Gravel Unravel: Why-Not-Chee

Wynoochee Lake is a hidden gem on the South Side of Olympic National Park just outside the park boundary in National Forest on Chehalis tribal ancestral lands. Built in 1972, the Wynoochee Dam is used for flood control, irrigation, and industrial water storage. Every course will take you through older growth forest offering pristine views of the region and lake,and around the lake in its entirety, including one mile of single-track that is the Maidenhair Falls Trail. The Wynoochee Lake area represents some of the deepest logging roots in the state, if not the country, with the last of the company-owned logging camps in the continental United States, Camp Grisdale, located just south of the lake. Experience this region home to the first peoples of the Chehalis, and imagine the effort of the loggers who harvested these rugged landscapes and forests as you ride among the children of giants (Hemlock, Spruce, Douglas Fir, Western Red Cedar). All roads in the Wynoochee Lake area are open to non-motorized use year-long and the courses only represent a small sampling of possible routes in the area. This area is remote and rugged with the nearest cell reception being nearly 40 minutes away unless you are up on the highest ridges.