Trail:Tiger Mountain

From Evergreen Trail Guide

Trail Overview

Tiger Mountain is one of Seattle's most popular mountain biking destinations. Its close proximity to Seattle, good parking facilities, and a variety of trail difficulties draw the masses. Summer weekends see a steady stream of bikes ranging from 45 lb. DH rigs to old-skool fully stiff cromoly frames. The Preston Railroad Trail, Iverson (Fat Hand) Trail, and Northwest Timber Trail are all open to bicycles. All other trails are (currently) closed to mountain bicycles. The trails are closed seasonally from October 15 to April 15, but there are many miles of roads open all year long. Many of these make for excellent training rides.

Trails vary in difficulty. Iverson is considered the most difficult, followed by Preston Railroad Grade and then Northwest Timber. Both Iverson and NW Timber have rolling grades although NW Timber has less roots and rocks impeding your way. Iverson is usually ridden from the top down because the lower section can be quite challenging to climb. NW Timber is often ridden both directions. Preston is either a climb, descent, or both and sports several challenges with rocks and roots along the way.

Sign up for trailwork

Contact Brian Jones at trailwork@evergreenmtb.org for information about work party schedules and volunteering at Tiger Mountain. You can help by volunteering, donating funds for equipment or sponsoring the food at a work party.

How to find it

From Seattle take I-90 East to Highway 18. Continue South on Highway 18 for 4.4 miles, until you reach East Tiger Summit on your right.

There are two main parking areas. The lower area is just off of Highway 18. The upper area is gated and is locked at 8:00 PM per the sign on the gate. This area also includes bathroom facilities. The road to the upper area travels travels west just above the lower parking lot.

DNR asks you to park at the upper parking lot if possible and help us keep the area clean. The lower lot is maintained by WashDOT and is getting nasty with litter, human waste in the woods and general nastiness.

To access the top of Iverson trail, bike up the gated road past the upper parking lot 2.1 miles. The trail entrance is on the right.

Northwest Timber and Preston trailheads are accessed by heading up the road due north from the turn-off into the lower parking lot. The bottom of NW Timber is about 300 yards <???> up the road on the right. After a LONG climb (about 3.5 miles), this road tees. Take a left and continue roughly west and then north for another half mile or so. The top of Preston is well-marked and on the right.

Typical Conditions

Tiger mountain can be very wet following rain, especially the Preston Railroad Trail. The PRT can ooze water for up to a week after a heavy rain, so please take this into consideration when planning your ride. Iverson and NW Timber Trails are drier, but it can still rain quite hard here.

Current Conditions

DNR opened trails on 4/14/10

Latest update from DNR is that the NWT Trail was worked on over the winter by DNR crews and no longer requires a detour on the Power Line road. Consideration of the recent weather is advised to early-season riders, as wet conditions can result in rapid erosion of the trails under heavy use.

Everything is primo! Iverson is open, though bridge work is ongoing. R1de 20:09, 12 May 2010 (PDT)

Turn-By-Turn Guide

Note: All three trails are two-way, and the rider going uphill has the right of way.

Click here to view the Tiger Mountain MTB trail map.

You can also view a high-resolution GPS trail map for Tiger Mountain from Switchbacks.com.

The standard Road > Preston > NW Timber Trail loop

• Climb up the main Tiger Mountain Road.
• After approx 2.5 miles you'll reach an intersection, stay to the left.
• About 1/3 mile further you'll see the entrance to the Preston RR Trail on your right. If you go down a big hill you've gone too far.
• Take the Preston RR Trail, it's about 4 miles long and has no intersections.
• When you come out on the road, take a left and go for a short distance.
• Take a right turn at the first intersection.
• Follow this road for approx 2 miles. You'll go down a big dip, and then climb up a hill.
• At the Top of this hill you'll see some gravel piles and a road heading off to your right. The entrance to the NW Timber Trail is just past the road on your right.
• Take the NW Timber trail for approx 2.5 miles.
• At the road, take a left and coast back down to the lower parking lot, about 1/3 of a mile -or- take the connector trail back to the upper parking lot.

The Iverson Loop (AKA Fat Hand Trail)

• At the lower parking lot, take the left-hand road (West Side Road) towards the upper lot.
• Continue past the upper lot, going around gate.
• After about 1.5 miles, you will see the entrance to the Iverson Railroad Trail to your right.
• The trail starts with a short climb and has several short ups-and-downs before heading back down.
• At the bottom, the train intersects the connector trail just before the bridge.
• Turn right and you will quickly hit the upper parking lot.

West Tiger

• Only Puget Power Trail and High School Trail are open to mountain bikes.
• Bus Trail and Bonneville Trail are both not signed for limited use (Use your best judgment).
• All other trails are off limits to bikes
• From the bottom of the High School Trail, take your first right, then left at the 'T' up to Puget Power
• The climb up from the High School to Puget Power is 18%-20%, High School is about 15%
• High school is smooth double track, Puget Power is a middle chain ring fire access road.
• It's 2.8 miles from the High School to the High Point Trailhead. Out and back using Bonneville is about 7.5 miles
• Grunt 3 | Tech 1

All distances are estimates here and only for general reference.

Local Points of Interest

Here you might list nearby places to get a bite to eat, nearby bike shops, etc.

Misc. Information

A message from DNR

Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is the land manager and is committed to building strong partnerships with trail users and volunteers. They ask you keep the folling in mind:

• Tiger Mountain is a working forest. This means that trees are harvested to pay for things such as schools, but it also means the roads are actively used. Please be aware of vehicle traffic on the roads. This includes radio tower service vehicles which are present even when there is no active logging.
• DNR is committed to building public partnerships. They have almost no budget for recreation yet are one of the biggest providers in the state of trails that re open to mountain bikes. Help support them by supporting BBTC, voicing your support for DNR and volunteering for trail work.
• Please respect the forest. DNR needs help with maintenance and any adverse uses make it hard to keep trails open and up to standard. Don't ride closed trails, respect seasonal closures, and help them keep the parking areas clean.

More information on Tiger Mountain from the DNR website here.

Advocacy Information

Bridges Need Replacing

July 7, 2008 Update This last winter the DNR received a NOVA grant to replace five bridges on the NW timber trail and the Connector trail. It is highly competitive, and DNR has applied for the past 3 years for funds to replace the bridges. The bridges on this trail are nearing the end of their useful lives and need to be replaced. They will be completing the work and all five bridges will be removed from the trail starting Monday, July 7th in preparation for bringing in the new bridges. Since access is limited on this trail, a helicopter will be used to bring in the bridge materials on site. Interesting fact: New bridges cost just over $1000 per foot! We anticipate that the trail will re-open again with new trail bridges the week of Aug. 8th.

BBTC wrote unsuccessfully applied for a 2007 NRTP grant, which is co-sponsored by DNR, to replace one of the bridges on the Iverson RR Trail. We have been told that we should re-apply next year as our chances will improve.

Working Forest

These trails are on Washington Deparment of Natural Resources (DNR) land and are managed as working forests. DNR's charter is to actively harvest timber to pay for public buildings such as schools. DNR has almost no recreation budget and pays for trail maintenance and recreation staff through state and federal grants. We work with DNR to provide recreation opportunities while understanding that their core mission is generating revenue through timber harvesting.

Timber sales will cause logging on or near existing trails, such as the recent Iverson clear cut. DNR works with trail users to cause as little impact as is practical, and trys to get loggers to some minimal trail restoration when they are done. If you look at the recent Iverson harvest you'll notice that the harvest boundary went right next to the trail, but not across it, in an effort to have as little an impact as possible.

Trail Maintenance Techniques

These are the only 3 trail on all of Tiger Mountain that are open to mountain bikes, and these are some of the most popular mountain bike trails in the region. Add this to the fact that the hydrology is challenging and the trails are on old railroad grades and you've got the formula for trails that need to be upgraded to a very high level of durability.

Railroad grades are one of the worst scenarios for sustainable trails. The grades were often designed for temporary train use while logging, and didn't consider water management when built. The long, straight grades channel water down the trail, instead of sheeting the water off the side by designing in proper outslope and grade reversals. It is very difficult to modify railroad grades to be dry, sustainable trails, but we're showing that good progress can be made.

Instead of trying to create dry trails, something that would require decomissioning the rail grade and doing a re-route, we are focusing on creating an armored trail tread and directing water off the trail wherever possible. The Preston trail may not be dry all the time, but our maintenance techniques should create a trail tread that reduces erosion and excessive sedimentation.

Under the Microscope

Many user groups and public agencies look at Tiger Mountain as an example of mountain bike impacts on trails. This is unfortunate since these trails were literally the leftovers given to mountain bikers when we were kicked off all the good trail on Tiger Mountain in the early 1990's. These trails have difficult hydrological conditions and some sections are on old railroad grade. It is impressive what we've done to turn these "leftovers" into truly enjoyable and sustainable trails.

Please be aware that this area is looked at closely and ride accordingly. It is very important to use good trail etiquette and to obey all rules and the seasonal closures on Tiger Mountain. Also come out to work parties and help us in our quest to turn these trails into real show-pieces!

Photos