Olympic Peninsula Hood Canal

A 420 km loop

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Why this ride

A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. 420 km round from Carnation - plan on about 8 h 44 of riding. The stops in between: Stanwood, near Port Hadlock-Irondale, near Home and White Center. The climb of the day is near Enumclaw.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop near Carnation fuel

   Fuel at 0 km.

2. Near Stanwood, on the way back swim

   Stanwood and the northern end of Camano Island lie at the edge of the Skagit Delta, where the Stillaguamish River spreads into a flat, fertile plain and meets the waters of Port Susan. The land is as flat as a table, and the horizon is filled by the Cascades to the east and the Olympics to the west. This is a landscape of dairy farms, fields of peas and potatoes, and drainage ditches, with huge skies and a strong smell of earth and sea.

   In winter the delta becomes one of the great bird-watching sites of the Pacific coast. Tens of thousands of snow geese arrive from Siberia, along with trumpeter swans and swarms of raptors, including bald eagles, peregrine falcons and snowy owls in some years. The fields turn white with geese, and the air fills with their noise. In April, the nearby Skagit Valley comes alive with tulip fields in yellow, red and pink, and the whole area is thick with visitors.

   The label mentions the Olympic Peninsula, which lies across the water, and a ferry from nearby Whidbey Island will take you there. But this corner has its own pleasures. Stanwood was settled by Scandinavian farmers in the late nineteenth century, and its old buildings and cemeteries reflect that heritage. Camano Island State Park offers beaches, forest paths and views over the sound, and the water is cold but clear.

   Stanwood has about seven thousand people, with a fuel station, supermarket and some cafes, while Camano, a larger area, has a few shops and a small marina. The roads are flat and straight, with fields on either side, and a strong crosswind is common, so keep a firm hold of the handlebars. In misty weather, the fields look like a painting, with soft light and dim shapes. For a quiet day beside the water, with plenty of birds and few people, it is hard to beat.

3. Food stop near Port Hadlock-Irondale food

   A break here at 120 km.

4. Photo stop near Home photo

   Home is a small community on the Key Peninsula, a long, wooded finger of land reaching into southern Puget Sound west of Tacoma. It has one of the stranger origin stories in the Pacific Northwest: in 1896 a handful of idealists founded an anarchist colony here on the shore of Von Geldern Cove, and for a couple of decades it attracted free thinkers, writers and the suspicious attention of the authorities. The colony faded, but the name stuck.

   Today the place is quiet, almost hidden. The Key Peninsula Highway runs down the spine of the land through tall Douglas fir and cedar, with side roads dropping to small coves, oyster beds and boat ramps. It is not a technical road, but it rolls and curves pleasantly, with very little traffic, and the forest smells of resin and salt water after rain. On a clear day, the views back across the water take in Mount Rainier, impossibly large above the sound.

   Weather is the main caution. From autumn to spring, damp is the default; moss and pine needles make shaded corners slick, and fog can sit in the hollows until late morning. Deer wander across the roads at dusk. Summer, by contrast, is often dry and gentle, the best time to explore these backroads.

   Services on the peninsula are scattered and small, so do not count on finding fuel exactly where you want it. Gig Harbor and Purdy at the northern end of the peninsula are the reliable places to fill up and find coffee and food. From there, the route heads towards Hood Canal and the Olympic Peninsula, where distances get longer and the forest gets even deeper.

5. Near White Center finish

   Ferries are the quiet heart of this corner of Seattle. White Center, a modest, diverse neighbourhood, lies just inland, and Lincoln Park offers forest trails, beaches and views over the water.

   Puget Sound is a complex inland sea carved by glaciers, with deep channels, islands and peninsulas, and its cold, nutrient-rich waters support orcas, seals, porpoises and salmon. On a clear day Mount Rainier rises huge and white to the southeast, a volcano so massive that it creates its own weather. The weather here is famously grey and drizzly from autumn to spring, but summers are often dry and sunny, with long evenings and clear skies.

   The North Cascades Highway is one of the great rides of the Pacific Northwest. It leaves Interstate 5 near Burlington and heads east along the Skagit River, past the turquoise lakes of Diablo and Ross, which owe their colour to fine glacial flour, and climbs to Washington Pass, where granite spires rise above the road. The highway closes in winter because of snow and avalanche danger, usually from November until spring, so check the dates before you plan. Beyond Marblemount, services disappear for a long stretch until you descend to Mazama and Winthrop, so fill up before the climb.

   Getting out of Seattle can be slow. Traffic on Interstate 5 and the city's bridges is heavy at rush hour and at weekends, and the West Seattle Bridge can be a bottleneck. Ferries can save time and offer a scenic alternative, though queues are long in summer. Riding in the rain is common, and the roads can be slippery with leaves and moss in the autumn.

   Fuel, food and coffee are easy to find in West Seattle and White Center. For a pause before or after the ride, walk down to the water at Lincoln Park and watch the ferries come and go. With the islands, the mountains and the light on the Sound, it is a fine place to start or end any journey.

6. High point near Enumclaw pass

   Enumclaw sits on the plateau east of Seattle where the suburbs thin out into horse paddocks, hay fields and dairy farms, with Mount Rainier standing on the horizon on any clear day. The mountain, at about 4,390 metres, is an active volcano and the highest in the Cascade range, covered in more glacier ice than any other peak in the lower forty-eight states. It looks very close from here, and it is, which is a large part of why so many riders begin the day in this town.

   The road from Enumclaw to the mountain is State Route 410, which follows the White River upstream into the national forest, through tall Douglas fir and cedar. After the village of Greenwater the road climbs, the corners get longer and the trees come right to the verge. Crystal Mountain ski area lies to one side, and beyond it the road rises to Chinook Pass, at roughly 1,650 metres, where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses the highway. The pass is closed by snow through the winter, usually from November until late spring, so check the state transportation website before setting out. From the pass the road drops toward Yakima country, and the forest gives way to dry pine and rock.

   In summer the Sunrise road, which climbs from the northeast entrance of Mount Rainier National Park to the highest point reachable by road on the mountain, is the usual objective, and a park entry fee applies. The weather on Rainier makes its own rules. A clear dawn can be shut in with cloud by midday, and it can be cold and wet at the top even in July. Traffic is heavy on weekends in summer, so aim for an early start. Deer and the occasional bear cross the roads, especially at dusk.

   For practical reasons, Enumclaw is the last sizeable place for fuel, groceries and repairs before the mountains, and nearby Buckley has more. The town also has bakeries and diners that suit riders heading out early. Once you pass Greenwater, services are scarce, so top up the tank and carry water, snacks and a warm layer.

7. Scenic stretch near Black Diamond scenic
8. Back to Olympic Peninsula finish

   The Snoqualmie Valley, where Carnation sits, is a quiet pocket of dairy farms and berry fields in the western foothills of the Cascades, a short way east of Seattle's suburbs. It is a place where cows graze in sight of snow-capped peaks, with the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers winding through the flats and the dark ridge of the mountains behind. The village of Carnation takes its name from the Carnation Milk company, which once ran a famous model dairy farm here. Lake Marcel-Stillwater, nearby, is a scattering of houses on the forested slope.

   To the south, Snoqualmie Falls drops about 82 metres over a lip of rock into a misty pool, and has been a sacred place for the Snoqualmie people for countless generations. The town of Snoqualmie nearby is better known to some as the setting for the television series Twin Peaks, and diner fans will find the cafe made famous in the show. The valley's light, in early morning mist, is particularly beautiful.

   The Olympic Peninsula and Hood Canal, the first part of the ride, lie across Puget Sound to the west, and they are some of the greatest riding in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal is not a canal at all but a natural fjord, a long, narrow arm of the sound with steep forested shores and oysters in the shallows, and the highway along it passes through small towns with names like Brinnon and Quilcene. Further inland, the Olympic mountains rise to glaciated peaks, with the road to Hurricane Ridge climbing about 1,600 metres to wide meadows and views that sweep across the range.

   By contrast, the Snoqualmie Valley is for gentle winding and quiet. Roads are narrow, lined with fir and maple, and the surface is generally good. Rain is common from autumn to spring, and fog fills the river bottoms in the morning. Farm stands sell fruit and vegetables in summer, and there are good stops for coffee in Duvall and Fall City.

   Fuel in Carnation itself is limited, so use the larger stations in Duvall, Fall City or Redmond. Weekend traffic can be busy near the falls, and elk, which have become common in the valley, sometimes wander onto the road, so be careful at dawn and dusk.

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