I was looking for more paved mountain rides this fall when my friend recommended Windy Ridge on Mount Saint Helens. He suggested starting in Randle, which meant spending nearly the entire time on paved forest roads with minimal traffic. Dale and I decided this would be an ideal fall ride with otherwise iffy weather around the state.
We got a leisurely start from Seattle, making it down to Randle and leaving his van there at about 12:30pm. The ride does a short climb and then about 10 miles of moderate descent before starting the real climb, which was a perfect way to warm ourselves up. We transitioned from the open farmland of Randle to the lush forest for much of our climbing. The road was in pretty good shape and we only encountered a couple of truck drivers who were perturbed by our very existence. We were able to ride side-by-side for most of the time, keeping up a good conversation and riding at a pace where we were working but could still chat.
At mile 20, we took the right up toward Windy Ridge, which continued to climb through the woods for another 4.5 miles before breaking out with our first views of Saint Helens. We had done about 3,200 feet of climbing by this point. We stopped at this viewpoint for a snack before charging into a blustery headwind that was lurking for us behind many of the bends in the road between there and the end of the paved section—another 11 miles or so.
The views of Saint Helens, Adams, and Hood were really spectacular and the fall colors really lit up the hillsides. It was crisp and brisk, but never too cold. And the road was a lot of fun, with frequent twists and turns as well as rises and descents. We had a ball. It took just under 3 hours to get from Randle to the end of the paved road at the Windy Ridge viewpoint.
We soaked in the sun and views for a few minutes and then headed back, taking our time for some photos while we were up high and then putting the hammer down once we were back in the forest. It took just over 2 hours to get back to the car. What a really lovely fall ride!