Olympic Discovery Trail

The Olympic Discovery Trail is a designated non-motorized, multi-use trail spanning the north end of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. The route spans around 140 miles[1] between Port Townsend, Washington and La Push, Washington. As of August 2017, 80 miles of this trail are complete and additional miles under construction.[2] The remainder of the route can be ridden using a combination of public roads.

A view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the Discovery Trail.

History

The trail was the brainchild of three area cyclists who formed the Peninsula Trails Coalition (PTC)[3] for the purpose of developing the trail across a derelict railroad grade. The railroad was sold off fairly quickly so the coalition has been working with a number of agencies to build a cohesive trail system along a similar route.[4]

The Peninsula Trails Coalition continues to provide bringing together many jurisdictions and substantial volunteer effort. The 2016 effort to reconstruct the Dungeness River Bridge after a wood trestle was destroyed in the spring of 2015, brought together over 1,400 volunteer hours, a large donation from First Federal Community Foundation to the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, which owns and operates the bridge and adjacent Railroad Bridge Park to replace the aging wood deck and other improvement tasks.[5] Public funding to replace the washed-out trestle with a 750' steel span, improved the quality of the river as part of larger salmon recovery project in the area.[6][7]

Using public roads and off-street non-motorized trails, the trail is a contiguous 126 miles in length. There is an optional adventure route that can be substituted for the west central section of the trail from Elwha River to Lake Crescent.

Route

The trail can be ridden in either direction.

Trail status

Last update September 2019

Section Off-Street Trail Light-Road Temporary Busy-Road Temporary Total
East 10.5 mi 7.4 mi 8.5 mi 26.4 mi
East Central 24.1 mi 2.0 mi 0.0 mi 26.1 mi
West Central 16.4 mi 7.6 mi 9.1 mi 33.1 mi
West 8.3 mi 23.6 mi 10.4 mi 42.3 mi
TOTAL 59.3 mi 40.6 mi 28.0 mi 127.9 mi

Adventure route

The Olympic Adventure Route (OAR) has been built by Clallam County volunteers as an adjunct to the Olympic Discovery Trail. It is built for active mountain bikers, hikers, and equestrians. It has 25 miles of double and single track riding over very scenic, hilly, forested terrain. One third of this section is forest roads.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Olympic Discovery Trail ODT | Washington Bike & Multi-use Trail System". www.olympicdiscoverytrail.com. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  2. Peninsula Trails Coalition. "Olympic Discovery Trail". Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  3. "Peninsula Trails Coalition". Peninsula Trails Coalition. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
  4. Peninsula Trails Coalition. "History of the ODT". Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  5. PeninsualDailyNews.com. "Dungeness River Bridge Trestle Replacement". Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  6. PeninsualDailyNews.com. "Dungeness River Bridge Repair". Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  7. PTLeader.com. "James Town S'Klallam Trive Takes Lead in Dungeness River Bridge Repair". Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  8. Peninsula Trails Coalition. "The Adventure Route".


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