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Sound Cycling: Start Spring Training on Snohomish County's Centennial Trail

Head north for an easy ride near Arlington.

Dust off your bike and start your spring training on the Centennial Trail in Snohomish County.

It has some great attributes:

•    flat and straight, for easy pedaling;
•    a respectable distance, easily pared if you’re short on time or energy; and
•    nice country scenery, with relatively few intersections or obstacles to make you stop.

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The main trail section parallels state Route 9 from Snohomish to Arlington, crossing under that busy road just east of Marysville. It is 17.5 miles one-way, so an out-and-back ride is 35 miles—a good ride in our changeable weather.

Where to start

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There are six trailheads where you can park your car and get on the trail: one at the Arlington end, one near Marysville, three around the Lake Stevens area and two near Snohomish.

If you start at the very south end, in Snohomish, you can end the ride by heading downtown there for some refreshments. Find the south end of the trail by driving east through downtown Snohomish and turning north on Pine Avenue, where you’ll meet it in six blocks. There is street parking near the trail.

I like to start at the Pilchuck trailhead — the next one north — because it has a large parking lot, restrooms and water.

To get to the Pilchuck trailhead from U.S. Highway 2 from Everett, take the third exit into Snohomish. Turn right onto 92nd Street Southeast, then right onto Pine Avenue. Turn right onto Maple Avenue, which becomes South Machias Road, and you’ll find the trailhead on the right in about two miles.

What you’ll see

Riding up the trail, you’ll find mostly rural scenery that masks the nearby neighborhoods of sprawling communities. Still, it feels like a country ride as you survey the woods and get occasional looks across the valleys.

The first thing you notice is that you’re riding one of our “rail-trails,” a trail that used to be a rail line. This becomes even clearer when you ride past the Machias trailhead, where the restroom building is a replica of the railroad depot, circa 1890.

Snohomish County used to be prime dairy country, but now you’ll be much more likely to see horses than cows in the pastures along the trail.

An adjacent equestrian trail runs next to the bike path, and sometimes horses are on the paved trail, too. I enjoy seeing horses on the trail, but I make it a point to slow down, keep the voice or bell sounds to a minimum, and give the animal plenty of room. Most horses out there are docile around cyclists, but you never know, and I’d hate to be the cause of a rider getting tossed. Especially me.

You pass by the east edge of Lake Stevens, but you won’t see it from the trail. To see the lake or stop for provisions, turn west at the 20th Street trailhead and ride a half-dozen blocks into town.

You do see water just north of Lake Stevens, when you pass Lake Cassidy, a much smaller body of water that has a wetlands park next to it. There’s a trailside dock with picnic tables and a portable toilet.

This trail is mostly recreational, and it carries much lower traffic than Seattle-area trails, so it’s generally no problem to ride at a consistent pace. The mandatory slowdowns come when you cross roads at a half-dozen points along the way. Take care, because traffic does not stop and may be moving fast. The elaborate barriers at each crossing require slowing to a crawl as you approach the roads.

Challenging last mile into Arlington

The north end of the trail ends without much fanfare, just a small parking area and another portable toilet. It intersects with 67th Avenue Northeast, also known as Armar Road, near the Arlington airport. At this point you’re 1.2 miles south of Arlington. This year, the county plans to finish that last mile into town, but for now, if you want to keep going, you need to get on busy 67th. There’s no shoulder, so use caution when riding with traffic. At the first stop light you’ll again find a trail next to the road that takes you into town.

Turn right onto 204th Street and, in a few blocks, left onto Stillaguamish Avenue. That will take you into downtown Arlington. There are cafes and a bakery for snacks before heading back.

Add some distance

Here are a couple of ways to add more distance to the ride and include some challenging terrain as well:

•    From downtown Arlington, continue north to West Division Street, then turn left and meet up with state Route 9 in a few blocks. Turn right next to the highway to find the next leg of the Centennial Trail, which just opened in September 2010. It travels over the north fork of the Stillaguamish River and up another three miles to Bryant Road. It stops here for now, but the county intends to complete the trail to the Skagit County line in 2011. There’s no easy way to get back to Arlington on the roads out here without riding west beyond I-5, so it’s best to turn around and retrace your steps.
•    Instead of starting your ride on the Centennial Trail, start farther south, perhaps at Woodinville, Bothell or Monroe. It helps to know the streets and roads in south Snohomish County, as parts of it are quite hilly. I will address other rides in this area in a future column. Briefly, though, the Old Snohomish-Monroe Road is popular with cyclists heading north from Monroe, and the Broadway/Springhetti Road route is popular when riding north from Maltby. You also can ride east from Everett on Snohomish River Road into downtown Snohomish.

See me at Bike Expo this weekend

This weekend I’ll be at the Seattle Bicycle Expo at Pier 91 on the Seattle Waterfront. Stop by and see me at the University Bookstore booth on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m., or Sunday from noon to 2 p.m. And don’t miss the incredible acrobatics of the German artistic cyclists.

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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