Nason Ridge Trail Report

September 25, 2010

Location: Nason Ridge Tr. 1583

Region: Central Cascades — Stevens Pass – East
Agency: Okanogan – Wenatchee National Forest

Getting there:

From Rt. 2 turn onto State Road 207, drive for 3.5 miles. Turn left on Cedar Brae Road to Lake Wenatchee State Park South Park entrance. Turn left at entrance but do not enter park. Travel a half mile for another left turn until the road forks. Stay on the left fork to Kahler Glen Golf Course.

Guide Books and Maps:

Green Trails Map #145 & 146

NW Forest Pass Required

Current conditions:

The Nason Ridge Trail starts low and there are muddy spots a few hundred feet from the trailhead (TH). John Zilly says the first part of the climb is rolling. There is nothing rolling about it. Once through the mud hole, you start to climb and climb and climb.

There is a flat spot at mile 3 before the climbing starts again and at mile 3.5 you actually get to descend one or maybe two times on your way to the junction of Trail 1529 at mile 6. The first 3 miles are pretty much straight with some slight bends. The half mile after your first flat area has some switch backs which will sneak up on you on your way down.

Miles 4-6 are mostly in dense forest and the trail is great. Some roots will challenge you if it’s wet, as well as some steep sections with tight hair pins. Soil conditions were great for us since it rained each night for the last three days. Summertime conditions would be sandy and painful.

We turned around at Round Mountain Tr. 1529 having enough of the constant climbing. Descending Nason Ridge was the single best downhill experience on a bike ever for me. The tight switch backs between Tr. 1529 and the flat spot mentioned before are perfect for shredding. Can’t say enough about this descent.[custom_field field=”nason1″ this_post=”1″ limit=”1″ between=”, ” /]

*I did forget to start my watch for about a mile on the climb. You’ll note a vertical section on the elevation profile.

Ride recap and video, here.

Scatman

Get out there!