The Return of Naches Fest 2026 Event Recap
Words by Cowlitz-Naches Chapter Council Member Chris O'Brine
After a brilliant whirlwind of a weekend Sept 11-13, we wrapped up our 2026 Naches Fest and it was one for the record books! After taking two years off, our local Cowlitz-Naches Evergreen Chapter, brought the event back to a new location. Historically held up HWY 410 in the Little Naches recreation area, the decision was made to relocate to the Wildcat recreation area on Hwy 12 to showcase the 250+ hours of work put into the Russell Ridge trail system over the summer by nearly 20 volunteer trail gnomes.
Friday Nights are for the Groms
The event unofficially kicked off Friday evening with a handful of chapter council members meeting up to get things set up for the next day’s festivities. They were met by an equal part of community members stoked to hit the trails on Saturday; 15 riders ready to ride and party, hands were shaken, greetings exchanged, tents and canopies were put up, but nobody expected what turned out to be the highlight of the evening. It became apparent that the groms were there to take over.
Instant friendships were created within the 10 and under crew, who immediately set forth to build and shred an epic DH trail of their own. The little groms didn’t even let darkness stop them, setting up multiple lanterns and flashlights along the trail so they could shred well past their bedtimes.
Three Loops and Tons of Shredding
Although the forecast had us nervous, calling for rain all day Saturday, the dark arts of meteorology missed the mark by several hours. At 10AM, 45+ riders broke out of camp with the energy of rabid weasels in perfect weather and no tears from heaven to be seen. From E-bikes to hardtails, riders chose one of three loops found on Russell Ridge to match their stoke and fitness levels, making it easy to maximize their fun! The chapter provided group leads for each group to to help out anyone new to the area and share in the fruits of the summer’s trail work.
After crushing a few hours and miles of well-earned turns, riders arrived back at camp dirty, sweaty and wearing smiles wider than the Columbia, eager to devour the mountain of tacos and accoutrements waiting for them.
Even More Turns? Yes, Please!
Riders were not finished yet though. After swapping stories of the recently shredded gnar (some true, some exaggerated) riders were jazzed to hear the announcement that the Trans-Cascadia Excursions van was standing by to provide shuttles on the ever-popular Soup Creek Trail. 20 riders (over a quarter of which were under 10 years old) made the short trip down the road to the top of the local go-to, blue-rated downhill. Two laps is all anybody had in them after the morning adventures so they made quick work of it and headed back to camp to fuel up; burgers, brats, even more tacos, drinks, and of course the good vibes hang-out. The rain eventually showed around 9PM but that didn’t slow down the crew. It wasn’t until 1AM that the last riders finally succumbed to the lulling call of the rain falling on tents, and drifted into sweet dreams of churning pedals, spinning tires, and flying dirt.
Here’s to the Future, and Those That Make it Happen
This year truly was inspirational and it laid a promising foundation for this annual event to grow to epic proportions in the years to come. Like any good party, this event could not have happened without our sponsors and the community.
We want to give a shout out to the Naches Ranger District. We couldn’t do what we do without our partnership with USFS and the trails they manage.
A MASSIVE thank you to Bearded Monkey Cycling, Sport Haus of Yakima, Roy Farms, the Yakima Valley Mountain Bike Team, and of course you, the community of riders that show up in every way!
Want to help keep the trails and good times going? Join the Cowlitz Naches Evergreen Chapter at evergreenmtb.org. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook for information about upcoming events.