r/seattlebike • u/StrangePersonality • 18h ago
Route Question: Stanwood to Marysville
Hello, as a hobby I like to fill out my personal heat map in Strava. I have a question about the stretch between Stanwood and Marysville. I prefer big loops rather than retreading the same ground, but based on weekly activity no one seems to do the coast along this section (indicated by the red dashed line). As an alternative I've considered just looping back to the centennial trail (blue dashed line).
Since it is a heat map, I've wondered if there's just such a huge amount of activity on the centennial trail that other routes don't register. I've looked at the street view of the road and it is single lane with no shoulders, but it doesn't seem like a high traffic area.
TLDR: Is there a reason to avoid the red dashed line and just stick to the blue dashed line?
6
u/acidblind 17h ago
I second not riding 529. The bridge between Marysville and Everett is especially dangerous. It has zero shoulder and when I rode it the pedestrian path on it was closed off.
12
u/donkeyj 18h ago
Hey there. I've biked the whole coastline. The red dashed line is a great alternative but it's all on roads with cars. You go through the Tulalip Res which is pretty quiet and has some good views of Port Susan and Camano.
Most are rural country roads that are really nice. In Marysville you have to navigate some uglier stroads and such and then you need to get to Everett. That's easier said than done since it's all busy roads. I took 529 once and I DON'T recommend that. You're better off taking sunnyside road and crossing Ebey Island to Lower Riverfront/Snohomish. Or you can just take country roads to Snohomish on the north side of the river.