Black Diamond Trail Review
January 07, 2012
Location: : Black Diamond/Lake Sawyer/Maple Ridge (known as Henry’s Ridge)
Getting there: From I-405 take SR-169 south towards Black Diamond. Pass through Four Corners shopping-Safeway on the left and continue to the town of Black Diamond. About a mile after you pass SE 288th ST on your right you’ll see two small pull outs on either side of the road. Pick either, trails are on the left and right side of the road. (after the small climb)
View Lake Sawyer, Black Diamond, WA in a larger map
Guide books and Maps:
Map
The Facts:
Singletrack – 95%
Fire road – 5%
Paved – 0%
Total trail – 25+ mi.
Latitude: 47.3228833104886
Longitude: -122.039866447449
Fees or Passes:
None
Current Conditions: What can I say but this is the single best place to ride when the weather has been shitty outside. Due to the soil constancy water drains incredibly well. Most times one doesn’t even need a fender in winter. Currently the conditions are good. There is some mud in areas but for the most part the trails are in great condition.
What to expect: This place is quite technical and if your not on your game it can be hard to find your rhythm. Straight-a-ways are almost unheard of while 180’s and there’s a decent amount of roots. I would suggest bringing the map from above. Below you can compare four maps, from four different rides. You’ll notice there’s a ton of trails to be explored. They’ll keep you coming back.
There are dirt jumps in the middle of the “Church” trails so be careful not to cross their path or ride up the jump trails. On the side of the road leading from the east parking lot there is a small stunt area with logs to ride and a small seesaw.
If you find yourself down on the flat outside the main forest the trails are tight and bumpy. Their not as fun to ride. Your best bet is to stick to the woods or find your way over to the trails I mentioned that are on the other side of the power lines/railroad tracks.
Map one is completely on the south side of the rail road tracks, map two is mainly on the north, while map three is both sides of Rt. 169 and the north and south sides of the tracks. Map three is from a 3+ hour ride of both sides of the road and Henry’s Ridge. As you can see there are tons of trails. Learning them is the hard part.
April 3, 2011
March 26. 2001
Groups/Clubs
Link to the Ride Recap for this ride. (recap is for maps 1 &2)
———-
Scatman
Get out there!
Powered by adventure, fueled by Feed the Machine, Hydrated by nuun, and built for life like Stanley.
We are glad you liked the Henry’s trails. We have been working with King county for a few years developing the Henry’s system and the trails in the Black Diamond Natural Area. The BDNA is the area south of Henry’s and north of the Real Life church lands. We generally have workparties every 2 or 3 weeks. The work parties are scheduled on the EMBA website. Right now we are engaged in a major trail cleanup effort due to the ice storm. Hope to see you on the trails again some time. Take care and keep the rubber side down
Ralph,
I was out there this weekend and stopped to do some clean up. Major damage with the wind. I was shocked to see the damage as I had no idea it had happened and even more shocked to see how quickly a lot of it was already cleaned up. Love the passion.