took two spur roads to explore. One spur had a young bear that ran up hill quickly into the trees as my tires alerted it early...
Weekend to both Dams
Spent Saturday morning riding out to the Diversion Dam location on the Sultan River and enjoyed the river while relaxing in the peace and quiet of the canyon. The Diversion Dam Road is a 6 mile RT...
Alternate Route to the Falls
Since the snow is still melting on the ridge, and Olney and Wallace Falls are at their peaks, I took the DNR road off Kellogg Lake Rd and up to both Falls. It was a foggy cool day but the falls were wonderful. See them soon if those kind of sights and sounds turn you on. Track and pics Read more
West ridge clear, tower, hike a bike
Went up from the west access and got up to the top of the Ridge's west side, 2900', but at the base of the hill to the tower, the road was still shaded and full of snow. I turned around at the snow and returned along the reservoir infrastructure and Sultan Basin Road. Timber work has been ongoing...
Snow washed away, winter needs a restart
I actually rode to the peak just west of Haystack Mountain, just to the South of Sultan and the Blue Mountain Ridge but I can report that the recent warm fronts have washed the snows away below 3500'. I summited (4100') and there was only 6 inches up there. The climb west of Haystack was a...
Alternative Loop when snowed in
Since the Blue Mtn loop is snowed in for the season, here is another twenty miler nearby you can do below the snowline and even ride to the top of Wallace Falls. The loop takes you to about 2000'. It is all logging road but you can hike the Greg Ball or Woody trail also if you want to do the fall...
Last weekend for normal tires
Got out early at first light in between the snow falls. The road was bare until about 2700' when some trace accumulations began. The full loop was accomplished but the snows the rest of the weekend will probably shut down the loop unless we get a warm rain session. It is pretty up there. Track an...
Snow is gone, are you ready for the loop?
Started early Sunday morning and started climbing with a goal of also trying to see the river valley. So during the climb of the western flank, I went down two side roads made for logging hoping to see a view of the river, or the watershed's diversion dam. Both attemps were a bust unless you want...
Active Logging
The road up is in great shape but there is active logging about a third of the way up the mountain on the main road so be careful. We reached the top but there is still some snow on the ground above 3,000 feet so we didn't complete the loop - returning back down the main road instead.
No more loop until the thaw
Started real early due to a break in the convergence zone so no rain or snow when I started. The road was clear until about 2400 feet when a trace was collecting. At 2800 feet I was riding in 5 inches of wet snow and the final climb to the tower would have been futile. Visibility was gettin...
Last ride before La Nina
Spent Black Friday outdoors climbing here before the first snows at 3000 feet cover the ridge and make it impassible. No mud. The tops of the 4000'+ peaks were dusted real pretty. I started a little late and rode the last half under lights. Toes were getting a little cold.
Dressed all yellow, a foul weather fellow
It was a wet and stormy ride today. I started around 7am with a Bob trailer now mounted to my 29r. Using the Robert Axle Project thru axle accessory, and Bob bobbins, along with the longer Read more
Road pushed all the way through; no hike a bike
Started in the early morning under lights and climbed to the top, across the ridge and then down to Olney Pass Kiosk, and then back to the car. Logging has pushed the road all the way across the ridge eliminating the heavy brush section to the tower. The logging road is well drained and of excell...
Timber work to push the road through
Spent the last two Saturdays riding the west side to the ridge line roads, and then by starting at Olney Pass and riding the ridge line to the tower. There is some timber development going on up there on top and the clear cutting has made a clearing to push the road all the way through. The clear...
Good workout but could use a reroute or clearing
First of all, thanks for posting this ride and the GPS info. It's always fun to have some new rides off the beaten path. Though this ride is never technical, the climb is challenging at times and rocketing down the twisty fire road on the descent was a lot of fun. I didn't see or hear another per...
New trail north of Sultan
Added another Highway 2 trail to the Evergreen site today after planning and riding it for the first time today. The ride starts at an access gate off of Sultan Basin Road and then after a mile, climbs into forested clearcuts and switch backs. There are nice views to the west and the top of Raini...