In partnership with The Mountaineers "50 Trail Runs in Washington" by Cheri Pompeo Gillis The first comprehensive regional guide to the most beautiful and challenging places to trail run throughout Washington state. Paperback, April 2002 - 240 pages $16.95 For more trail runs, buy the book now. More Mountaineers books

Trail description: The Tolt Pipeline is a 100-foot-wide, 12-mile-long trail for foot, horse and bicycle use. It has great steep hills, dirt and gravel surfaces, and runs from Bothell to the Snoqualmie River Valley.

The trail is well maintained and there is enough traffic that it's safe to run alone. This is a great place to develop your hill running muscles without having to worry about the tricky footing on mountain trails. The main drawback is that it crosses several major roads, including Interstate 405 if you take it all the way from Blyth Park.

This trail description leads from the Sammamish River to the Snoqualmie Valley in about 8 miles, all of it runnable.

From the Sammamish River Trail parking lot, head north past the bathrooms about a tenth of a mile. You'll see a swath of clear-cut on the hills on both sides of you. Turn right onto the Tolt River Pipeline heading east.

After a short distance on flat trail, you'll cross the Woodinville-Redmond Road. Be careful; this is a heavily traveled road, and the pedestrian crossing sign is easy to miss. Once across the road, head up a series of hills past new houses and pastures and over a pedestrian bridge. Once across this bridge, the trail continues up and alongside more large homes and farms.

The next major crossing is Avondale Road, which is approximately 4 miles from the Sammamish River Trail. There is additional parking here. Once across Avondale, the trail stays fairly level for a while, then goes up once more through another area of new homes. The trail seems to come to an end as you near the Snoqualmie River. This is the turnaround point.

Directions: The simplest place to park is along the Sammamish River Trail on 145th Street in Woodinville. From Interstate 405 take the 124th Street exit and head east across the valley to the Woodinville-Redmond Road (SR 202). Turn left and proceed north to a left turn onto 145th Street. Then take a right just before the river into the parking lot for the soccer and baseball fields. The Redhook Ale Brewery and Chateau St. Michelle Winery are directly west of the parking lot across the river.