Chelan Butte
Info
This is a great downhill ride minutes from downtown Chelan. You can ride it as a loop or shuttle to the top. The downhill (3.7 miles) includes some great ridgeline riding, a few brake burning sections, and fun single track. You can actually ride from the end of the dirt trail into town on a paved trail along the lake to Campbells for a Draft PBR. The ride up the dirt road is very demanding. It's smooth but very steep. However, it is easy to shuttle.
Photos
Videos
Trail Status
Ride Reports
Today, I was over in Chelan and woke up early to get a good climb and downhill in before the hot sun and my other tasks took over. On the way up, the grasses and flowers were really growing well. Last year’s Stayman Flats fire’s burn scar was almost gone. Just the blac...
I woke up at sunrise in Manson and drove over to the Chelan Butte Trailhead parking lot. I began climbing up to, and continued on to the Winter Traverse to get over to the Butte Road. Once on the Butte Road, the sun came over the Butte trail ridge and was the "Blinding...
The snow level for the next couple of weather fronts is dropping below the top of the Butte! I needed to get one more day of the hero soil before traction, elevation, and conditions, shut it down for the season. The ride began in early morning sun and partly cloudy ski...
Had a couple days of rain lately so the Butte Downhill was hero. Climbing to the summit was enjoyable looking at the layers of clouds above the lake and all the snowcapped ridge lines in the distance. The snow line was about 4000’ so the Butte was all clear. I’m guessi...
Here in Chelan we had a full night of rain last night so the Butte Downhill would be hardened and hero. That was the main reason to go riding today but I also wanted to rake out the gravel from two key spots where there aren’t clear lines. Those spots are just above th...
Woke up early this morning to clear skies and 34 degrees outside. :-( Winter is coming! The sun was just coming out to warm things up so I waited a bit longer and finally started climbing about 9:30.
The climbing trail and Win...
Our first, Fall, atmospheric river wave came through overnight but only showered on Chelan and made the downhill trail ideal for your tires. I started climbing from the trailhead around 6:30 this morning. After trav...
Today, I put the new brake pads I installed to good use going down the Butte Downhill in the beautiful, Fall weather. Sure, the trail was dry, but for the most part, it is clear and it’s mostly a straight line trail anyway, except for the switchbacks near the lower hal...
This morning, my goal was to test my new toy, a DJI Mini 4 Pro camera drone. The Butte area has some airspace restrictions so it complicated my drone test a bit but I got my first vids and was happy. I began my ride from the trailhead, I climbed to the Winter Tra...
Started my ride at the trailhead this morning at 5:30 with the goal of getting to the summit to see the sunrise which was to happen before 7:00. The stars were out and the Chelan city lights and twilight sky were a beautiful backdrop for the climb today. I was surprise...
This morning, I began my ride from the trailhead, climbed to the Winter Traverse, and then over to the Butte Road to get to the summit. Just before the parasailing launch site, I met up with some buddies from the Ram family. Luckily the father didn’t charge me. Probabl...
Overnight last night, the Chelan/Manson area had a short rain shower so I went over to the Butte for a morning ride in the renewed trail conditions and cleared out atmosphere. The Butte trail was in great shape and would be ideal today if it had no gravel rock to deal...
Before the Labor Day weekend crowds innandate the Lake Chelan area, I wanted to get a Butte run in to assess the impact that the Stayman Flats fire had on the climb up or the downhill. I'm happy to report that there is no need to worry about the condition of the trail or the road climb up....
Got an early start at 6:45 this morning at the bottom of the Butte and made three summit road climbs and descents down the downhill trail. The trail is in great shape and dry. The Pioneer fire had filled the lake valley with smoke but it wasn't choking or overwhelming. The Trailforks ride l...
I've been gone for a while on a Bahama cruise and then visiting the daughter at college. While out of state, an incident happened within the family. I'm on extended care duty now so I haven't been biking too much lately. I got a break and did the Chelan Butte twice today and it was just the...
With the heavy rain forecasted for the west side of the mountains, I chose to head over Stevens Pass for the two Peshastin trails or the Chelan Butte. The front got to Stevens almost at the same time I did so I decided to go farther north and east to the Butte to have a little more time and drier...
The blizzard will add more snow but the lower half was fun on this day. I'll be offline for a while but this is still a fun descent using the lower half of the trail as an out and back. It is a brutle climb though. Here is the ride log
I took the Levo to the Butte on Tuesday to get a ride in before there was too much snow. I tried to get to the top with my truck early to get a picture of the sunrise but the melt/freeze road conditions were too icy and I turned around and went and parked at the trailhead. With the Levo in trail...
Drove over early to the Butte for a ride before a family member wellness check and had a blast on the way down. Today, I climbed up the trail to the intersection of the downhill and the double track and then went west to climb the Chelan Butte Road. This is tougher route, but there are no highway...
Left the Butte Trailhead at 7:30 this morning and caught the sun coming up and over the ridge during the climb.
I got to the Summit about two hours later and chatted with a County PUD tower crew at the Su...
While spending the weekend here to visit dad, I took off early to climb the Butte and descend most of the trail. It has quite a bit of rock in the trail now causing a much more cautious speed to avoid a major fail. The brakes were hot but the ride down was beautiful today in the sun. I devi...
Left home in Everett just after 5am to get an early morning ride in at Chelan Butte while the weather and Passes were all clear! It was an enjoyable morning watching the sunrise while driving east and then parking at the Chelan Reach trailhead and got everything ready. It was 30 degrees out and I...
Went back to Chelan to see some new sights. I have done the climb up the North side several times and needed some new scenery. I have never been to the town of Chelan Falls so my plan today was to circumnavigate the Butte starting at the Chelan Reach trailhead, and then rounding the base to the E...
Went to the Butte to do a sunny winter run but since the road and upper mountain had snow, I just started climbing up the downhill. If conditions worsend, I could turn around and enjoy the downhill. The weather front held off, and blue sky came out, but when I reached the Butte road to the Summit...
Parked at the dirt trailhead lot and rode along the south side of the lake to the base of the Butte Road and then began the climb. I rode around the hanglider airport for some southern views and then completed the climb to the towers. I took a little break and then came down the ridgeline, then t...
The Butte is riding good. It rained Wed and Thur so it should be better than when I rode ealier this week. Enjoy
Parked at the bottom of the downhill and then rode to the Butte road and then up to the towers. The fire damage is everywhere but the road up is in great shape. Visibility was less than 100 ft at times above 2500 so picture taking was disappointing. The downhill trail had more loose rock in it th...
After hiking 7 miles in Stevens Pass yesterday, I was a little sore and the whole Butte road would have been brutal. I drove up to the 2800 foot level and parked at the Y (no parking lot there but it was really early). I didn't bring a lot of gear and was alone so I didn't do the trail downhill (...
The Butte is riding pretty well right now. The light rains have kept most of the trail surface in great shape.