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Suntop -> Skookum Flats Shuttle

Mountain Biking Trail

Moderate
14.14 mi
1,222 ft
Ripping enduro descent followed by a technical pedal.

This fantastic shuttle ride is an absolute sleeper hit and sees relatively little traffic. Yet it's well worth putting on your to-do list!

After catching a shuttle up the two wheel drive mountain road, you'll most likely be stopped at a gate. From here, you have the option to climb a steep 500 vert to the very top of the Suntop Bald, or to simply begin the shuttle route down the mountain. Even if you begin by going "downhill," you'll start with a moderate climb and will eventually gain the top of another ridgeline.

Even though you begin by riding beneath dense trees, the trail will eventually pop out onto an exposed part of the ridge. Look for a small side trail, which will take you up to an incredible view of Mount Rainier in the distance! Very few mountain bike rides in the USA provide views this magnificent of a rugged, glaciated mountain. Rainier is truly a sight to behold!

After soaking in the mountain views, it's time to grip it and rip it! The Suntop Trail offers a blistering descent down smooth, loamy singletrack with long sightlines and massive straightaways. You'll find yourself whipping at mach chicken beneath the towering canopy of a classic PNW rainforest, blasting down the mountain, hooting and hollering the entire way!

A few climbs will punctuate the descent, but they are all over quickly.

While the Suntop descent is easy to navigate, connecting to Skookum Flats proper can be difficult. The upper section of Skookum Flats, which seems so obvious on the map, is less than obvious when on the ground. Be sure to try to follow this route as mapped, and eventually, the trail will get easier to follow as you reach Skookum Flats proper.

Skookum Flats is a strange combination of flowy machine-built trail and rugged, rocky, old school singletrack. A few features must be walked either uphill or downhill. Yet, the landscape this trail traverses is incredible, as it winds its way between a near-vertical mountainside and the rushing glacial melt in the river just below.

The descent on Suntop is remarkably smooth and non-technical and would only warrant a "Moderate" rating. And while most of Skookum Flats is relatively non-technical, there are a few dramatic rocky sections that would warrant a "Severe" rating. However, since those are so few and far between, and can be walked relatively easily, I've rounded this entire ride down to a "Difficult" rating.

Note that it is possible to complete the Suntop descent on its own without tacking on Skookum Flats. Skookum Flats is a very convenient and beautiful addition, but for sheer downhill ripping, you can simply drop a shuttle vehicle at the bottom of Suntop. Written by Greg Heil
Created By
Strava Routes

Route and Elevation

Segments

NameDistanceElev. Diff.Avg. Grade
F you and your mother f'ing post photo op mother f'ing climb1.13 mi617 ft10.3%
Suntop Saddle-Road to DH Start3.54 mi640 ft1.1%
National Forest Development Road 7315 Climb0.52 mi377 ft13.7%
First Ascent1.00 mi538 ft10.1%
09/11/10 Enumclaw, WA0.61 mi308 ft9.5%
True Peak Hill Climb0.09 mi75 ft15.1%
First Bowl0.76 mi-102 ft-1.4%
OLD VERSION - OLD VERSION - Suntop Downhill 11.03 mi-505 ft-8.8%
Suntop Downhill 11.75 mi-610 ft-5.8%
Sun Top Descent5.90 mi-2,710 ft-8.7%
Second Bowl0.92 mi-509 ft-8.6%
Into the Armpit0.88 mi131 ft0.4%
Suntop Downhill 21.78 mi-571 ft-6.0%
Suntop Epic Series 30-mile entire downhill3.79 mi-2,375 ft-11.8%
Sun Top Second Descent3.88 mi-2,274 ft-11.1%
Back Leg1.61 mi-1,001 ft-11.7%
Suntop Flume 0.91 mi-591 ft-12.0%
Suntop Enduro -- FULL Downhill3.45 mi-2,260 ft-12.4%
Suntop DH!1.78 mi-1,247 ft-13.2%
Suntop Highest Rd. X'ing to Middle Rd. X'ing0.65 mi-436 ft-12.4%
Lower Suntop3.02 mi-1,732 ft-10.8%
Suntop Road X'ing to Buck Creek Cutout 1.74 mi-1,194 ft-12.9%
Sunbottom2.54 mi-1,585 ft-11.8%
Switchback Trail End2.45 mi-1,385 ft-10.7%
Middle Rd. Exit to Buck Creek Exit 0.87 mi-591 ft-12.6%
Suntop Epic Series 2nd loop downhill2.00 mi-1,273 ft-12.0%
Buck Creek Exit to Air Strip 1.05 mi-676 ft-12.2%
Down Skookum5.41 mi-502 ft-1.7%
Skookum Northbound5.13 mi-459 ft-1.7%
Bridge to Rock2.02 mi-322 ft-2.8%
Skookum DH to Rope Ledge 0.10 mi-135 ft-24.6%
Top of Rock Sprint to finish2.09 mi-226 ft-2.1%