Olympic Discovery Trail at Railroad Bridge closed

Discovery Trail at Railroad Bridge

If you love biking and hiking the Discovery Trail leading through Sequim - just as we do - you know by now that one of our big outdoor attractions, the Railroad Bridge crossing the Dungeness River, got severely damaged by a big winter storm in February 2015 and has been closed ever since.

Bikers and walkers lane up the bridge

View of Railroad Bridge still impressive

Damage to Olympic Discovery Trail in Sequim

James Town tribe is the owner of the Bridge and considers a short term or long term plan for fixing the bridge. Alas, nothing has been done so far. We - and probably many other residents and visitors - loved to bike beyond the Railroad Bridge all the way to Robin Hill Park or just to Sequim Airport watching small planes take off and land. Now our ride has become a short one from Carrie Blake Park to the Railroad Bridge because the detour available via Old Olympic Hwy is more for the serious bikers. Nevertheless we feel our blog is a good place to list it in addition to the Olympic Discovery Trail site 

Old Dungeness River Bed covered with trees

Damaged Railroad Bridge from high flood waters

Closed part of Railroad Bridge

Bikers' Detour to circumvent Railroad Bridge Closure

The route (east to west) leaves the trail in Sequim at 5th Ave, goes north on 5th to Old Olympic Hwy, turns west across the river on the Hwy bridge, then south on Heath Rd to rejoin the trail. See Trail Status

Visit to Railroad Bridge in Sequim 

Old riverbed of Dungeness

Most parts of the bridge are still accessible

General Discovery Trail Information

The route of the Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) traverses almost 130 miles of lowlands, bordered on the south by the Olympic Mountain Range and on the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It starts in Port Townsend and ends on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The trail is a wide, paved pathway designed for bicyclists and hikers with a shoulder for equestrians where appropriate.

The Olympic Peninsula is Washington State’s premier destination for non-motorized touring, filled with views of snow capped peaks, ocean vistas, fast flowing rivers and pristine lakes, and everywhere the majestic forests of the Pacific Northwest. The presently completed trail winds through fields and farms, parks and towns over creeks, rivers and ravines, past beaches and national recreation areas.The trail exhibits a wide diversity of fauna and flora of natural beauty.

Biking the Olympic Discovery Trail from Sequim to Port Angeles

Welcome back everybody to Sequim Vacation blog,

With our most recent post 'Sequim Summer Vacation at Best Monthly Rate', we invited everybody from the hot summer state to spend a cool summer vacation in Sequim at our vacation rental.

When you like the Great Outdoors and love being outside walking, hiking, biking like we do, you will love Sequim at first sight. This is not the X-Games. Sequim vacation is for everybody, young and old, the strong athlete or the weekend 'warrior'. Activity levels all depend on what you are up to. The moderate temperatures during summer definitely help to feel good with anything you do in Sequim and the Olympics. Here is our latest activity challenge.

Saturday morning, we decided it's about time to take up the challenge and ride our bikes from Sequim to Port Angeles on the Olympic Discovery Trail, which crosses close-by at Carry Blake Park. Here are a few facts for those who never heard about the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Some Trail Facts

The Olympic Discovery Trail has its history in the old railroads since much of the route is located on historic grades built in 1914 and 1915. Half of its 22-mile way from Sequim to P.A. runs along old railroads. Currently 34 miles are completed with more than 30 miles under construction. Just imagine, eventually, the Olympic Discovery Trail will run nearly 125 miles from Port Townsend on the Puget Sound to LaPush on the Pacific Ocean!

Our Olympic Discovery Trail Adventure in Photos

Saturday morning 10am start of our 22-mile bike ride to PortAngeles from Sequim.

1. Photo:

Eagle Habitat taken from trail entering Railroad Bridge Park. We met our friend Bob with his trike who tells us that he encountered some strong head winds going further down the trail past Railroad Bridge.

2. Photo

Wonderful ever-changing mountain views seen riding the trail westwards. Wind is blowing strong, against us!

3. Photo

Stop at Robin Hill Park for short break and warming up in the sun. We are both in shorts and feel the wind chill factor!

4. Photo

More beautiful scenery with wild flowers (see photo) and lots of bright yellow Scotch broom (looks nice but is invasive weed, my friend Sue told me) from trail leading now along Old Olympic Hwy.

5. No Photos

We did not take any photos of 2 - 3 gulches and steep inclines at other sides, where we had to push our bikes. At this point, we decided to keep going, even though a return half the way along, would have been much better - getting the wind from the back! Well, we followed our destination!

6. + 7. Photo

After 2 hrs biking, we are arriving at the open ocean or better: the Straits of Juan de Fuca. What a difference after riding through the woods for so long. Smelling the fresh ocean air. Enjoying the new scenery. Port Angeles is still 5 - 6 miles away. We take a break in the sun.

7. Photo

The last leg of the Olympic Discovery Trail runs all along the ocean into Port Angeles Harbor. It is a beautiful ride but be aware that the trail is mostly in the shade. With the strong winds facing us, we longed for some long pants on this part of the bike ride.

After about a 3-hr bike ride from Sequim to Port Angeles with several stops resting, drinking water and taking photos, we arrived at the new Gateway bus stop in PA, a few yards from where you enter the Harbor. We were extremely lucky that the Sequim bus was still there and even our bikes would fit on the front bike rack. All for $1.50 for the 15-mile ride from PA to Sequim. It was feeling sooooooo good to finally sit down, relax and be proud of our accomplishment of biking the Olympic Discovery Trail. When we can do, so can you! Give it a try on your next Sequim vacation.

Tags: bike from Sequim to Port Angeles, Sequim vacation, best Sequim things to do

Dungeness River Festival

After our good news for potential Sequim residents that Sequim got listed as one of the Best Retirement Towns by the Water, let's see what is happening this weekend in Sequim. Everybody who visits Sequim or lives in Sequim as attracted by the Dungeness River. If you are around this September weekend 9/26 + 9/27/08, come and visit the Dungeness River Festival.

What is it what attracts us most to Dungeness River? The people of Clallam County community of Sequim, Carlsborg and Dungeness love the river, the wildlife and beautiful scenery around it. We love to walk along the Dungeness or just stop on the Railroad Bridge at Audubon Center to take in the beautiful scenery watching the running river and listening to nature before we continue on our walk or bike ride along the Olympic Discovery Trail.

The River Center, River Center Foundation Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society are hosting the event from 10am to 4pm Friday and Saturday at Railroad Bridge Park, Hendrickson Rd. Admission is free. The 2-day festival is not only celebrating nature and the great outdoors but educates and entertains visitors and residents of all ages. Come and join us at the Dungeness River. You might be lucky and spot some salmons in the river. See you at the River tomorrow. We will be there with our bikes!
p.s.
This Sequim blog post includes the first photos taken by our new friends, Ron and Mary Nell from Texas, on their recent Sequim Vacation. They fell in love at first sight with Sequim and its beautiful scenery of the Olympic Mountains and the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Our blog visitors will get a chance to read and see what Ron and Mary Nell did on their Sequim vacation. Thanks guys for allowing us to use your photos!

If you plan a Sequim Vacation or buying real estate in the Sequim area because you want to move to Sequim, come back for more beautiful Sequim photos from Ron!

Tags: Sequim, Travel, Vacation, Olympic Peninsula, Olympic Discovery Trail

Biking the Oympic Discovery Trail

That's quite unusual that Keoki beats me to a post but I guess he must have really enjoyed his tennis at the Sequim High School tennis courts on Father's Day. His Sequim tennis post definitely shwos his love for Sequim and for tennis. Actually, everybody liked his article about Tennis in Sequim.

Anyhow, here is what I had in mind to write about and then it got postponed. When Keoki played tennis, I went for a bike ride, which we normally do together. We both love biking, in 'old' Hawaii and in 'new' Sequim.

I did a bike ride through Carrie Blake Park past the Canadian Geese with their babies, past the fish pond where the kiddos were fishing (they actually caught a fish!), past the dog park and up and down the new development of Willow Creek with the lots for sale signs by Welcome Home Realty (one said SOLD!) and past the Peninsula Driftwood Exhibition (lots of visitors). Finally, ending up at our favorite bench at the duck pond enjoying a warm sunny day in Sequim. It was wonderful!

As said above, Keoki and I loved to bike in Hawaii on Sunday mornings when traffic was down. We'd put our bikes on our bike rack on the car, drive to the coast and ride our bikes along the Hwy which leads all along the beautiful Kohala Coast in the direction to Hawi. We never made it to Hawi, which is the turning point for the triathletes at the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon but we definitely got our work-out up and down the hills with occasional stops to watch the whales during the 'winter' months. Our 24-mile round trip of biking made us feel like accomplished bikers.


Ever since we moved to Sequim in 2006, we 'discovered' the Olympic Discovery Trail for our biking ambitions. Well, we never made it all the way to Port Angeles - probably always did like 1/3 of the Discovery Trail distance. Unfortunately, our new house construction last year slowed down our biking ambition. It was just easier to go to SARC and get everything down right there: Biking or crosstrainer, Stretching, weights and swimming laps in the pool and not to forget, relax in the sauna and jacuzzi!


However, nothing beats being outside and bike through the beautiful countryside in Sequim with the backdrop of the Olympic Mountains with a few patches of snow. We have not started our Olympic Discovery Trail biking routine yet but we both started using the bikes from our house to SARC, which is a 10-min. ride each way. Actually, with gas prices rising daily, we expect more people in Sequim will pick up biking again, just like in the old days. It's healthy and saves money!

Let me tell you it's not that bad when you avoid Washington St. Cars yield and people wave to you, even high school kids who come from P.E. This is friendly Sequim. That's why we moved here. Last but not least, for those who come here for a Sequim vacation, check out Mike's Bikes for bike rentals and Olympic Peninsula biking trails. And here is good news for those who stay a month at our Sequim Vacation Rental, we are in the process of getting another bike (we already have one) for our guests to use for free. Biking in Sequim can't get any better.

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Tags: Sequim, Vacation, Travel, Olympic Peninsula, Biking

Walk with us in Sequim

Dear Sequim visitors and residents,
With the lovely sunny weather having arrived, everybody is trying to get out of the house into our beautiful nature in Sequim and area...for a first hike in the Olympic Mountains, an invigorating bike-ride on the Olympic Discovery Trail or just a relaxing walk starting at the Railroad Bridge at Dungeness River.

Guess what you won't be alone. There are different walking and biking events coming this June, for all those who want to enjoy some company. June 1st the First Friday Art Walk Sequim will take place, inspired by Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night painting. Just as van Gogh's painting has brought inspiration to many artists, this walk welcomes visitors to enjoy warm star-filled evenings in Sequim. The July 6 First Friday Art Walk's theme By the Lavendula Luna will get get us in the mood for the Lavender Festival. The free guided art walk is open to people of all ages. Visit the Sequim Art Walk website for more information.

Get out your walking and bikes shoes for the first walk-bike-a-thon in Sequim on the Olympic Discovery Trail on June 3rd. The walk or bike ride will begin at at 1pm at Railroad Bridge, east side of the Dungeness River. The donations will be used to support the upkeep of the Railroad Bridge Park and the Dungeness River Audubon Center. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and bring water or juice to stay hydrated. The 3-hour, 4-mile course ends at 4pm but participants can turn around whenever they want to.

We love our walks and bike rides on the Olympic Discovery Trail. It will all depend how much energy we will have after moving into our new Sequim home, which is supposed to happen this weekend, when things go according to schedule. We'll try to be there. Greetings from sunny Sequim
p.s.
We just added the new photos to our Carrie Blake Park post. Please, enjoy.

Thank you to our dear friends Steve and June from Hawaii for visiting us in Sequim on their vacation on the Olympic Peninsula. We enjoyed a nice relaxing walk starting at the Railroad Bridge leading along on the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Tags: Olympic Discovery Trail, Sequim, vacation, travel