Galbraith Mountain is not just one of the best mountain bike trail systems in the state of Washington; it’s one of the best places to ride a mountain bike in North America.
Full stop.
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 (WMBC), aren’t resting on their laurels. In 2025 alone, WMBC built five new trails on Galbraith and reworked two popular lines. They’re not slowing down, either—another 15-20 miles of new trail development are already approved on this expansive mountainside.
WMBC is all about quality over quantity
Two of the most exciting trails built on Galbraith in recent years were Blue Ribbon and Double Vision, both constructed in 2024. We recognized Blue Ribbon as one of the best new trails built in the USA that year. While the five new trails built in 2025 aren’t quite as long, all of these lines provide critical connections or increase the options available on the mountain.
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 and Rank Advancement) add another 0.85 miles of trail work in 2025.
When I spoke with James Pulse, the Trails & Programs Director for WMBC, I asked about trail mileage, because it’s one of the key metrics that I always gather. “It’s interesting. As an organization, we definitely talk about mileage and things, but a lot of times for us, it’s about kind of that overall trail experience, and that’s kind of what we focus on a little bit more,” he said. “Obviously, we help keep track of things to work with land managers and whatnot. But, you know, a lot of our trails are what I’d consider maybe a little bit more short and sweet bike parky style, where we don’t have a lot of long epics or big cross country rides out in our area.”
It’s interesting to hear about this “quality over quantity” ideology from an organization that’s managing a 75-mile trail network, with plans to grow another ~20 miles in the coming years. Yet this focus on trail quality — not just cranking out massive miles of mediocre singletrack — is exactly what has made Bellingham in general, and Galbraith specifically, a world-renowned mountain bike destination.
New trails built on Galbraith Mountain in 2025
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.
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.
Breaux Zone
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 “provide trail opportunities for all user groups.”
“Bellingham 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,” said Pulse. “So the Breaux Zone is this prime spot where there’s 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’s a really big one as well that the community has been super, super stoked on.”
The funding for the Breaux Zone came from Nathaniel Breaux’s family. Breaux was a local restaurant owner who tragically passed away in the fire that destroyed the Fairhaven Terminal Building in 2023. “His 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,” said Pulse.
Shire Built was the primary builder on this project.
Photos: James Pulse
Closing Time
The $40,000 raised in Breaux’s honor also helped build Closing Time — 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.
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.
Photos: James Pulse
Lunazul
Lunazul 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.
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’s backside drains into Lake Whatcom, the build window is limited to June through the end of September.
“He built that trail by himself — just an absolute machine,” said Pulse of Cruz’s work. “He did it all by hand, but it’s 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’s been super well received, and people are really excited.”
Natural Delight
This new build is what Pulse describes as an intermediate “flow tech trail.” The new 0.31-mile Natural Delight 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.
“He had this natural ridgeline that he was able to follow down and basically created a blue trail that is primarily techie because there’s a lot of roots and natural trail tread in there, but it’s connected with a bunch of different berms, so you’re able to maintain speed, get that flow [and] lean in the corners,” said Pulse. “There’s little jumps and pops and things here and there. But you know, a lot of it, especially as it’s getting ridden more and more, is riding in to be more of a technical trail. And people have been pretty stoked about that one.”
Similar to Lunazul, Natural Delight will also be extended next year to connect to Double Cross.
Hidden Valley
This new intermediate hand-built descent drops 282 vertical feet in 0.54 miles. Hidden Valley was spearheaded by Gerry Creighton and Joslyn, and they had plenty of volunteer help over the three-month build-out.
Creighton called the trail a “Galby Loamer,” saying, “we did minimal work to create the trail tread,” utilizing a rake-and-ride build style.
“It gives it a nice natural, raw feeling to the trail, where the roots and rocks will just start to get exposed on their own,” said Joslyn. “The trail tread will naturally evolve as riders are riding it. Lines will kind of develop.”
“Hidden Valley is going to be a great addition to this north side of the hill,” he continued. “A lot of users on this trail are going to have a lot of fun. It’s a blue trail — intermediate riders are going to have a blast. I think there’s some good progression on this trail. More advanced riders are just gonna have a really fun time finding new fast lines. We’re really excited about it.”
Rebuilt classics and what’s next
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 “allows riders to lay off their brakes for cornering progression, and adds a new drop zone,” 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.
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.
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 “quality over quantity” 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.
Know about a new trail project we should cover? Whether you’re 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 protected] with high-quality photos of your build, plus details like trail mileage, location, difficulty, and what makes it special. We’re always on the hunt for the next great trail story, and there’s a good chance your project could be featured in an upcoming article.
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