Biking around North Bend

The budget outing: The town of North Bend, sandwiched between ever-sprawling suburban housing and Interstate 90 traffic, doesn't spring to mind as a place for a nice, half-day outing.

But it should.

The town of about 5,000 has a pleasantly old-fashioned downtown, with three blocks of cafes and small shops clustered in low wood buildings along North Bend Way. For more serious shoppers, its Factory Stores offer bargains at dozens of discount outlets, including big-name stores such as Gap and Eddie Bauer. Combine eating and shopping with a bike ride or walk along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, a disused railway line turned into a 36-mile trail that passes through the town, and a North Bend outing has something for everyone.

In an easygoing day-trip, I shopped, ate and took a five-mile round-trip bike ride northwest from North Bend along the trail toward Snoqualmie Falls and back, with views of the steep-walled Mount Si and meandering Snoqualmie River.

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES The North Bend Bar & Grill is a casual restaurant and bar with log beams and stone fireplaces. The eatery's servings are generous, and the price is right — lunch for around $10.

This stretch of the trail — I started from a small parking lot in North Bend off Ballarat Avenue at Northeast Fourth Street — is flat, car-free and wonderfully uncrowded, unlike Seattle-area trails such as the Burke-Gilman. It's unpaved, however, so it's not great for skinny-tire bikes, but the stretch I rode was covered in fine gravel that made it easy to ride on my cheap, semi-fat-tire bike — no need for a fancy mountain bike.

I passed only two other bicyclists and a few locals walking their dogs on my early April ride. While humans were sparse, I had other company along the trail as it quickly left the small homes of North Bend and passed through fields and woodland. Fat, fearless robins hopped along the trail, pecking for worms. A fox loped across a grassy field of Meadowbrook Farm, a 460-acre open-space preserve. The warbling song of thrushes echoed through the boggy wetlands and alders that edged the trail.

Things got busier when the trail cut through the popular Mount Si golf course (tall mesh fences protect bicyclists and walkers from golfers' errant balls). Then it was back into the quiet woods until the trail crossed a high trestle bridge over the Snoqualmie River.

I pedaled across the bridge and lugged my bike down its steep stairs to Southeast Renig Road, then searched in vain for the trail's continuation westward which my map showed as a straightforward dotted line.

Oops. Old, bad map. There's a gap in the Snoqualmie Valley Trail here; it picks up again near Snoqualmie Falls. But it's easy to bike about three-quarters of a mile on paved back roads to the waterfall. From the trestle bridge turn left on Renig and then right on Mill Pond Road which ends by the Salish Lodge and Snoqualmie Falls.

Good eats: There's a good choice of restaurants along North Bend Way, North Bend's main, downtown street.

Twede's Cafe (formerly called the Mar-T) rides on its "Twin Peaks" TV-series fame and is done up in a 1950s style. I ended up in the cozier North Bend Bar & Grill. It's a casual restaurant and bar with log beams and stone fireplaces. The menu is nothing fancy — burgers, soups, salads, steaks. But servings are generous; the price is right — lunch for around $10 — and the fries are tasty. (145 East North Bend Way, 425-888-1243, www.northbendbarandgrill.com).

Shopping op: Check out North Bend's Factory Stores, just east of I-90 by Exit 31; you could spend days in the 50 outlets (425-888-4505, www.premiumoutlets.com/centers/)

THOMAS JAMES HURST / THE SEATTLE TIMES The main greenhouse at The Nursery at Mount Si is lined with hanging baskets. The nursery is a lovely place to stroll, even if you aren't looking to buy plants.

But for something completely different, go to The Nursery at Mount Si, a lovely place to stroll, even if you don't want to buy plants, ornamental statuary or garden sheds, all of which it offers. Cows mosey around an adjoining field; chickens run free across the dirt road that winds around the nursery; and over it all looms Mount Si, a steep-walled 4,000-footer.

The greenhouses and thousands of outdoor plants are tucked off a country road at the foot of Mount Si (42328 S.E. 108th St., 425-831-2274 or www.thenurseryatmountsi.com. I lusted after the carved-granite statuary and mini-fountains; I settled for little pots of salad greens for a couple of bucks.

What it'll cost: Not much — gas to get to North Bend. Parking is free.

Getting there: Take I-90 east to Exit 31. It's about a 40-minute drive from downtown Seattle. To get to the start of the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, go east on North Bend Boulevard from the freeway for about a half-mile. Turn right onto North Bend Way, then left on Ballarat Avenue. In a few blocks, near Northeast Fourth Street, you'll see the blue Two Rivers school building and a small parking lot, with the trail at its edge.

Kristin Jackson: 206-464-2271 or kjackson@seattletimes.com