The Woopsie Woodle:
The Longest Trail on the Mountain

See trail map at right. Click here for GalbraithMt.com Map Set Index.

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Experienced Galbraith riders know the Woodle has been around for years, living in the shadow of other more renowned Tower trails. But that was before logging destroyed the old Tower, Polaski and Wonderland trails off the top.

So in 2003, the WHIMPs and other volunteer trail builders created the new, super Woodle, which combines the old trail at the top with a portion of the old (and otherwise now defunct) Prison Love trail at the bottom, and a great deal of sweet new trail in between.

Much of the new trail cuts through the clearcut middle section that affords breathtaking views of Lake Samish and Blanchard Mt., Lake Padden and the Chuckanuts, Bellingham and Bellingham Bay, and Lummi Island and the San Juans, all from the same place. This is probably Galbraith's best vista point now that the trees have grown up around the Fire Ring and along the Ridge Trail.

If you're up for it, this section of the Woodle has a couple of death defying log rides, one on the exposed outside edge of the cliff-side trail, and the other a long long combo that goes almost exactly straight down the fall line for a terrifying distance.

Further down, the Woopise Woodle reenters the woods and incorporates part of the old (otherwise defunct) Prison Love Trail to carry it down to the 220 Rd. where you can pick up the Three Little Pigs to take you all the way down to the bottom and Galbraith Lane, or climb back to the Blue Rock en route to Arsenio and the north side, or back to the Towers at the top. You can also bail out at the mid-point and run up the 301 Rd to the Tower Rd. at the Yellow Rock and the top of Dan's Trail.

If you just ride the top half, the Woopsie Woodle is a really fun trail that combines with a lot of other trails and routes elsewhere on the mountain. If you continue down the rest of the Woodle, it turns into Galbraith's longest trail, and if you combine the entire Woodle with the lower two sections of the Three Little Pigs, it turns into an almost unbroken singletrack descent of the entire mountain, from just below the Towers at the top, to Galbraith Lane at the bottom. Very sweet!

The following are some of the scenes as you descend the Woodle. Click on the thumbnail images to view a larger version...