Beat Winter Blues by Taking Road/Trail Combo from Bellevue to Issaquah

My winter decision-making goes like this: Not raining? Wind not too crazy? Let's get on the bikes!

Fitting a recreational ride into a few hours of relative calm among our wet winter days feels pretty good. I like the brisk air, the crisp chill of it pulled deep into the lungs as I exert myself to climb a hill or sprint into top speed on a straightaway. You just can't get that kind of feeling indoors at the gym.

But riding on the roads and streets in winter can be less pleasant. Low visibility for drivers makes it less safe, and regular stopping at lights and stop signs can give you a chill. Winter cyclists need to keep moving to keep warm. So for a pure recreational ride, I like to seek out one of our regional trails. 

We have a good series of trails (I wish I could call them a network) that can take cyclists out of their communities. A trail ride gets you to other neighborhoods, nearby towns or adjacent countryside. Most people are familiar with the trail near their home, even if it isn't on their bike commute route. But one joy of recreational riding is exploring a trail whose twists and turns will take you somewhere new. 

This week, I want to suggest one specific trail that has recently been lengthened.

Ride of the Week: I-90 Trail, Bellevue to Issaquah

Distance: 30 miles

Allow: 4 hours

The I-90 Trail from Bellevue gets you to Issaquah and, in the immortal words of Buzz Lightyear, "Beyond!" A new "missing link" segment now boosts safety and connects with the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail. This is a pretty good trek for a winter day, so bring  water and snacks. And it's easy to do just part of it if the weather turns.

You'll want to ride your mountain bike, or at least a hybrid with wider tires than the regular road bike, because about half this ride is off-road on packed gravel. But you won't need the bike's granny gears, since the ride is very flat.

Start at the South Bellevue Park & Ride, conveniently located on Bellevue Way just north of the I-90/I-405 interchange. Ride south out of the parking lot to the Mercer Slough Nature Area. In a quarter-mile, the paved trail forks. It's well-marked. Head south and it will wind you around to points west: the I-90 floating bridge, Mercer Island and Seattle. Head east and you'll climb a small but steep bridge over the slough and then snake under the freeway pillars to get to Factoria. Go east.

The trail ends at the intersection with Richards Road and Southeast 36th Street. Go straight onto 36th and head up a long hill in the bike lane. Turn left at 150th Avenue Southeast and then right onto Southeast 37th Place before the freeway on-ramp. This turns into Southeast 35th Place and tunnels under I-90. After a quick right onto Eastgate Way, turn right again onto the I-90 Trail next to the freeway.

Try to ignore the mosquito-swarm buzzing of the adjacent traffic as you aim for the Cascade foothills. Continue on this trail to W. Lake Sammamish Parkway Southeast (do not cross over the freeway at a connecting bridge midpoint). Turn right and ride south on West Lake Sammamish, going three-quarters of the way around a roundabout before a freeway on-ramp to stay on it. You'll skirt the Lake Sammamish State Park on the south shore of that lake as the parkway turns into Northwest Sammamish Road. Just prior to reaching East Lake Sammamish Parkway, turn south onto the trail, which will take you into Issaquah.

The trail crosses under I-90 and goes into downtown Issaquah. But just before reaching it, turn left onto the Issaquah Creek Trail, which again parallels I-90s north side. Cross busy East Lake Sammamish Parkway and continue on the trail until it meets Highlands Drive Northeast, where you cross onto the packed-gravel Issaquah-Highpoint Trail. This section of the trail connects with other trails up to Grand Ridge and the Highlands.

Stay on the main, heavily wooded trail for two miles and you'll come to the intersection with High Point Way at the Exit 20 off-ramp. Cross High Point and continue on the new part of the trail, which was just opened a couple of weeks ago. 

Orange construction fencing still lines the trail's edges. It's newly graveled, and last week I found it soft in spots due to the large amount of water saturating the ground right now. 

This 1.25-mile trail might not look like much, but it serves a big purpose. It keeps you off the parallel High Point Way, which snakes along the edge of this river valley. This section of the road is pretty treacherous for cyclists because there are a few blind curves and no shoulders, and the rolling hills make the riding slow. Drivers get frustrated because they come upon bikes unexpectedly and there's no way to get around them on the curves. So the flat trail along the freeway is a good addition for all. 

The trail comes out on a flat, straight section of High Point Way, which has a nice shoulder for bikes. In another mile you're in the small business district of Preston. Turn left off the road at Southeast 79th Street. Take the curving trail through town to a new park just beyond the post office. Here you'll find restrooms and water, and across the street from the post office is a well-stocked mini-mart. 

In summer, I suggest that you continue on the Preston-Snoqualmie Trail, which climbs six miles through the hills to a dead-end where you can see Snoqualmie Falls in the distance. But the trail is very wooded, and in winter it's too shaded and slippery to be enjoyable. 

Turn around here, retrace your steps back to Bellevue, maybe making a side trip in Issaquah to Northeast Gilman Boulevard, where you'll find Boehm's Candies and the XXX Root Beer stand for a bit of sweet rejuvenation on the way.

Bill Thorness is the author of Biking Puget Sound: 50 Rides from Olympia to the San Juans. Contact him at bill@bikingpugetsound.com.



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