Last Updated: July 27, 2006
In sinful terms, Auburn is mainly known for its first-class horse race track and its massive Muckleshoot Casino. This route leads you to them both over several low-stress trails.
This route is about 38 miles in length, and there are very few hills (the Interurban Trail in particular is very straight and flat for its entire length).
Care is in order on Auburn Way S: if you choose to follow this road then stick to the shoulder, don't weave into the traffic lanes, and make yourself as predictable and visible as possible. [Of course, if you're only interested in the horse racing and don't care about the casino, then this part of the route can be skipped entirely.]
You'll want to bring your copy of the King County Bicycling Guidemap the first few times you do this route: unfortunately, regardless of their surface quality trails rarely have signage as good as that on streets, and they may not be included on ordinary road maps.
Note that you end up crossing quite a few railroad tracks on the trails this route depends on: remember, always cross railroad tracks perpendicular to the direction of the rails.
S 3rd Ave
R Madison St
L Alaskan Way
C Alaskan Way S
C E Marginal Way S
R Shared use path just before S Spokane St
L Marginal Pl SW (via Duwamish path to left after bridge)
C W Marginal Way SW
C Duwamish Trail (transition to trail [on east side of street] at 4200
block across from current Continental Van Lines location, and note
that trail turns left at Highland Park Way, and turns right after
crossing under the bridge)
L S Holden St
R 5th Ave S
L S Kenyon St
R 8th Ave S
L S Cloverdale St
R 14th Ave S (you may wish to transition to the trail on the opposite
side of the street at S Director St in order to avoid a bad left
turn that would otherwise be needed to stay on 14th Ave S)
C W Marginal Pl S
C Green River Trail (transition to this trail as soon as it appears on
the east side of the street, note that it switches from the east to
the west side of the street at S 102nd St, that it turns left at
Tukwila Commerce Park, that it turns left when it forks in front of
the University of Pheonix buildings, and that it turns left once
again at S 141st St [this last one is particularly easy to miss])
L Interurban Trail
Unfortunately there is no sign to mark the street that you turn left onto from the Interurban Trail to turn into the northern parking lot of Emerald Downs, so just look out for Emerald Downs on your left. Note that there's a bicycle rack conveniently located just to the north of the entrance turnstiles. Also, note that live horse races aren't held every day of the week, so check the Emerald Downs web site for their current schedule. In any case, once you're done seeing Emerald Downs, get back on the Interurban Trail, once again heading south.
S Interurban Trail L W Main St
If you have no interest in seeing the Muckleshoot Casino, then turn right on A St SW to pull into Auburn Station, and take mass transit back into Seattle.
If you DO want to see the casino, you have several options. For example, if you want to get there by bike (after which you would presumably retrace your steps back to Auburn Station for your return trip via mass transit), then one possibility would be the following:
C E Main St R Auburn Way S (aka SR-164) L Riverwalk Dr SE (i.e. into Muckleshoot Casino parking lot)
Note that at the time this route was written, there was a bicycle rack at the north end of the northernmost Muckleshoot Casino parking lot, by the valet parking area.
On the other hand, if you'd rather check into a hotel, take a shower, change clothes, and then take a cab to the casino (in other words if you want to be comfortable), then continue south on the Interurban Trail until you see the King Oscar Motel on your right (415 Ellingson Road / 253-288-1916). Note that the hotel may give you a significant discount if you indicate ahead of time that you'll be spending the evening at the casino: in my case, they voluntarily offered this discount after I asked for a recommendation for a local cab service that would take me to the casino. Either way, the phone numbers for the recommended taxi service (Cuddy's Taxi) are 253-891-3925 or 253-569-5729.
N/S/E/W North/South/East/West L/R Left/Right BL/BR Bear Left/Right C Continues as
