{"id":459000,"date":"2026-02-07T04:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T04:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/459000\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T04:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T04:16:16","slug":"galbraith-mountain-adds-5-new-trails-and-2-major-rebuilds-in-2025-with-20-more-miles-planned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/459000\/","title":{"rendered":"Galbraith Mountain adds 5 new trails and 2 major rebuilds in 2025, with 20 more miles planned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Natural Delight. Photo: Ryan Joslyn<\/p>\n

Galbraith Mountain<\/a> is not just one of the best mountain bike trail systems in the state of Washington; it\u2019s one of the best places to ride a mountain bike in North America.<\/p>\n

Full stop.<\/p>\n

This dense trail system located on the outskirts of Bellingham is already home to 75 miles of top-tier singletrack, but the local mountain bike advocates, the Whatcom Mountain Bike Coalition<\/a> (WMBC), aren\u2019t resting on their laurels. In 2025 alone, WMBC built five new trails on Galbraith and reworked two popular lines. They\u2019re not slowing down, either\u2014another 15-20 miles of new trail development are already approved on this expansive mountainside.<\/p>\n

WMBC is all about quality over quantity<\/p>\n

Two of the most exciting trails built on Galbraith in recent years were Blue Ribbon<\/a> and Double Vision<\/a>, both constructed in 2024. We recognized Blue Ribbon as one of the best new trails built in the USA that year<\/a>. While the five new trails built in 2025 aren\u2019t quite as long, all of these lines provide critical connections or increase the options available on the mountain.<\/p>\n

In total, these five new trails add up to 1.58 miles of singletrack. WMBC also built a 1.25-mile trail in a different trail system, Olsen Creek State Forest. The two trail rebuilds (Mohawk<\/a> and Rank Advancement) add another 0.85 miles of trail work in 2025.<\/p>\n

When I spoke with James Pulse, the Trails & Programs Director for WMBC, I asked about trail mileage, because it\u2019s one of the key metrics that I always gather. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting. As an organization, we definitely talk about mileage and things, but a lot of times for us, it\u2019s about kind of that overall trail experience, and that\u2019s kind of what we focus on a little bit more,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, we help keep track of things to work with land managers and whatnot. But, you know, a lot of our trails are what I\u2019d consider maybe a little bit more short and sweet bike parky style, where we don\u2019t have a lot of long epics or big cross country rides out in our area.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting to hear about this \u201cquality over quantity\u201d ideology from an organization that\u2019s managing a 75-mile trail network, with plans to grow another ~20 miles in the coming years. Yet this focus on trail quality \u2014 not just cranking out massive miles of mediocre singletrack \u2014 is exactly what has made Bellingham in general, and Galbraith specifically, a world-renowned mountain bike destination.<\/p>\n

New trails built on Galbraith Mountain in 2025<\/p>\n

Pulse estimated that WMBC builds between 1.5 and three miles of new trail per year, which, including Olsen Creek, puts 2025 on the high end of that range. The exact mileage is dependent on how much logging cleanup WMBC has to do. Galbraith is a privately-owned working forest, and while WMBC has secured a recreational easement for the mountain in perpetuity, a lot of labor is dedicated to cleaning up and rebuilding trails in areas that have been logged.<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, the new trails built on Galbraith in the last year have added some critical connections and fantastic new options for mountain bikers.<\/p>\n

Breaux Zone<\/p>\n

In 2022, WMBC opened a new parking lot on Galbraith Mountain, expanding the previous 20-car lot to a whopping 180-car capacity. In 2025, WMBC set out to build a few fun, easy trails accessible right from the parking lot to \u201cprovide trail opportunities for all user groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBellingham has had a lot of influx of people moving into town, and a lot of young families, and a lot of technology now is really allowing kids to get out on mountain bikes at a younger age,\u201d said Pulse. \u201cSo the Breaux Zone<\/a> is this prime spot where there\u2019s a green flow line and a blue flow line, where kids can start out on Striders, getting their first time on the trail on the green line, and then the blue line just kind of takes that up a little bit and lets people start to get a feel for what tabletops and berms and things start to feel like. So that\u2019s a really big one as well that the community has been super, super stoked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The funding for the Breaux Zone came from Nathaniel Breaux\u2019s family. Breaux was a local restaurant owner who tragically passed away in the fire that destroyed the Fairhaven Terminal Building in 2023. \u201cHis family started a GoFundMe and raised over $40,000 in his memory. Essentially, he was a mountain biker, [and] they thought the best way to honor him would be to give back to the mountain,\u201d said Pulse.<\/p>\n

Shire Built<\/a> was the primary builder on this project.<\/p>\n

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Photos: James Pulse<\/p>\n

Closing Time<\/p>\n

The $40,000 raised in Breaux\u2019s honor also helped build Closing Time<\/a> \u2014 a critical new connection spearheaded by Pulse himself. The new 180-car parking lot is located on the south side of Bellingham and is one of the most popular access points to the network.<\/p>\n

The green-rated Closing Time trail is now the lowest singletrack trail on the mountain. It branches off Last Call (formerly the lowest trail), then drops to the yellow gate and out of the network. This 0.23-mile trail keeps riders off a fireroad, providing a sweet downhill singletrack finish instead of losing elevation on a fire road.<\/p>\n

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Photos: James Pulse<\/p>\n

Lunazul<\/p>\n

Lunazul<\/a> is a new 0.22-mile blue descent that drops down the back side of the mountain. The trail begins and ends on the black diamond-rated Spacewolf, but it gives riders a slightly easier option in this otherwise very technical zone.<\/p>\n

WMBC trail builder Ben Cruz built the first half of the trail this summer and intends to extend it in 2026. Because the watershed on the mountain\u2019s backside drains into Lake Whatcom, the build window is limited to June through the end of September.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe built that trail by himself \u2014 just an absolute machine,\u201d said Pulse of Cruz\u2019s work. \u201cHe did it all by hand, but it\u2019s pretty hard to tell, just based off of all the benching and things and the amount of old stumps that he had to rip out. It\u2019s been super well received, and people are really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Ryan Joslyn<\/p>\n

Natural Delight<\/p>\n

This new build is what Pulse describes as an intermediate \u201cflow tech trail.\u201d The new 0.31-mile Natural Delight<\/a> line drops 241 vertical feet and was built by WMBC builder Ryan Joslyn, who was excited to build a totally new line in a fresh zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had this natural ridgeline that he was able to follow down and basically created a blue trail that is primarily techie because there\u2019s a lot of roots and natural trail tread in there, but it\u2019s connected with a bunch of different berms, so you\u2019re able to maintain speed, get that flow [and] lean in the corners,\u201d said Pulse. \u201cThere\u2019s little jumps and pops and things here and there. But you know, a lot of it, especially as it\u2019s getting ridden more and more, is riding in to be more of a technical trail. And people have been pretty stoked about that one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar to Lunazul, Natural Delight will also be extended next year to connect to Devilcross.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Hidden Valley<\/p>\n

This new intermediate hand-built descent drops 282 vertical feet in 0.54 miles. Hidden Valley<\/a> was spearheaded by Gerry Creighton and Joslyn, and they had plenty of volunteer help over the three-month build-out.<\/p>\n

Creighton called<\/a> the trail a \u201cGalby Loamer,\u201d saying, \u201cwe did minimal work to create the trail tread,\u201d utilizing a rake-and-ride build style.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives it a nice natural, raw feeling to the trail, where the roots and rocks will just start to get exposed on their own,\u201d said Joslyn. \u201cThe trail tread will naturally evolve as riders are riding it. Lines will kind of develop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHidden Valley is going to be a great addition to this north side of the hill,\u201d he continued. \u201cA lot of users on this trail are going to have a lot of fun. It\u2019s a blue trail \u2014 intermediate riders are going to have a blast. I think there\u2019s some good progression on this trail. More advanced riders are just gonna have a really fun time finding new fast lines. We\u2019re really excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebuilt classics and what\u2019s next<\/p>\n

While brand-new lines tend to grab the headlines, WMBC also devoted a big chunk of 2025 to rehabbing two iconic Galbraith trails: Mohawk and Rank Advancement. Rank Advancement was rebuilt following logging, with a fresh design that \u201callows riders to lay off their brakes for cornering progression, and adds a new drop zone,\u201d according to Pulse. Mohawk is one of the premier jump lines on the mountain, and it was completely overhauled, with a new massive wall ride added.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>File photo: Jeff Barber<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, Pulse expects WMBC to continue building 1.5 to three miles of new trail per year, filling key gaps, extending lines like Lunazul and Natural Delight, and responding to logging operations as they occur. Exactly how many new miles they can build per year is entirely dependent on the amount of cleanup work after logging, but WMBC is excited to chip away at their 15-20 mile trail vision at Galbraith.<\/p>\n

The work might feel incremental rather than explosive, but each fresh ribbon of dirt or rebuilt corner nudges the riding experience upward. The Breaux Zone, Closing Time, Lunazul, Natural Delight, Hidden Valley, and the Mohawk and Rank Advancement rebuilds illustrate what \u201cquality over quantity\u201d looks like in practice. None of these projects is an epic in itself, yet they open up new loops, create opportunities for progression, and keep Galbraith riding like the world-class destination it has become.<\/p>\n

Know about a new trail project we should cover? Whether you\u2019re breaking ground on the next must-ride destination or putting the finishing touches on a neighborhood flow trail, we want to hear about it. Drop us a line at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a> with high-quality photos of your build, plus details like trail mileage, location, difficulty, and what makes it special. We\u2019re always on the hunt for the next great trail story, and there\u2019s a good chance your project could be featured in an upcoming article.<\/p>\n

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