Olympic Discovery Trail Adventure section of the ODT. By MarkR1360 in 6/29/2008 8:03:34 PM | Sunday morning June 29th, 2008 I rode the recently opened Adventure section of the Olympic Discovery Trail. This is by far the best trail I have ever ridden, it even had that new trail smell to it. The trail is well marked once you find the trail head. The trail website tells you that the trailhead is just 0.2 miles past the Elwha river on the left side but only after making several passes did I see the white rule sign up on the hill. What looks like an asphalt service road on the same side (left) that is about 50 feet long and ends at a private road entrance is what they call the parking lot. This is definitly not for road bikes. Although it is all dirt it is a very easy ride and the blue trail markers are well posted and easy to see. only at mile 15.2 did I fail to make the left turn and had to double back about a mile. That marker is on the left and also there is a white gate on that road so just look for the gate. The trail website has some very detailed maps. Print them out and take them with you. There are several motorcycle barriers along the way with warning signs telling you to coast through them with pedals straight up and down. The idea is that the lower pedal will go between the barriers and the upper one will clear the short barrier. I advise stopping and squeezing through them. My canondale F-5 could not clear 75% of the barriers. The views are incredible, from rain forrest to open plains with a fantastic view of the Straits and Canada. The trail is about 24 miles long and it took me about four hours to ride it. What is nice about this trail is that you can get back to your car by taking the Joyce Piedmont road for four miles to highway 112, turn right and ride 10 more miles which took me about an hour and a half. Highway 112 has a wide shoulder so don't worry about the traffic. Iron Horse State Park Scenic ride but loose rock. By MarkR1360 in 3/9/2008 6:29:12 PM | On one trip I rode from Cedar Falls to Hayak round trip and it was a very nice ride. The tunnel just before Hayak was an experience I will not forget. I held my bike light in my hand while riding through the tunnel so that I could get a good view of all the walkers. This proved to be a bad idea since the movement of the flashlight, the tunnel vision and the sounds of the people all combined to bring on a serious case of motion sickness. On the return trip a cliped the light to the handlebar and this proved to be much easier on the stomache. Now a 2% grade doesn't sound like much but it sure adds up. Most of this section of trail was hardpacked and provided for easy peddling. From South Cle Elum to Thorpe is a whole different story. This section of trail is full of loose rock and will wear you out quick. The Yakima river and getting away from the interstate provides for some quite sceanery but it is certainly a workout. Its interesting that this use to be an electric rail line. You can still see some of the old substations and overhead power poles along the route.