Finding that perfect section of singletrack becomes more a challenge as spring tapers off and summer begins to bake the soil, releasing all the moisture that keeps our tires stuck to the earth. Luckily the trails at Mount Spokane State Park maintain the dark and loamy soil that we love so much. While mountain bikers are currently confined to a limited number of multi-use trails in the park, this is about to change.
The Eastern Washington Chapter of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance (Evergreen East) has successfully advanced a 20-year plan for building roughly 20 new trails on Mount Spokane, a handful of them being mountain bike specific. “Last fall we completed three multi-use trails and will begin building the first directional mountain bike only trail this spring,” reports Evergreen East President John Henry.
This new singletrack trail will be thirteen miles long and will include a mix of hand built construction, utilizing the natural terrain, as well as some machine-built sections to add flow. Another major addition to the trail network on the horizon is the planned use of the terrain encompassed by the ski area. Three downhill trails ranging in difficulty from beginner to pro have been proposed. And while it may be a few years off, the eventual goal is to provide lift-accessed riding. These trails will be reserved for mountain bikes only and will tailor to the rider looking to use gravity to their advantage as they rip down the mountain. As for other all-mountain riding, a trail circumnavigating Mount Spokane is also in the plan to provide all day adventure fun. The plan also includes a trail to the fire lookout on Quartz Peak.
Evergreen East is an organization run largely off of the help of volunteers. If you want to support and celebrate the construction of these trails, come join other riders and builders the weekend of June 6-8 during the “Warm Up Mt. Spokane” events. The fun begins Friday at 7 p.m. at the Rocket Market on Spokane’s South Hill with local beer and a showing of the mountain bike movie “Not Bad.” Saturday is a dig day to freshen up the current trails at Mt. Spokane, followed by a shuttle day on Sunday to enjoy all the hard work. If you help dig Saturday, your shuttle spot is reserved and free for Sunday, not to mention all of the trail karma you will attain by digging at the local trails. See you out there! More info: Evergreeneast.org. //
