The Arlington Art Trail – beyond the Centennial

7/22/2009

The delightful Centennial Trail ends at the Anmar Trailhead on 67th Ave NE. What about the trail to the north shown on the TrailLink map? ToolBear took GPS and bike and set out to discover what was there.

He found out: not that good a ride. Perhaps someday when the Centennial is extended into town, but not this month.

From Anmar north there is a 1.2 mile gap called 67th Ave. – a busy two lane road with no shoulder. Good luck with the logging trucks. They love bikies. (Really, they do.)

Out of traffic trail riding beings again at the intersection of 67th and Hwy 531 (172nd). GPS: 48d09.127’n x 122d08.422’w. From here to the north, on the east side of 67th Ave is a wide blacktop multipurpose trail that runs two miles northward. You can follow it on Google Earth. On the ground – well, there is no signage on these trails and not much in facilities.

At the intersection of 67th and 204th the nice blacktop trail stops. Across the intersection you go, following 67th around the curve until you see the RR tracks closing in on the right. Unless you like to play in traffic, head up onto the RR embankment. There is a nice and compacted gravel track to the west of the tracks.

Take it north to the Rt. 9 overpass at Lebanon St. Down off the embankment, under the overpass and right there, across Lebanon St., is the start of what TB calls the Arlington Art Trail. GPS: 48d11.436’n x 122d 07.700’w. You can easily follow it on Google Earth.

It’s a nice blacktop track (5/5) with bits of art scattered the length of it. The first thing you hit is the porch glider. Give it a try. The area ahead looks like it was the old Arlington RR Depot with assorted tracks.

Now it is Legion Park (GPS: 48d11.603’N x 122d 07.613’W). Not much for facilities. Parking and picnic, yes. Need a restroom or water, better start looking. However, it’s all you get for an in-town trail head. Dream of the day when the Centennial comes to town and we can do a seamless ride from Snohomish all the way to Arlington for ice cream, beer, food and souvenir T shirts. ( You can do it now. The merchants are standing by. Check out the funky downtown right there.)

From Lebanon St. the trail winds through town for 0.7 miles to end suddenly at the intersection of RR St. and W. Haller Ave. (GPS: 48d 112.054’N x 122d 07.639’W). It’s very hard to get up to speed because of all the street crossings. There is enough cross traffic that running the crossings is a Bad Career Move. Who wants to be a hood ornament?

From the trail end you can head north on RR Ave. to Haller Bridge Park on the river. This can be your northern trail head. Here be parking, water, restrooms and the rest. Enjoy the river right there.

Bottom line: Should you commute to do these bits of trail. Not really. The Centennial – yes!

However, if you just finished the Centennial at Anmar, load the bike in the car, head up to Legion Park in Arlington and go exploring. We are told that the county owns the RR bed up into Darrington, so dream of the day when the rail trails meet in Arlington and we can ride, ride, ride.

Rating on the ToolBear Triple Trail Scale (1-5): Facilities 2, Trailbed 3-5, Scenery 2-4

ToolBear

Centennial Trail – Anmar to Lake Cassidy **** 4 Stars/5

7/22/2009

Another fun ride on the Centennial Trail in Snohomish County sandwiched into a shopping trip.

This time ToolBear turned the crew out at 06xx hours and was departing the Anmar Trailhead at the north end of the trail at 0840 - in time to catch the shade and cool morning air on the climb. Plug in the Creative Zen mp3 player, strap on the helmet and go. Bob Segar’s “Fire Inside” is first up.

From Anmar (N48d 08.099 x W122d 08.416, E: 125’) the trail heads south to the Wade Trailhead (N48d 07.641 x W122d 08.236’). Then it begins a steady climb along the west side of the ridge to top out at the Route 9 underpass at 343’. The nice thing about railroad grades is the steady grade. Just find the right gears and go for it. You will find the occasional bench along the way and a picnic table overlook with valley view at N48d 06.090’ x W 122d 07.943’.

The trail from the Route 9 underpass to Lake Cassidy is flattish. You are up on the plateau now. At 84th NE St. you find the answer to how to get trail traffic across a busy road. The trailistas have their very own stop signal/pedestrian crossing.

The trail gates at 84th are not ones ToolBear would run. He walked the bike over with the light. (Check out the picture of logging truck going full bore across the trail. That’s why.) You can stop at the trail head at 84th. It’s one of the lesser ones – gravel parking lot and a portable toilet (N48 04.304 x W122 06.119) . There are better places to stage from.

From 84th, it’s a short hop to Lake Cassidy. They call this a trail head, but not really. Trail heads are accessible by car. Yes, there are two handicap parking spaces there at the lake. These are accessed by a private lane (105 NE Ave.) and there is a gate across the lane beyond the homes, so driving in might be a bit of a problem. Let’s call this a Destination for trail users, and a rather nice one. Smart of them to exclude cars. Can you imagine the keggers at the lake here? With no cars, it’s clean and uncrowded.

Time for a snack and a few pix at the lake, then it’s back down to Anmar to resume trail research on the Arlington end of the Centennial (The in- town trail do not connect yet – Anmar is the north end. See my review.)

Once past the Rt. 9 underpass it’s time to put the hammer down. It’s downhill time. ToolBear has it in 3x8 and is seeing what he can do downhill on the descent. Which seems to be 18-20 mph.
The trail runs in forest. The air is still cool and the trail shady. Der Bear is having fun.

Too soon he is back at Wade Trailhead and then Anmar. Pack up the bike and head up the road to survey the Arlington art trail and that section of 12’ wide blacktop from 172nd to 204th, then off to go shopping.

Today the Centennial is a seamless ride from Snohomish to Anmar. Someday it might be a seamless ride into downtown Arlington - where they can sell you beer and lattes and food. Let us hope. Rumor Mill: A local tells Der Bear that the missing link is tied up in a SEPA review with the state. He also noted that the county owns the rail bed from Arlington up to Darrington. Now, that would be a nice trail. Be nice for Arlington if they were the hub for two trails. $$$

STATS...
Milage: 6.81 up x 2. Max speed up: 15.1. Average speed up: 9.5. Max speed down: 20.2. Average speed down: 12.7. Bike: SwissBike LX folding mountain bike. GPS: Garmin GPS Map 60 Csx Rider: The ToolBear, a Geezer. Trailbed – all blacktop, appx. 12’, and in excellent condition. Very smooth. A 4 on the 5 scale.

ToolBear

CENTENNAIL TRAIL OF SNOHOMISH COUNTY – MACHAIS TO LAKE CASSIDY AND BACK

7/15/2009

This is a fun trail. I give it a 4 of 5. Good blacktop, numerous trail heads and facilities, scenery, well-maintained. You can make a seamless ride from Snohomish up to Anmar Trailhead below Arlington.

Bring up Google Earth and overfly the route. It gets used. Hikers, runners, dog walkers, in-line skaters, skate boarders, baby-pushers, roadies in their suits of light, plain old bikers, kids on BMX bikes, scooter pushers, etc. The only thing I didn’t see was horse traffic – but there is a nice grassy shoulder for them and droppings here and there.

The seven trail heads give you lots of ride options. You can start down at the lower end of the trail in the town of Snohomish at 75’ elevation and climb while heading north. You can start at the upper end at the Anmar Trailhead (125’) and climb while heading south. The height of land appears to be somewhere north of Lake Cassidy and around Rt. 9 at 356’.

I sandwiched an Up and Down from the Machias Trailhead (N47d 58.889’ x W122d 02.926’, Elev 138’)to Lake Cassidy and back into the middle of a shopping expedition. Machias is the primo trailhead on the route and gets a lot of traffic. It has a station building, flushies, water, parking, benches, picnic tables, a rug rat playground, two covered picnic shelters, flower beds, landscaping and more. If you need water, get it here. All the trail heads to the north are waterless.

Heading north you hit these trail heads:

NE 20th Street Trailhead

(N48d 01.028’ x W122d 03.160’, Elev. 213’) gravel parking lot, portapotty, benches.

Highway 92 Underpass Trailhead

(N48d 01.866’ x W122d 03.540’, Elev. 275’) blacktop parking lot, portapotty, picnic table, benches, bike rack. Finding this one is a chore. The trail runs under Hwy. 92. Just to the west of the underpass a cross street (127th NE Dr.) is taken south for a block to the trail head entrance. It’s easy to overrun it. If you cross the trail on 92, heading east, you overshot it.

From here north the trail leaves the homes and industrial areas behind and enters the boonies. Woods on both sides. Next trail head is:

Rhododendron Trailhead

(N48d 03.152’ x W122d 05.015’, Elev. 331’) gravel parking lot, portapotty. It’s at the end of 54th NE Pl. You will need a good GPS or map to sort out these backwoods roads.

Lake Cassidy Trailhead

(N48d 03.152’ X W122d 05.410’, Elev. 323’) no parking seen, boardwalk out to lake shore (views), portapotty, picnic tables, benches, information kiosk. This is a nice spot for lunch. It appears to be a bike-in trailhead. If there was parking, it was well hidden, so don’t plan to stage out of here. You can do that about 1.5 miles north at the trailhead on 84th NE St. – which is a small gravel lot with a portapotty.

This was my turn around point. Time to get back and go shopping. Total miles up: 6.55, max speed: 14.1, average speed: 8.9, moving time: 44 minutes. Downbound, the max speed was 21.1 and the average was 10.7.

Trail Observations

Trail Gates … As noted in a previous review, there are gates of heavy pipe where the trail crosses serious roads. All the better to stop you so you can stop, look, listen and live. There are also well-worn by-pass trails around the gates and the obstacles. Your choice. You can be the hood ornament on a pickup or you can luck out. I've done both.

End of Trail … Snohomish County, who should know, as they manage the trail, says it stops at the Anmar Trailhead off 67th NE Ave. below Arlington (N48d 08.099’ X W122d 08.416’, Elev. 189’). The TrailLink map shows it running up to Haller Park on the river in Arlington. Would that it were so, but it ain’t.

There is no rail trail from Anmar up 67th to Arlington. For bikies, 67th is a lethal two lane high speed road with lots of traffic doing 55 mph or better and zero shoulders. If you bail, you are in a real ditch with the briars. If you must do this section, I suggest you call a cab and have him take you to Hwy 531, about 1.2 miles north. Here you will find a bike trail in lieu of a sidewalk on the right side of 67th. We followed this up into town but lost it.

For fun, start at Haller Park on the river (N48d 12.160’ X W122d 07.750’) and work south to see if you can connect the dots. There is an in-town bike trail that goes south from Haller. They have benches, art, murals, and such along the trail. You can see it on Google Earth. Someday they might connect the dots so you can ride from Snohomish to Haller Park in Arlington, but it won’t be soon. However, what they have is a very enjoyable rail trail.

ToolBear