Coulton Creek Trail

Dogs Unknown

Features Views · Wildflowers

Many will run this trail from the well-established Coulton Creek trailhead off Seedhouse Road. However, it can also be used to connect to other trails in the area as part of a longer, remote adventure, which is how it's mapped here.

Starting from the junction with Cutover Trail, Coulton Creek Trail cruises through a lush meadow with big distant scenery, and a sea of wildflowers in the foreground. It then crosses a boggy, muddy mess before diving back into the forest for a bit. There's a bit of a climb initially through the forest to the trail's high point - it's a bit of a grunt, but it's over quickly.

The trail then meanders a bit before descending some fun switchbacks lined with more incredible wildflowers. You'll cross a stream, and climb just a little more. Soon you'll pop out to Forest Service Road 429. If you're in a hurry, you could run this road down to the trailhead. But you wouldn't want to do that - you'd miss plenty more singletrack.

Eventually you'll cross the Forest Road and head back into the trees briefly. From here, the trail emerges into another wide open meadow with aspens in the background and wildflowers in the foreground. It's really hard to beat the scenery here. The only thing tempering the experience is a bit of a deep rutted trail surface that makes it challenging to pedal without nicking your foot on the side of the ruts. But that section is finished quickly, and the scenery will get you through it.

From there, you'll meander a bit more on mostly flat trail until you pop out at a rocky overlook down over the valley and Seedhouse Rd. You're almost finished at this point. The rest of the trail heads steeply down over some nice singletrack with a few loose sections. Cross the road twice more to get to the trailhead, and your car if you started here or setup a shuttle.