We love guiding and we revel in being able to show our customers the best of what Whatcom County has to offer. Check out the descriptions below of the four local riding areas and let us know what strikes your fancy. Let’s ride!
Bellingham Riding Areas
GALBRAITH MOUNTAIN
Galbraith is the most we’ll known riding spot in Bellingham. Galby (as the locals refer to it) has upwards of 65 miles, so there is no shortage of options in terms of routes. Galby is great if you enjoy man made trail features including, jumps, drops, berms and even some North Shore style wood work. There’s tons of that here. It’s the most build up option of the three and it’s also the most a good choice if you’re unsure how long you want to or can ride, A short or long ride could be done easily at Galbraith.
Fitness Level: Easy to Strenuous
Skill Level: Beginner to Advanced
Pros: Lots of options for routes and trail types, plenty of jumps and man made technical features. Long or short rides possible.
Cons: Extensive logging means it’s not the most natural looking mountain (although we now have some peekaboo views of Bellingham Bay now). It’s a confusing maze of trails if you don’t know your way.
CHUCKANUT MOUNTAIN
Chuckanut is the enduro paradise. Home to the annual Chuckanut Enduro, Chuckanut is the steep and chunky option. Expect roots, rocks, drop-offs, berms and some exposure. Signature trails are Double Black (it’s largely a misnomer), Double Down (not a misnomer), the Ridge Trail and Hush Hush.
Fitness Level: Strenuous
Skill Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Pros: Steep, challenging natural terrain. Longest descents in B’ham (up to 1800’). Beautiful view of Bellingham Bay. Optional natural features such committed rock rolls. Can be shuttled (drive to the top). Has well estabished 100+ year old forests that are extremely lush.
Cons: Harder to do a short/mellow ride here. Steep sections. Exposure in spots (mainly on Double Down). Climb is fairly strenuous (but not unreasonable) by bike.
BLANCHARD MOUNTAIN
Blanchard Mountain is the go to for XC fun. For flowey, buttery singletrack, this is the place. Expect a longish climb up (about an hour and a half) ranging from mellow road to steepish (for pedaling) singletrack trail. The trail down is nearly all flowing singletrack. Not too steep, but enough to carry plenty of speed with just a pedal or two here and there. Oyster Dome Lookout provides sweeping views of the bay. Highlight trail would be Lizzard Lilly Trail going down.
Fitness Level: Moderate to approaching strenuous
Skill Level: Easy to Intermediate
Pros: Climb is moderately strenuous if relatively long. Not too bad. Woods are pretty. Great lookout. Buttery, flowey, undulating singletrack that’s a blast and seems to go on and on!
Cons: Limited number of trail options. Few mad-made features.
STEWART MOUNTAIN
A developing riding area with some real charm. Currently, it’s just one loop on Stewart and it’s not 100% done yet. The WMBC is in process adding to the top end to extend the length and doing some tuning as well as to make what was an old school loamer (natural rake and ride style trail) into an all-mountain ripper. The climb is currently one of our favorites, due to its rolling character and the beauty of the second growth forest. And the downhill - though it’s still needs a little work - has sections of shear joy mostly due to it’s natural steepness a bit of roughness and an some truly exceptional descending berm turns turns.
Fitness Level: Moderate to approaching strenuous
Skill Level: Moderate to advanced, Moderate roughness, but must be comfortable with steep trail
Pros: Lovely sustained climb with a scenic overlook of Lake Whatcom 2/3rds of the way up. Roller coaster style descent with steep sections that are bermed and natural, and an absolute hoot! If you feel comfortable with the grade, you’ll find moments of sheer joy on the down. Overall flow is pretty sweet.
Cons: There is still a bit of work yet to do on this one Including some flow tuning at the very top and a bit of drainage work at the bottom. Trail is a lasso shape, meaning the descent doesn’t end at the very bottom. The last 20% of downhill is on the climbing trail.
MORE INFO:
Cost: $250 minimum for a 3 hour ride for up to 2 people. Additional riders are $125 each up to 4 riders. 4 to 6 riders $110 each. Want to do full days? Use the contact tab above to contact us for rates and additional info.
Bikes: We’re happy to provide rental bikes, Cost per bike is $100. If you’re booking multiple days, bikes rented through us go home with the guide at the end of the day. If you would prefer to rent a bike or bikes yourself, we suggest using Jack’s Bicycle Center or Fanatik Bike. Fanatik will reserve ahead of time. Jack’s does not.
Cancellation Policy: We do not cancel or reschedule for rain or smoke, but we will for winds above 20mph or snow accumulation.