Explore the best rated trails in Everett, WA, whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Olympic Discovery Trail and Pigeon Creek Trail . With more than 69 trails covering 4518 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The western trailhead of the Issaquah-Preston Trail is 100 yards or so up the East Lake Sammamish Trail from that trail's southern trailhead. So begin there, at NW Gilman & the east leg of 4th Ave NW in Issaquah. (The east leg of 4th Ave NW - a one-way, one-lane street starting just east of the caboose on Gilman - sports a lane of free parking along its west side that's mostly used by Trail cyclists and walkers.) The East Lake Sammamish Trail itself is adjacent, just to the east of 4th Ave. Cycle under the I-90 double underpass to see the Issaquah-Preston Trail's entrance on the right.
The only serious road crossing is early on, Front Street. With its I-90 entrance and exit ramps, you’ll want to use the crossing light! From there, you’re headed uphill to Preston, mostly along I-90. The trickiest choice comes quickly, the fork. Choose the LEFT fork, alongside the vegetative sculpture, under the four- or six-lane highway-speeds Highlands Drive to the immediate T, where you'll choose left once more; you’ll be off pavement onto gravel just a few yards further.
If, instead, you find yourself past the fork, still on pavement, on a relentlessly-brutally-uphill trail, wondering what train system would have tackled a grade like this one, you’re asking the right question - no train would have - you took the right fork, as I did - and you need to coast back down to the fork again, to take the correct fork, past the sculpture, under the for-all-intents-and-purposes highway (Highlands Drive), then left again onto gravel, to stick alongside the I-90 right-of-way.
As others have reported, there’s highway noise along much of the Issaquah-Preston Trail - but I’d characterize it as considerably less noisy than the Cedar River Trail, which I will not cycle again. This trail angles through lots of forest before it emerges onto SE High Point Way which, on a late Saturday afternoon, had zero traffic for the almost-mile it shared a roadbed, with bikes getting a full car-width lane set off from vehicles, had there been any. It then seamlessly becomes (well, you do have to cross to the north side of High Point Way at the trail crossing sign) the paved Preston-Snoqualmie Trail, wending its way past Preston’s trucking and light industry firms, then its athletic fields and park, before easing back into forest.
The fields and park are the high point of the trail; from here begins a gentle descent. I turned around two miles past the park, when the paved trail took a sharp turn to the right into what appeared to be a much steeper descent - I’d had my quotient of climbing in my inadvertent detour to Issaquah’s Highlands. But before reversing course, I continued on gravel straight for 100 yards to what must have been the beginning of the railroad’s Raging River trestle. There’s just a bench here, now, with the sound of the Raging River far below.
My total roundtrip was 19 miles - not sure how much of that was my “adventure” - as steep as it was, I’m sure it seemed much longer than it was - probably roundtrip, less than 2 miles off my intended route.
76° on a late afternoon Sunday in July, but the asphalt Centennial Trail from the Pilchuck Trailhead in Snohomish to Arlington was only lightly traveled - occasional families and friends cycling or ped’ing - on my year-later return visit cycling this rural trail.
Pilchuck trailhead, it turns out, while a couple miles further north from the endpoint in Snohomish itself, is faster to get to from Seattle. It's actually about .2 miles north of 6398 S Machias Rd., the address I’d put into Maps, but keep your eyes open: its large gravel parking lot (with portapotties) on the east side of Machias Road is hard to miss.
Embarking north from Pilchuck trailhead, the trail parallels S Machias Rd for 2.8 miles, passing one farm after another, then crosses it at a signal before angling into the countryside; at 3.3 miles it reaches a train depot with restrooms - the Machias trailhead.
At 4.1 miles the trail returns to paralleling Machias Rd as the valley narrows. At 4.8 miles the terrain transitions from farmland to sylvan and what was mostly flat trail angles up to a slightly uphill grade that over the next four miles takes cyclists and peds from the valley to the ridge.
At 5.9 miles, the Lake Stevens trailhead’s large gravel lot signals a bit more than a mile of light industrial, the Hartford trailhead turn off early in that mile, before we return to forest. At 7.8 miles, a mown wide shoulder on the east side of the trail sports sections of single track paralleling the paved trail, for the more adventurous among you.
At 8.8 miles, reaching the ridge, the trail flattens once more. At 9.5, on the west side, look just beyond the kiosk, picnic tables, and portapotties, where a wooden bridge provides access to Lake Cassidy. At 10.9 you pass the Getchell trailhead with its large gravel lot just to the east of the trail; just a hundred feet further, you may want to use the crossing signal for busy 84th St NE.
At 11.7 miles as you cross beneath Highway 9, you're at more or less the highest point on the trail, and begin the five-mile decline to Arlington. But you don’t get a view out across the valley until 13.2 miles from the Pilchuck trailhead, where a half mile or so of breaks in the forest and underbrush reveal lovely views of farmland below and the Olympics in the distance (not to mention a trailside billboard (!) advertising home lots with views just below).
Don’t be confused when you reach Armar Road at 15.9 miles and the trail appears to veer west - it’s just a leg off to the trailhead there, and more importantly a signal to horse riders to take the turn and not continue horseriding to Arlington. Cyclists and peds: to stay on the Centennial Trail, continue straight.
I turned around at 17 miles, when the trail began to literally be a sidewalk along busy 67th Ave NE, as it approaches Arlington.
Best trail in Seattle. Very urban, although the eastern stretch is quieter in terms of foot traffic and road traffic, whereas the western side has more city vibes. If I can't do the whole thing I like to start at UW and either go up to Golden Gardens (western half of trail) or up to Woodinville (eastern half of trail). Lots of lunch spots or pack a picnic and enjoy.
This is an enjoyable ride on a sunny and/or dry day. Great views of the city. Lots of restaurants and people watching on the west part of the trail. If the weather is great, be prepared for lots of people walking/skating/randomly standing on the trail.
The southern trailhead of the East Lake Sammamish Trail is at NW Gilman & the east leg of 4th Ave NW in Issaquah. The east leg of 4th Ave NW from Gilman is a one-way, one-lane street with a lane of free parking along its west side. Other cyclists were also using this line of parking. The trail itself, just to the east, is (finally) asphalt for its entire length.
The trail makes two busy street crossings with traffic lights shortly on - then that's it for busy street crossings until you get to the north end.
Just past the I-90 double underpass, there's a trail entrance on the right to the 4.8-mile Issaquah-Preston Trail; it's now on my list to check out on my next visit.
1.8 or 1.9 miles from the trailhead is the entrance to Sammamish State Park at the south end of the lake, where there are bathrooms. For the next seven miles, I spotted only a portapotty or two.
The trail from here, the length of the lake, is pretty lovely. While as other viewers note, the trail is mostly lined with 4-car-garage homes (and their two-story boat docks), there's considerably more lake view than the north end of the Burke-Gilman Trail provides of Lake Washington. It's urban but I found the lake views charming. Benches appear along the trail every mile or so, some with views of the lake.
My ride was on a Monday in mid-July, in sub-70° weather (glad for a long-sleeved T under my cycling jersey). There was little traffic, either cycling or pedestrians.
The two apple trees on the east side of the trail about a mile or two north of the State Park were laden with apples - but not ripe yet. But there were tons of blackberries along the trail ripe for the picking.
While you cross lots of home-access streets, much as along the north end of the Burke-Gilman, here, all of them have stop signs, both ways, to protect you from vehicles. I'm always watchful, but it’s a straight through for cyclists the length of the lake.
The length of the lake: if you're like me, you'll be remarking to yourself about just how long it is!
While much of the lakeside trail parallels the Sammamish Lake Parkway, there’s a layer of green between trail and Parkway, and probably half the time the parkway is up the hill 10 or 20 feet above the trail. I was afraid I would encounter the terrible din of traffic that plagues the Cedar River Trail, but here I wasn't bothered.
At 8.9 miles from the south trailhead is Sammamish Landing, a public park and swimming dock, where there's a restroom building above the trail on the east side.
At 9.9 miles, a left takes you onto the Marymoor Connector Trail, with I think at least three bathroom buildings off the parking lots along the 1.6 mile ride west that connects to the Sammamish River Trail.
Continuing on the East Lake Sammamish Trail, the trail is blocked .5 miles beyond the Connector - looks like a busy street ahead where they're wanting you to take bit of a detour for a safer crossing but I think this is the terminus? Don't know - turned around here. I would note that there’s a shopping center on the east directly adjacent to the trail. Special note for you Californians: I spotted a rare-in-WA Peet’s Coffee here!
Started in Port Townsend and peddled all the way to La Push besides a ride through the gap around discovery bay. Passed through Sequim and stayed the night in Port Angeles on the first day. The next day I through lake crescent and stayed the night at Klahowya campground. On the third day I made it to La Push just around midday. It’s a great ride when it’s on the trail, but definitely some interesting stretches on the highway.
Have ridden the Whitehorse a number of times and enjoyed it each time. Trail is still closed between the Centennial Trail at Arlington and Trafton due to a slide. Its lightly used and a bit rough between Trafton and the Hwy 530 crossing where a short 2.3 mi paved section starts. It does smooth out a bit after the pavement and I always enjoy the bridges, river views, and mountains. The trail is paved thru the Oso Memorial to C Post Road. We were glad to see the memorial is finished and it is quite beautiful. It pays tribute to the 43 people who died as a result of the March 22, 2014, slide. Plan to spend a some time looking at the touching remembrances, there are bike racks, please don't ride your bike.
The trail does continue on to Darrington, but the times I've started from the memorial it was a bit overgrown. Plus there is a slide closer to Darrington. We plan to try it this summer.
Nice real pretty ride on gravel and paved trail. It’s slightly downhill headed west from Landsburg Patk, but hardly noticeable. You run along the Maple Valley highway at about mile 7, so it’s not as pretty.
Started at Landsburg and stopped at Cascadia Pizza right on the trail. 5mi one way. Perfect segment in nature with the rustling Cedar River next to us. I think the trail aligns with the highway right after this point and gets less interesting. Definitely recommend this segment.
I rented a bike from the Snohomish Bike shop on Pine Ave. The shop is right next to the trail. I cycled the trail to the end at Nakashima Heritage Barn North Trailhead, about 29 miles from the bike shop, I cycled back to Snohomish. there are lots of trailheads all have either a restroom or a portapotty. However, none of the drinking fountains were working, the bike shop rent a bike only had one water bottle cage. In Arlington there is an art walk and a nice coffee stop. my ride ended at 62.6 miles. A bucket list ride
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