The Interurban Trail of metropolitan Seattle, Washington runs about 30 miles from north Seattle to Everett, Washington, roughly following the route of an old inter-urban trolley. Parts of the trail are under construction, and parts are either bike lanes or short sections on residential streets. Note: there are other trails in the area that are also called Interurban Trail, unfortunately not connected with this trail.
Update: We rode the length of this trail recently (August 2010) and got a GPS trace of it. It’s now mostly complete, and the signs have been much improved in Everett (Lynwood still has a few confusing spots).
Categories: 20 to 50 Miles &Flat &No Solitude &Paved &Some Road/Street Riding &Suburban &Under Construction
States: Washington
Last Modified: August 21, 2010
(23 votes, average: 3.96 out of 5)
Loading ...If the map has markers, click them for extra information. You can also double-click anywhere on the map to get driving directions to that point. Note:Trail routes shown are approximate! If you have a GPS trace of this trail, leave a comment below with your email address (which will not be published), and I'll contact you. Thanks!
Elevation profile of route: feet above sea level vs. distance traveled (approximate). Green marker on map above shows which end is designated as start of route.
RSS
The signage really sucks. Especially bad
is at the spot where trail crosses 40th leaving the alderwood parkway. There are two signs but no arrows on the signs so it is very hard to follow.
would like a printabe version of this map!
How about just printing this entire page?
Here’s another idea: If you are on Windows, you can use Control-Print Screen to take a screen shot, then open up Paint, do Control-V to paste in the screen shot, and edit until it is the right size/shape. I don’t know the corresponding screen shot command on other computers, but something like this should work.
Keep in mind that this map is not all that precise…
–Jennifer
Hmmm… I see that in Firefox, the line doesn’t print. It seems to work fine in IE though (cough cough). That is apparently a Google Maps bug, so there is not much I can do about it, sorry!
Anyway, try the screen shot method.
–Jennifer
Need to commute south on this trail to downtown Seattle. Are there any suggested or tried & true ways to bike commute after the S end of this trail? Keegan
Yes – actually, we live near this trail and Zach commutes to work this way every day:
– Note that at 145th, you will need to cross the street and continue South on Linden until you come to the Seattle section of the trail.
– When you get to the south end of the trail (110th), turn right and proceed a few blocks to Dayton Ave N.
– Go south on Dayton as far as 84th – it has lights at all major intersections and is a fairly quiet street
– Turn right on 84th (or you can use 83rd too)
– Turn left at Greenwood Ave N, which has a bike lane
– Continue on Greenwood, which turns into Phinney a bit south of 65th. At 50th, do an S curve to the right to continue on Phinney.
– Turn left on 45th, and go a few blocks east to Fremont Ave N
– Go down the hill, continue across the Fremont Bridge
– Angle onto Dexter, which has a bike lane that takes you pretty much downtown
Enjoy! This is a pretty good route. Some variations are possible… you might also want to get the City of Seattle Bicycling Map, which has other route suggestions. Though some of their suggestions ignore the fact that it’s often difficult to cross major streets without a light!
–Jennifer
I noticed that the north end of the map stops about highway 526. The trail actually continued further north ending just short of 41st street in Everett (I think it may be 43rd). There is a parking area there. Parts of this section are on the street but most of it is paved trail.
I have riddent all of it from the north end to Sears at 155th. I have not been on it since they opened the new crossover at 124th.
Dave
Interesting – the Snohomish County Parks map ends at 526. I haven’t been to that end of the trail myself (I live near the south end so I know that part pretty well).
Have you seen a map of that end of the route, or can you give any guidance as to where it goes?
Thanks,
Jennifer
Here is a map of the Everett end of the route: http://www.commtrans.org/FAQs/Documents/InterurbanTrail.pdf. You can also see a map of the whole route here: http://www1.co.snohomish.wa.us/Departments/Parks/Park_Information/Park_Directory/Regional_Parks/Interurban_Trail.htm.
The surface on the Everett end is really good but the signage kind of leaves something to be desired.
Are there any parking areas with access to the trail?
Yes, there are quite a few parking lots. There is a small gravel lot at the south end of the trail in Seattle. There are 2 parking spaces where the trail crosses into Shoreline (145th & Linden Ave N). There is a parking lot at Echo Lake in Shoreline (200th & Ashwood).
North of there, I’m not sure of the exact locations of parking lots, but generally whenever it goes through a park, there should be a parking lot, and when it is on streets, you should be able to park for at least an hour or two on the street.
–Jennifer
The alleged Interurban Trail appears to be a myth. The reality is random disconnected bits of trail that lack even signs with directions to the next piece.
I started opposite Aurora Village and made it as far as 185th St, where the trail simply evaporated into thin air. I could find no signs of any kind, only a maze of dead-end residential streets and busy streets with way too much noisy traffic.
Can’t they at least tell us the truth for a change?
We did a ride a few weeks ago from N 145th Street in Shoreline, all the way up to the 44th Ave W Park-N-Ride in Lynnwood, and didn’t have any trouble finding the trail. Aside from the Edmonds section, which is definitely lacking in signs and/or trail — if you go through there, figure out the route ahead of time! We did need to keep our eyes out for the signs, though — sometimes they were not immediately obvious.
–Jennifer
We just rode the trail from Seattle to Paine Field and on to the ferry at Mukilteo. As everyone notes, you must look sharp for the signs, the other thing to look for are painted bike lanes which give you a hint on which direction to keep heading.
We got lost in a sub-division somewhere just outside of Everett where we completely missed an unsigned turn that carried us over I-5 (and on to a nice section of the trail). Not the most scenic ride, but I\’d likely do it again to head north of out town.
I need to commute from 45th and Aurora to 175th and Aurora, is this a good trail to commute by? If so how long would it take and does anyone have any back up directions? Thanks!
My suggestion for your commute, starting from 45th & Aurora:
- Make your way to Phinney Ave N.
- Go north on Phinney. When you get to 50th, jog left around the zoo and continue on Phinney. From this point north, you’ll have a bike lane, and the street becomes Greenwood Ave N around 67th Street.
- At 83rd Street, turn right, go one block, and turn left on Dayton Ave N.
- Continue on Dayton up to 110th Street. The advantage of Dayton here is that it is a relatively quiet street, has lights to get you across 85th and 105th, and all the side streets coming in either have stop signs, yield signs, or traffic circles.
- Turn right on 110th, and proceed to the Interurban Trail.
- Turn left on the Interurban trail, and follow it all the way up to 175th, where you’ll be just one block from Aurora. (There is a stretch between 128th Street and 145th Street where you’ll be on Linden Ave N, which now has bike lanes and/or bike signage.)
On the way back, just follow the same route: Trail/Linden down to 110th, right on 110th to Dayton, left on Dayton to 83rd, right one block to Greenwood, and take that south to get back home.
Enjoy!
–Jennifer
Took the IU south from 185th today to UW.
There is signage south of 110 that follow similar instructions above.
For the “to UW” portion:
@ 83rd I turned left and it turns into Green Lake Ave.
Turn left onto Ravenna (good bike lane on left) and then right on to Roosevelt.
Yeah, the city of Seattle has put up all sorts of bicycle signage in the last few years. I am not sure I agree with their routes being the best possible in all cases, but at least they will get you there.
On another note, I recommended taking Dayton Ave between 85th & 110th in my earlier reply. I would just like to say that Fremont Ave N now works just as well if not better, because the city has put lights in at 85th and 105th, and Fremont is the official signed cycling route in that area now.
–Jennifer
I rode the full length of this trail yesterday in two different stages. I entered the trail in South Everett on 128th ST SE and headed north before returning and heading south into Seattle. I strongly recommend printing out the map from the link Loren posted above if you’re planning on riding the full distance and take note of the troubling areas I list below. Unless this is your neighborhood, my guess is you’ll need it to refer to at least once if you are a newbie like me.
Overall the ride wa good and I’m glad to say I did it — but I doubt there will be a second time in full. It’s difficult to build a smooth ride through such a large urban area — and that’s exactly what you get. Mostly it’s a lot of stop and go and the middle of the trail is borderline chaos.
Both the city of Everett and Seattle should be proud with their trail markings, and unless you are visually handicapped or just don’t like to pay attention, then you should find little difficulty locating the trail. A lot of it is dedicated path/sidewalk and a mixture of bike path and road riding. But the city of Shoreline should be ashamed of itself.
In short, I’ll sum up the ride as follows. The two end segments are very well marked. The ride through Lynnwood and Montlake Terrace is somewhat discombobulated and viscous, and the ride through Shoreline is disconnected and confusing.
The areas, in my opinion, where the biker needs to be aware of trail access points are at 128th ST SE in south Everett, 164th ST SE in Lynnwood, and the Lake Ballinger area and/or Shoreline. For the most part your intuition should carry you — but I wouldn’t count on it. Which is why I find it difficult to give this trail experience high marks.
First time on trail from Shoreline heading north towards Lynnwood. Found the trail hard to follow without signs and having to travel on roads with cars to follow the trail. Will go out again and experiment though. Hope with time it will get easier!
Yeah, the signage northbound is a bit tricky! Last time I rode this (last summer), the only section with significant cars was in Edmonds, just north of the county line. Hopefully Edmonds will get their section built one of these years…
The signage southbound through Edmonds/Shoreline is pathetic.
I’m about to try this trail today and appreciate all of the tips and suggestions. Has anyone come up with a GPS route yet? Thanks for the help.
I use the trail from Shoreline, south to 110th st. I also found it difficult to follow the trail at first. There are places where the trail goes from clearly marked trail to totally unmarked sidestreet, and then back to trail without signs letting you know you’re still going in the right direction in between the actual trail segments. It’s not much to research a bit and learn where it goes, but ideally you would like to not have to, right? It’d be nice to refer to signs on the trail instead of a map somewhere else every time you want to add a couple miles to your trip. Most of the trail is pretty well laid out but the places that it is not are confusing and discouraging. Is there a group or governing body to offer constructive criticism to?
Just as someone already mentioned this trail is a myth. Well, the actual bike trail lies only between Everett and South Lynnwood. I mean the real ‘TRAIL’. In M-Terrace you are already lost and confused and just before the county line the pleasure ends.
Everything south of there is nothing but chaos, a lousy, exhausting and nerve-breaking ride on busy Seattle streets sometimes with marked pavement and sometimes with clueless surroundings. It is also unsafe to ride there with hundreds of cars passing you or simply following you cause of course, you are not anywhere near a bike trail, forget it.
Just before the supposed end of trail on 145th there is a portion that looks and feels like a trail but its short and doesn’t connect into MLT. All in all this so-called Urban trail is a joke since it ends in Lynnwood. The Centennial trail is my favorite and that one is real.
I agree Vio and I’ve ridden all the trails on Jen’s website in King County. This trail is arguably the weakest.