Nowhere To Bridge
Bicycle Route and variations
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View of Round Mt and Mt Higgens |
Colorful Fungus on the path |
Length 8.65 miles, elevation change to highest point 300 feet. Surface: gravel, dirt, some highway with good shoulders. Short sections of re-vegetated road require walking. This route will can be traveled in several longer variations of loops by connecting with the Whitehorse Trail, the Bridge to Nowhere route, and the Power Line Road.
This route uses gated but open to public DNR roads to explore terrain south of Highway 530 between Darrington and Whitehorse Store. If one leaves Darrington on 530, the route intersects ¼ mile west of mile marker 48. Take the right hand option at the gate just off 530. At about 1.3 miles on this section there are some re-vegetated sections of road that are easily crossed, perhaps requiring walking the bike for 100 feet.
When the road intersects with Hwy 530 just east of the Darrington Bluegrass and Rodeo grounds, it is possible to cross a short median of trees on the north side of Hwy 530 and get on to the Power Line gravel road for an alternate shorter loop. The Power Line road connects to the Whitehorse trail and North Mountain Road.
The western section that intersects the Mine Road is probably best traveled west to east and in a dry season of the year, going south up the Mine Road, taking the intersection into the DNR logged area that is at the top of the long steep hill of the Mine Road. The route then goes back down steeply and crosses several deep drainage ditches and small creeks. At one point about mid way in this section the road is blocked by a huge slash pile, but a good path goes around just north of this tree tangle, and continues on very flat ground east of there.
State route HWY 530 intersects the route and has several places with bus stops for Community Transit Route 230 which can carry two bicycles.
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The green sections are the main parts of this route. Click on the various colored route lines to get added descriptions. |