Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

John Wayne Trail

2K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  rbwen 
#1 ·
Going to ride the JWT in two weeks east to west. Wondering something:

Is the stretch from Ellensburg to Cle Elum pretty rough (comparatively)? We are debating on whether to start in the Burg or Cle Elum.

Thanks in advance!

Ray
 
#2 ·
The section between Thorp and SCE in the canyon is really nice, so I'd try to include that if you've got the time. The stuff between Eburg and Thorp varies between kinda cool in the slough areas to "meh" chugging through farm fields.

Gravel is a little deep on all of this but it's not rough per se.
 
#3 ·
My son tells me its pretty smooth from SCE west. He did it on his touring bike a few weeks ago. I've ridden the Thorp/Canyon section several times on my 'cross bike and always ended up wishing I'd ridden my HT instead. Verslow is right though, it has some of the coolest scenery on the trail.
 
#4 ·
My wife and I went in search of some sun today and rode the section between Cle Elum and Thorp (found a few showers but also plenty of sun). I'd start in Ellensburg...the upper canyon section is a nice ride - fall colors are coming out! Tunnels are open too (bring a light for the 2nd one). The trail can be a bit loose in places, but overall it's not bad.

[On Edit: Another option is to split the difference and start at the Thorp trailhead. You miss the loose "meh" stuff coming out of Ellensburg and you get into the Canyon pretty quickly. Once you are out of the Canyon, the trail parallels lower Peoh Point Rd. and it's another "meh" section for a few miles. An option to save time is to hop over onto the road and ride that to the SCE trailhead]



 
#8 ·
Prevailing wind is typically at your back in this direction.

The climb from Rattlesnake Lake to the top of the pass is not especially scenic IMO (except for some of the bridge crossings) so you may as well get it out of the way early. I really like the ride down from the top of the pass to SCE, I think it's a nicer ride in that direction. Also I prefer to ride SCE to Thorp not the other way.
 
#12 ·
@verslowrdr - can you give specific directions for the Thorp take out? so we know where to park our second vehicle. we are riding west to east. is it pretty obvious?

Edit: Nevermind. I should have done the Google first.

From Thorp:
Leave I-90 at exit #101, turn north on Thorp Hwy, 1/2 mile turn left on Thorp Depot Road and 1/4 mile to parking area.
 
#17 ·
Thanks for all of the advice. VERY glad I had the mountain bike. We had a great ride today, left Rattlesnake Lake to a bit of rain but things warmed up nicely as we headed down toward Easton. The tunnel at the summit was spectacular and the road bed inside it was almost like pavement. Having ridden the Trail of the Hiawatha recently I'd say the tunnels on this route were in much better shape. The last stretch to Thorp was the prettiest and had the worst section of trail but you could still do 12-13mph, no problem. It was neat to think that I've driven I-90 numerous times and never known that trail even existed. Great ride.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top