The Pacif­ic North­west, Wash­ing­ton, the Cas­cades, and Puget Sound. Home of the Dou­glas Firs, Orca whales, bald eagles, wild white-water rivers, strong cof­fee, and count­less IPAs… Expe­ri­ence the best of the best Seat­tle moun­tain biking!

This exclu­sive 7‑day ride tells the tale of the Cas­cade Range. Lush rain forests and giant Dou­glas Firs char­ac­ter­ize one side of the moun­tain range with beau­ti­ful sub­alpine ter­rain on the oth­er. The rid­ing here is not eas­i­ly equaled, nor is the awe­some, tight-knit moun­tain bik­ing com­mu­ni­ty. There is more world-class sin­gle­track than you can shake a drop­per post at.

We have also part­nered with our favorite Hotel in down­town Seat­tle, The Thomp­son Hotel. In the words of the Thomp­son, “Locat­ed across from famed Pike Place Mar­ket and near the Puget Sound water­front, our lux­u­ry bou­tique hotel reflects the intrin­sic beau­ty of Seat­tle and ele­vates the refined edge of down­town. Condé Nast Trav­el­er thinks so, too — nam­ing us to its 2019 and 2020 Read­ers’ Choice Awards as num­ber one hotel in the Pacif­ic Northwest.”

Get ready to fill your lungs with pris­tine air, your bel­lies with amaz­ing food and your cam­era with incred­i­ble mem­o­ries. Plus, for those look­ing to fly in with­out the has­sle of pack­ing your bike, we’ve part­nered with Giant Bicy­cles to offer you great trail bikes for the week (includ­ed in our price). It’s time for you to let loose in the PNW!

Is This Ride For You?

Front cover of Bicycling Magazine that features the Wild and Sacred Seattle Mountain Bike Tour
Rat­ed one of Bicy­cling Mag­a­zine’s Best Bike Trips in the World.

You love a vari­ety of fast and flowy rid­ing mixed in with rocky, janky, tech­ni­cal trails to keep you on your toes. You can han­dle long climbs and don’t mind hop­ping off the bike for the occa­sion­al push so you can see the best views and gain access to high­er ele­va­tion trails that are more tech­ni­cal, chal­leng­ing and fun. You like to play with your bike and look for the extra tech lines lit­tered with roots. You’re up for some long climbs, but you real­ly love the shut­tle days so you can let loose and squeeze in some extra laps. You have strong bike han­dling skills and mas­ter cor­ner­ing tech­niques, but you’re always look­ing to push your skills and grow as a rid­er. You love tacky dirt, loam, rocks. clay, sand and any­thing else you can get under your tires. After all, these moun­tains and ter­rain are a moun­tain bik­er’s paradise.

Itinerary

Day 1. Arrival: Duthie Moun­tain Bike Park & Grand Ridge, the Cen­tral Hub of Seat­tle Moun­tain Bike Trails

Wel­come to Seat­tle! We’ll pick you up in the morn­ing either at the air­port or down­town Seat­tle (we are flex­i­ble) before head­ing to our shop to get you fit­ted on your Giant Trance (unless you opt to bring your own bike). Once bikes are tuned and ready to go, we will load up and head to Duthie Moun­tain Bike Park, our cen­tral hub for local trails cre­at­ed by Ever­green Moun­tain Bike Alliance, the largest moun­tain bike club in North Amer­i­ca. This moun­tain bike park is the per­fect spot to get start­ed and warm up. We’ll explore the best com­bo of trails then con­nect to the adja­cent trail net­work — Grand Ridge. We’ll enjoy a beau­ti­ful climb and descent into the val­ley floor of the Issaquah Alps for a well-deserved lunch.

After lunch, we’ll hop in the shut­tle for a 10-minute ride to Rag­ing Riv­er. This new moun­tain bike park is host to Washington’s most pop­u­lar trail — Pop­pin’ Tops — a fast and flowy roller-coast­er ride that always brings out the smiles. With over thir­ty jumps on the way down, you’ll want to get in a sec­ond lap. Back to the van for a moun­tain bike tra­di­tion to enjoy trail­head “soda pops”! After recap­ping a great first day, we’ll head to the impres­sive Thomp­son Hotel in the heart of down­town Seat­tle — where you’ll stay for the first three nights. Once every­one is set­tled in, we’ll head our for din­ner, drinks and an in-depth look at the amaz­ing week ahead!

Day 2.  Tiger Mountain

After a hearty break­fast down­town, we’ll head to the moun­tain bik­ing tri­al net­work of Tiger Moun­tain. Tiger has been host to legal moun­tain bike trails for over 30 years. As a test bed for dif­fer­ent trail build­ing styles, it’s the start­ing point for much of the access to build new trails through­out the region. 

We’ll ascend a com­bi­na­tion of trails and if the air is clear, we’ll be greet­ed to epic views of Mt Rainier, the city of Taco­ma, South Puget Sound and the Olympic Moun­tains. You will, no doubt, have the oblig­a­tory Tiger sum­mit con­ver­sa­tion with oth­er rid­ers, “what’s your line down”? OTG! then?

From the first punch out of the gate on top, you will have Mt. Rainier in your scope but it will dis­ap­pear almost imme­di­ate­ly as you ride deep into the woods. Diag­o­nal roots, per­fect­ly built cor­ners, flow when you want flow, kick­ers when you want to get off the ground. If you open up your rid­ing, you can see what the trail builders had in mind and you start to trust there will be that back­side when you need it. 

But if you put your guard down, the Tiger will bite! Every­thing on the hill is chal­leng­ing. The com­bi­na­tion of routes is endless! 

A full day on tiger will leave an impres­sion. We’ll head back to Seat­tle to enjoy a din­ner with a view and deli­cious local cuisine.

Day 3. Jour­ney Back in Time

Enjoy break­fast at the hotel and get your fill of pre­mi­um Seat­tle coffee. 

Today we’ll head out to the Mid­dle Fork Sno­qualmie Riv­er for a change of pace. The for­est ser­vice road gives us access to a deep riv­er val­ley with peaks tow­er­ing thou­sands of feet above us. We’ll begin our ride on dou­ble track that will take us past water­falls, crys­tal clear riv­er pools, sheer gran­ite cliffs, and tow­er­ing old-growth trees.

We’ll climb to the very edge of the wilder­ness and have a pic­nic lunch in the sub­alpine before cross­ing a riv­er and hit­ting sin­gle­track all the way back down. The trail is remote and the veg­e­ta­tion is lush, the per­fect land­scape for an adven­ture. This trail will take us through a piece of for­est that is home to some of the largest trees on earth — you’ll swear you’re in Juras­sic Park.

Day 4. The Dry Side of the Cascades

Today will begin in the ear­ly morn­ing. We’ll load up our bikes and lug­gage and head to what the locals call, “The Dry Side” of the state. 

We’ll dri­ve over Sno­qualmie Pass and head for the Tean­away Val­ley. We’ll begin our ride in a sub­alpine tran­si­tion for­est and make our way through white pines, pon­derosas pines and dou­glas firs. The dirt here is very dif­fer­ent with more sand and quartz mak­ing for loos­er ter­rain. As we ride above the tree line, we’ll gain views to the north of Mt. Stu­art. After a tra­verse around the back­side, we’ll have a long descent all the way down to the green­er forests near the Tean­away River.

After our ride, we’ll check into our accom­mo­da­tions at The Hotel Roslyn — a beau­ti­ful, new hotel in the heart of Roslyn — the set­ting of the TV series North­ern Exposure.

For din­ner, we’ll walk a block for din­ner at Base­camp Books and Bites. This place is awesome!

Day 5. North­ern Exposure

After anoth­er tasty break­fast, you’ll have options for how you’d like to spend the day. For some, sit­ting and relax­ing by the lake will be the tick­et. If you have more legs and would like to ride, there’s a local favorite called Rat Pac. Or per­haps you’d like a change of pace and decide to head to a beau­ti­ful local lake for a cold alpine swim. Oth­er activ­i­ties include going shop­ping, bour­bon-tast­ing or check­ing out the his­toric town. 

Roslyn has a won­der­ful­ly cozy, hap­py vibe to it. It’s too easy to fall in love with this small town. When it’s time to wind down you will have your pick of restau­rants and see what Fri­day night in Roslyn looks like. You might be sur­prised by what the town with the old­est bar in the state can turn into. One word: fun!

Day 6. The Seat­tle Moun­tain Bik­ing Expe­ri­ence That Few Have Tack­led: Swauk Pass

Today’s ride is not one you will find in any guide book. This is a very spe­cial route that very few have tack­led. We’ll start with a shut­tle most of the way up Table Moun­tain. Once out of the shut­tle, you will still have a hard climb to make it to the top of the ridge. The ride will take you through mead­ows of alpine flow­ers. The view will span to Mt. Rainier in the south­west, Glac­i­er Moun­tain to the north, Stew­art to the north­west and count­less oth­er peaks reach­ing hun­dreds of miles.

This incred­i­ble route has a lot of descend­ing, how­ev­er, it’s not all “free” as there are sev­er­al dou­ble climbs through­out the ride. After tra­vers­ing the exposed cliffs carved from Mis­sion Creek, we’ll find some tech­ni­cal sin­gle­track and turn up the speed. We’ll descend along a ridge and make our way to the east end of the orig­i­nal Blewett Pass road where we’ll find our shut­tle van and enjoy a deli­cious lunch.

After lunch, we will hitch a ride back up most of the hill and set­up for a sec­ond ridge run. While short­er than the morn­ing ride, we still have a climb from the top of the road to the alpine region. 

The wicked fast descent will take us back into the Tean­away Riv­er val­ley from two days before. Hop in the van, shut­tle back to the lodge and get ready for anoth­er fun evening.

Day 7. Rag­ing River

Enjoy break­fast at the lodge, pack up your bags and grab a cof­fee for the road. We are head­ed west back over the Cas­cade moun­tains for a final day of rid­ing. We are head­ed for a full ride on Rag­ing River. 

We’ll climb to the top of the moun­tain and find the back­side of the trail net­work to dig deep into the skill pack for a chal­leng­ing descent.  After a steep climb back to the ridge,  it’s time to head down. We will start with a small part of the climb­ing trail we used to gain access to the ridge then test out a brand new down­hill trail that will take us back to Pop­pin Tops. From here you can decide if you’d like to descend the awe­some flow trail for a true test of skills. 

Lunch will be a deli­cious BBQ in the park. When we’re done, it’s time for a big round of hugs and high-fives. We’ll shut­tle you to your hotel of choice, or the air­port. It’s been a slice!


The fol­low­ing data rep­re­sents a typ­i­cal itin­er­ary, but adven­ture trav­el can be unpre­dictable and our Guides may need to make last-minute changes to ensure your enjoy­ment. Inclement weath­er, road clo­sures, changes to the itin­er­ary to accom­mo­date requests, and oth­er issues may affect the itin­er­ary. The ride data rep­re­sents an ‘aver­age’ itin­er­ary and may dif­fer when you ride. Our guides make every effort to stick to the itin­er­ary as post­ed, but your safe­ty is our #1 priority.

Ride Data: Sacred Seattle

Day Hours of rid­ing Dis­tance rid­den Ele­va­tion gained Ele­va­tion lost High­est ele­va­tion
1 4 12 1500 1500 1200
2 6 20 3000 3000 3000
3 4 15 2500 2500 2600
4 6 14 3500 3500 6000
5 0 0 0 0 0
6 6 14 3500 3500 6300
7 4 14 2500 2500 3100
Totals 30 HRS

Picture yourself here…

Book Sacred Seattle Now

Dates chosen: Jul. 16, 2023—Jul. 22, 2023
Skill Rating: Black Diamond
Fitness Rating: Black Diamond
Exit Booking
Skill Levels
Black Diamond

The Black Diamond Rides are  suitable for riders looking for that edge. Maybe it’s the edge of a drop, the edge of a cliff, or singletrack requiring focus and fast reactions developed from extensive experience riding “the edge”. You will find yourself on steep trails of varied surfaces. In the Pacific North West that could be slick roots and loam, in Nepal you will find exposed granite in the Mustang Valley and in Guatemala it maybe narrow stairways through cliffside villages. While airtime is rarely required, the ability to find the backside or clean a tabletop should be comfortable or in a state of progress. Obstacles on Black rides are likely to be outside the range of your bikes ability to cover your goofs with its awesome suspension and grip.

Blue Square

In general, Blue trails are narrower than green trails, encounter unavoidable obstacles such as roots, rocks, and drops that are up to 8-inches tall. You will want to have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of mountain biking including body positions, powerful braking, cornering, riding on varied terrain, steep sections and experience riding trails that requires line choice. Airtime is not mandatory, but you will find yourself on trails with alternate lines giving you the option.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black ride is for those that already know they are looking for a Double Black. It’s going to be very hard and require advanced bike handling skills. You will find yourself on trails with sections most non-riders would look at and say, “that’s totally nuts!”. You will know how to look at a line and contemplate where it will work and where it won’t. Drops of a couple feet should be comfortable and getting your bike off the ground should feel predictable and fun.

Green Circle

Typically, green Rides are safe for beginners. Green Rides may have both avoidable and unavoidable obstacles. Trails are generally low grade, wide, consistent surface texture and have minimal features. You are likely to come across unavoidable obstacles 2-inches or shorter, which is small enough for mountain bike tires to simply roll over. More challenging than tarmac, but in general, a wonderful Ride for those riders new to mountain biking or looking for a casual experience.

Fitness Levels
Black Diamond

A Black Fitness ride will test you. Aside from needing to be able to manage up to 6 hours on the bike, day after day, including distance up to 50km/30miles and elevation gains up to 1750m/5000feet of climbing, you will be adding extra challenges along the route like periods of hike-a-bike and the extra effort required by the whole body to safely dance with your bike over technical terrain. Generally, riders who are up for a Black Fitness ride, likely spend time on the bike a couple times each week.

Blue Square

Blue should be considered a good deal more effort than our Green Rides.  You should be able to handle 3 to 5 hours in the saddle covering up to 45km/30miles and be able to pull off a big day of 1000m/3000feet of elevation gain. Managing fuel is important as well.  You should have a good understanding how your body responds to multiple days on the bike. We will help with positive coaching, a manageable pace and plenty of trailside snacks.

Double Black Diamond

A Double Black will be for those with the strength and endurance to get to the top of anything they want and understand the term “turning the screw”. Distance could be quite high on some routes and elevation gain numbers could hit 2000m/6000 feet+ in a day. You are likely riding multiple days a week during the dry periods and have a trainer or belong to a gym for the rest of the year.

Green Circle

You should be ready to spend 2-4 hours per day on the bike. Mileage may be up to 30km/20 miles and elevation gain will be under 500m/1500feet. On e-MTB tours, numbers will be higher, however the approximate effort would be considered similar to a standard Green Circle ride. If you get on your bike once a week, you will be just fine. However, when preparing for a Ride, you will benefit from more rides and time in the saddle.