Olympic Bridges Overnighter
📍Mason County, Washington (38.5 miles / 2,956 ft)
🐾 If your dog is in a backpack, maybe. No judgement.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It’s the PNW. Can you tell we’re in love?
Why we picked it
Ryan’s been wanting to try bikepacking for a while. We’ve got Matilda with us on this trip though, so that’s not happening. But when he saw the Olympic Bridges Overnighter was just a 40-mile route, it was game on. Why not?
Earlier in the week, we’d camped at Brown Creek Campground and spotted a couple of bikepackers staying overnight. The campground sits right along the route and makes an ideal overnight stop – that’s why it’s a great beginner-friendly bikepacking trip. But for us, this trip was a one-day challenge, starting from the Vance Creek Viaduct Trailhead.
This route gave us all the PNW feels. We wound through Olympic National Forest and had some of the coolest views from the High Steel Bridge. We even found a spot to disperse camp for the next few nights towards the end of the route. Win-win.
On The Route
I didn’t check out the route before we started. Typical. Ryan’s the map guru and team navigator – I’d like to keep it that way.
All of this to say, I had no idea that the biggest point of interest would be within the first 30 minutes of the ride. We started from the parking lot with a short spin on pavement leading to a rough gravel logging road — rutty enough to keep your teeth buzzing.
Not even three miles in, we hit the High Steel Bridge. The views were jaw-dropping. A perk of not reading about the route beforehand…I’m always in for a surprise when it comes to the views. There were quite a few people who parked before the bridge and walked out to take photos. Not quite as rewarding as biking to get there – one of the things I love about this whole adventure thing.
From there, we rattled along more gravel, passing active logging trucks and a fair share of dust clouds. The access road to Lake Cushman was unfortunately closed, so we skipped that viewpoint — and luckily found smoother roads winding through the dense forest.
Brown Creek Campground made for a perfect midway point before tackling the toughest climbs of the day. Living out West has clearly paid off — I powered up every hill without a break, something I’ve never been able to do until this summer.
Wrapping It Up
We rolled back to the trailhead in under three hours and decided to finish with the Vance Creek Viaduct. The view was well worth it, even with No Trespassing signs keeping us a few feet back.
Most people have their own way of doing this route. We rode it counterclockwise and ended with the Vance Creek Viaduct. Because the High Steel Bridge is literally in the first 30 minutes of the ride, it was nice to still have something to look forward to at the end of the trip.
Overall, this was a great three-hour ride. And it’s already got us contemplating where and when our first bikepacking trip is going to be. One thing we do know, it’ll be closer to 100 miles.
Check out more trails in our Happy Trails section.
We’re living for the PNW. Let’s hear those recos!