Gailbrath Mountain / Photo by: Brandon Sawaya / Credit: Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism

For the 6th year in a row, Singletracks.com has named Galbraith Mountain in Bellingham, WA the most popular mountain biking location in Washington State on its 2019 rankings for the United States and Canada. Five of the top six Most Popular Washington State Mountain Biking Trails on Trailforks.com are also Galbraith Mountain trails including: Atomic Dog, Unemployment Line, Evolution, Cedar Dust and Ridge Trail.

Galbraith features 65 miles of trails maintained by Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition on 2,800 acres. It is located east of Bellingham between Lake Padden and Lake Whatcom and is approximately 1/8 the size of Bellingham, reaching an elevation of 1,785 feet. The land is owned by Galbraith Tree Farm LLC.

Recreational use on Galbraith Mountain was secured in August 2018 with easements purchased by the City of Bellingham and Whatcom Land Trust. The total area of the easement is 2,182 acres, with 1,023 of those acres inside the Lake Whatcom watershed. Expanded parking and restroom facilities are now in development to improve access to Galbraith trails.

The acquisition adjoins 4,250 acres of public land on Lookout Mountain managed by Whatcom County Parks with more than 45 miles of trail planned for development over the next decade.

Bellingham is also home to 13 bike shops, 3 national bike manufacturers (Transition, Kona and EVIL Bikes), and 4 custom bike fabricators (Lost Bikes, Donkelope Bikes, Rebula MTB and Morris Custom Cycles), making it a hub for mountain biking in the Pacific Northwest.

For more details about mountain biking in Bellingham visit BasecampBellingham.org.