Wenatchee – A Great Place to Trail Run
I recently wrote about the FIVE Things Wenatchee is Known For. My favorite item mentions our great trails to run, bike and hike on.
Here are five of my favorite places to trail run (or bike and hike) not far from civilization.
The Saddle Rock trail system
- Visit iconic Saddle Rock and proudly sit between the two bears, happy and accomplished.
Three ways to get up there.
- The usual way, from the Saddle Rock trail head
- From Jacobsen’s Preserve - or the WRAC side of the hill.
- My favorite - what I call, Saddle Rock’s Service Elevator - access point is on South Hills Drive - six houses up from Red Apple Road. Take the gravel path - wind your way up - then take the first option to your right…and stay right. Once you’ve entered the “Fields of Gold”, find your own way to Saddle Rock and enjoy!
Dry Gulch Trail System
-Park in the newly refurbished Saddle Rock trail head (with bathrooms and paved parking slots) and head South - away from Saddle Rock. You’ll hike UP the gravel road - then you’ll have multiple options to branch away and explore.
Castlerock Trail System
-Anyone who knows me - knows this is MY FAVORITE playground. The trail system to and around “The Castle” never gets old. If you have energy to head up the steep Chopper to “Wisdom Tree” take care going up and coming down. It's STEEP. The Chopper is the start of the ½ Divide trail is the ridgeline/border between - both Number One and Number Two Canyons.
The One-Two Divide connects Castlerock with The Stairway To Heaven Trail system.
Stairway To Heaven
-Thanks to our friends at Evergreen Bike Alliance, this trail system is one of the best mountain bike and trail running trails in the entire State of Washington. Great for beginners and expert ragers alike. Access it by driving up Number 2 canyon’s “end of pavement” and drive another mile up the winding gravel road (that has improved a bunch in the past few years - READ: Its no longer quite as bumpy to get to the Stairway to Heaven trailhead.)
Sage Hills Trail System
-These iconic Wenatchee trails are open to the public: April to November.
Here's a local website that talks about these trails and more: https://wenatcheeoutdoors.org/
Its January. Most of the trails mentioned above are covered in ice and snow.
IF you plan on Winter Hiking these areas (not including Sage Hills - closed for the Mule Deer) highly consider using traction aids, that slip over your shoe. My favorite are Microspikes from Kahtoola.
These great Winter aids are aggressive. When getting from my front door to the trail, I still am able to run with them over bare roads and sidewalks. You can find Kahtoola MICROspikes at Wenatchee's Arlberg Sports and Performance Footwear.
Need some Trail Running motivation?
Check out a recently released documentary on US tail runner, Jim Walmsley. We get to come along side as he attempts to win the Super Bowl of trail running - The 100 mile UTMB race.
The UTMB race course takes you in a counter clockwise direction - around Mont Blanc. The famous route starts and finishes in the mountain town of Chamonix France - stringing through Italy and Switzerland along the way. There is almost 33,000 feet of climbing on this historically challenging course.
The 4 UTMB race options include 12 miles, 31 miles, 62 miles and 100 miles.
Interested?
Train and be lucky enough to gain entry through the UTMB lottery system. Hope to see you on the trails soon!
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