Cycle Rides Within Reach of Enumclaw

A one-tank-of-gas local vacation is a way to save money and experience what others drive across the country for.  It can be a day trip or a multi-day visit to a single spot, with a minimum time spent getting from here to there.  Our focus was on trike riding (well, my focus, and I have a very cooperative wife), but the concept can work for a broad range of travel interests.

Our latest destination was the new Discovery Trail from Long Beach to Ilwaco.  Three hours of driving, and then we parked the car for a few days (pretty much.)  Besides our rides, we toured the world class Carriage Museum in Raymond, the International Kite Museum in Long Beach, and the nearby Cranberry museum and research station.  We felt our brains bulge with intriguing stories and information that wasn't there before, and I learned other people actually have different obsessions.

We stayed at the Adrift Hotel/Inn at Discovery Coast, a unique complex consisting of two lodgings designed to be environmentally friendly and supportive of local businesses and farmers.   The owners bought an older economy hotel in a prime location, updating it to fit their unique philosophy, and then built the smaller Inn the same way.  The accommodations are located right on the new Discovery Trail, and they include about 25 free loaner bikes for guests.

But now for the trail.  The Discovery Trail is an 8.2 mile paved (mostly) serpentine, rolling path over beach grass covered dunes, through shore pine forest, across a long bridge over a wetland, and up a steep half-mile dirt hill near the end.  The ride is easy except for the dirt climb, which can be avoided by a short road ride.  We chose to go up anyway, pushing the trikes the few hundred feet where we lost traction.  At the top is a spectacular overlook of the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Columbia River on the other, with the rocky Cape Disappointment in front of you (graveyard to 2000 ships.)  The final paved descent takes you into the port of Ilwaco.

Here is a video of our ride on the trail.

and another of riding and playing on the 28 mile long beach.