Japanese Gulch
Info
This is fun little area with some nice flowy singletrack. You can ride these trail in any number of loops so explore around and find your perfect loop.
There are trails on both sides of the Gulch. The west side has a long windy trail around the top of the plateau (called the Plateau Trail, coincidentally enough) that is fairly flat, with lots of nice roots, some logs, etc. There are also trails terraced into the west hillside, as well as several steeper hillclimbs. The east side is mostly climbing trails with a bit of up/down like Boys to Men, the Vibe, and Fifedom. There are also some stunts and jumps scattered between several areas on both sides of the tracks.
There is usually a weekly training ride here (Gulches and Brew) which features a lot of climbing. The day of the week and time varies, check the Evergreen calendar.
From a Ride Report posted by Bronco: the property west of the Railroad is now owned by the City of Mukilteo. They conducted some public meetings earlier this year and taken the position that it is illegal for unauthorized individuals (non-city personnel) to perform any type of maintenance and encouraged others to call the Police if they see anyone performing work. Also, they had a contractor remove the jumps due to conflict with their grant language (and massive amounts of political pressure).
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Trail Status
Ride Reports
Had a couple hours of free time to get a ride in so I went to the Gulch and did two cycles on the east side of the railroad tracks. First, was Orion and Mukraker and second, was a full run of Boys to Men. The trails were dry but traction was solid so come take advantage of the beautiful sum...
I went out this morning for a ride after last night's spring showers and experienced hero dirt almost everywhere but got a little wet from all the overgrowth leaning towards the trails. Orion has a new extended turn at the bottom allowing for a more continuous finish and the jump lines north and...
Figured the trails would be great with recent work along with the heat we had to dry things out. The trails didn't disappoint and I provided a tour to a new rider in the area. It was a comfortable day doing three loops this morning. Get your runs in before the bushes start growing! The Trailforks...
Did a loop on Orion and then a Skid Row run to get one more ride in before the rest of the rain and tomorrow's blood donation. The Orion run is uploaded here on Pinkbike. Both were in good shape but there are some...
It has been almost a month since my last bike ride. I've been prepping for Christmas and had other family commitments. This morning, I got out to do two runs on Orion and finished with a quick jump line tour and lower Boyz to Men before I ran out of time again. Trails were in good sha...
I've been away in LA for a week on a non-mtb trip so I went to the Gulch this morning at 7am to get a early ride in before the heat and ash made it uncomfortable. I made two runs down combining Boyz/Orion/Mukraker and then a full Boyz run. There are dry and sandy places until we get the rains, bu...
My trusty Subaru steed got a full blown, family, detailing this past weekend to rid it of the 10 years and 220,000 miles of mountain biking and commuting it has endured before handing it off to my daughter in a couple days. You might say it got a "sex change" with all the "new car smell" soaps th...
Went out early this morning to ride before the heat wave and was surprised that the trails were in really good shape. There were dry spots of course but the Gulch's canopy has kept the sun away pretty well. Orion, Mukraker, along with Boyz and others were all doing well and were enjoyable. GPS tr...
Wanted to get out to Lord Hill for a ride today but as I got to Snohomish, the Convergence Zone had parked over the park and was engulfing the summits. I turned the car around and headed to the blue skies of Mukilteo and the Gulch. Once there, I climbed and came down Boyz to Men, Orion, Mukraker...
I first drove out to Darrington to do the Skills Park but the North Mountain Road was a double track with 12" deep center and my car was just bulldozing. I had to back out to highway 530 to turn around and go to another location. I went to the Lord Hill North lot which was also pretty deep so I f...
After watching some of the JGulch chats in Everegreen's Annual ZOOM meeting, I went to the Gulch to sample the Orion trail. When I got to the top of Orion and took a quick break, a friend, and friends of the friend, were coming up after sessioning it once. I joined the group for the second run an...
Had a fun morning with friends riding Boyz, Quarrible, Rocket88, Mukraker and was impressed with the hero dirt since we had the rain yesterday. It was a great time and this place is really becoming a great system for all skill levels. Come session sections or just do the whole east side of the tr...
Just went up for a short morning trail ride before a road ride on hwy 9 later in the day. Simple GPS track here. The trails are a little dry but traction is still good since the cano...
Had a great, early morning, ride doing two loops on the eastside of the tracks today. I went down Boyz to Men and then back up to do Mukraker and noticed several other places getting a lot of great trail attention. If you haven't been here in a while, come explore the Gulch! Great traction today!...
Before the 9am workparty I climbed up the newly graded and gravelled access road and came down the eastside's main trail. It was a little slippery but drained well in most spots. There are a ton of options on the east side you can find on Trailforks. Come take advantage of all of them! There are...
I observed three people riding Segway electric motocross motorcycles on the Mukilteo Parks side of the trails today. These were not pedal assist E-bikes but motorcycles and have a maximum speed of 47MPH. I notified the Mukilteo Parks department.
Took our team into Japanese Gulch and rode the West Garden side trails today for the "take a kid riding" virtual day. 2 kids and 2 adults on our ride. Dirt was in great shape and only a couple muddy spots
Did a single loop on the east side of the tracks and went to the flow lines to watch a few younger adventurous riders enjoy the flow built and improved lately. There was just a couple mud puddles on the trails. I also took a side trail down to the rails I hadn't taken before and found the Mukrake...
Rode a single loop on the eastside of the tracks and explored the area closer to Boeing recreation fields. There are flow lines for you to enjoy just to the east of the main trail if you haven't found them yet. They are built well and there is also a 'walk up' trail too. Enjoy them. There i...
Had a great time doing two laps on the East side of the tracks. Just like at Lord Hill, there are new jump improvements on the open doubles, additional bridge building, and a nice drop off of the northern switchbacks. It made for a exciting moment or two. There was only a little mud u...
Did two laps on the east side of the Gulch. There are some nice improvements made on the northern switchbacks. Soils were in good condition. Parking lots are closed so enter from the Boulevard, ea...
Been in Northern Europe for a month and needed a couple rides in the NW to acclimate to the NW again. I did them at Japanese Gulch with the limited time I had. On the Boeing side, 2/3 the way down, at the doubles there is a new trail that heads towards the rails. It is called Skid Row and adds a...
Went out for a late night single loop on the East side of the tracks. Cleared a couple trees dropped on the track access road by the heavy snow and then came down the Boeing side of the Gulch and back to the car. I lost the front brake before the sandy downhill at the north end so I had to walk t...
Did three runs down the east side of the RR tracks early this morning, first one under lights. The trails had a little greasy mud in spots but were in good shape. There was only one wind damaged spot on a less traveled trail halfway up the east side ridge from the tracks. Chainsaw Gnomes can use...
Japanese Gulch is in good shape, with the exception of some muddy and wet trails at Lower elevations and close to the railroad track. Fast flowy single track with short steep climbs make it more challenging than you think. Be prepared to quickly shift into a lower gear because those steep hill cl...
I like this route because you don't go down steep decents for no reason. This route includes Oryan (Flowtron type run). When the rain comes the North side get sipery but the South side does much better.
For first timers: There's basically no signage. I highly recommend parking at the "Tails and Trails" dog park, taking the trail to your left when facing the dog park, past the gate and down to the railroad tracks. To get to my favorite place to drop in: Follow the double-track ne...
Current conditions: Dry and dusty trails in relatively good condition for most of the ride. One bridge down.
Do you like long, steep climbs? Treacherous washed out cliff-side trails? Nettle stings on your legs? Well this is the place for you!
I parked at the Dog P...
Parked off 76th and 44th by the Mukilteo Community Garden. Rode most of the upper SE trails which were clear but a bit wet. Dropped down to the RR grade from there and took the grade and access road down. Circled back up past the dog park and the trail was passable but very greasy and 70% washed...
This was my very first time at Japanese Gulch. I will definitely go back and ride it again.
I can only say, I just wasn't thinking this morning. Big wind storm yesterday, a trail that meanders through the woods.......guess what? Lots of down branches. LOTS. A nice...
Just a response to DefJuice, the property west of the Railroad is now owned by the City of Mukilteo. They conducted some public meetings earlier this year and taken the position that it is illegal for unauthorized individuals (non-city personnel) to perform any type of maintenance and encou...
The West side of the gulch needs some work, there are some broken bridges and mud pits, some hike a bike areas, there are also a few uncrossable fallen trees deep in the spinach.
Sadly, the amazing dirt jumps at the top of the plateau have been purposefully destroyed or otherwise ma...
Trail was in great condition. Only saw 3 other bikers. Recent rains made trail nice and buff.
Fairly dry conditions on the western side of the gulch, patches of mud but more like June than March.
Mild temps took me out today, Trais were in fair condition but in good shape for mid Febuary. Rode east and west side both sides had some muddy sections but all ridable.
Have made many rides at the Gulch over the last month.
Trails are wet and slick but still fun.
Here is a map for the general user looking for a lay of the land.
Went riding after work on Tuesday. Parked at the Community Garden entrance on 76th St. Rode across to the East side of the tracks, down past the Boeing ball fields; then down to the tracks, up the other side and back to the car on the West side. Every trail we covered was in good shape. Ther...