Lower South Fork Skokomish River

A little background and much rationalizing ahead! I have been a Mtn. Biker for 20 years and I have ridden and raced all over the US and Canada. I understand that everyone must pay attention to where they're going in the wilderness. I also understand that we must all be mindful of our turnaround time when recreating in the late afternoon; I violated the latter of these rules on my Mtn. Bike ride on the lower fork Skokomish.

However, in my defense, the sign I blew past that would have had me riding back to my car in the comfort of sunlight was a piece of wood with black lettering approximately 10 feet up a Hemlock....REALLY NFS! C'mon, that's just plain moronic! I suppose if you're an equestrian sitting 5 feet up on a horse with you eyes at 6 or eight feet that is a proper sign placement. Or, if you are going for a gentle stroll you might,MIGHT, see that sign and turn right headed towards the fire road and to the safety and comfort of your automobile.

Ok, here is my review of this trail:

overall rating: 3/5 stars (all single track!)
Difficulty: Beginner/intermediate/advanced (be very careful of your speed this trail transitions from beginner to advanced in a matter of 100 meters)
Signage: 0/5 stars (pathetic and dangerous really!)
Views: 2/5 stars (you're in the woods 90% of the time)
Climbing: 3/5 stars mostly short power climbs of 50-300 meters, but you need to be fit to stay in the saddle!
Descents: 3/5 Be careful terrain quality and severe switchbacks will have you flying off the bike.
Trail maintenance: 4/5 (aside from crappy signage, the NFS is spending some real dough maintaining and rebuilding this trail system)
Crowds: I rode on a Wed (late afternoon) and saw not one soul during my 5 hour death march (1.5 hours of which was in the pitch of 9 pm)!

Hope that helps!

Ellis