Biking to and around Rooted Northwest
Every year since 2021, those of us who have committed to buying a home at Rooted Northwest and those who have signed on as explorers have gathered on a weekend close to summer solstice to spend time together and enjoy the Rooted Northwest land. This is different from our monthly work parties – on Summer Solstice weekend there’s no task list, just fun, food, and structured and unstructured opportunities to connect with one another.
This year, my husband Eric and I decided to bike from our house in Seattle. If you’re an experienced cyclist comfortable with riding the roads around western Washington, you can easily ride from Seattle to the Rooted Northwest land outside Arlington. Much of the route is on dedicated rail-to-trail paths like the Centennial Trail, with sections on bucolic country roads and a couple of stretches on busier roads.
There are plenty of great opportunities for biking around Rooted NW for casual cyclists, too. You can put the bikes on a car rack and drive the few miles to downtown Arlington to ride the Centennial Trail south to Snohomish or north to the Skagit County line (*the SnoCo website suggests they’ll soon extend the trail south to the King County line, which would eliminate the dicey ride along Broadway Ave). Or pick up the gravel Whitehorse Trail at Trafton, just a short ways northeast of Rooted NW, and ride all the way to Darrington (home of an annual bluegrass festival and Hometown Bakery Cafe). Heck, you can ride the entire Mountain Loop Highway – a friend of Rooted NW led a group on a multi-day ride last summer and camped at Rooted NW.
READ ON FOR MORE DETAILS AND THE RIDE WITH GPS ROUTE FROM SEATTLE TO ROOTED NW!
It’s about 60-70 miles from Seattle to Rooted NW depending on where you start and the route you take, with about 2100-2800 feet of elevation gain. Ride with GPS Route
On our way there, we took the 520 bridge to Bellevue and after a short ride on Northrup Way (multi-lane, good shoulder) we hopped on the SR-520 Trail. This is a dedicated path that parallels SR 520; it’s in good condition, but not shady or scenic. In Redmond, we got onto the Sammamish River Trail and rode that north to the southern edge of Woodinville, where we got onto low-traffic suburban roads to Maltby. There we ventured onto Broadway Ave – this is the diciest section of the northbound ride, as the shoulder on the east side of Broadway is narrow and there can be a fair bit of traffic.* But when we turned off onto Springhetti Road and glided down into the valley, we got a break from the cars and drank in views of gorgeous scenery on all sides. Once in Snohomish, we refueled with delectable and hearty treats at the Snohomish Bakery, then hopped on the Centennial Trail, which goes all the way to Arlington (and beyond!) and is a dream to ride – shady and cool.
We arrived in Arlington at about 5 on a Friday afternoon, regrouped at the restrooms in Legion Memorial Park, and steeled ourselves for the final few miles to Rooted NW.
In the next year or two, Snohomish County plans to complete the 3-mile section of the Whitehorse Trail from Arlington to Trafton. That will make it easier to bike to and from Rooted NW for trips of any length. On this ride, though, our best bet was to take SR 530 (aka the Oso Slide Memorial Highway) across the South Fork of the Stillaguamish, past the Arlington Heights Road we’d normally drive on but which is unattractive to cyclists because it has no shoulder, poor lines of sight, and 40 MPH traffic. SR 530 has fast traffic and debris, but a wide shoulder. Not my favorite! We weren’t on it for long before we turned onto 115th Ave NE/Arnot Road, and then we were pretty much home free -- the last few miles to Rooted NW was on quiet country roads.
We arrived with time for a much-needed shower before dinner.
After a great, relaxing weekend hanging with our future neighbors, we did it all in reverse – except that SR 530 was quiet in the middle of a Monday morning, there’s a generous shoulder on the west (southbound) side of Broadway Ave into Maltby, and rather than take the SR 520 Trail, we rode the Sammamish River Trail north from Woodinville to connect to the Burke-Gilman – a little longer, but much more pleasant!
