Squak Mountain

April 20, 2024 12K·Half·50K

April 20, 2024

Squak Mountain will take your breath away – both the views and the elevation gain! It’s not our steepest climb, but your quads will get a good workout, and it will be worth every step! While only a short drive from Seattle, Squak Mountain State Park feels like a wilderness solitude. The park features miles of well-maintained trails and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.
For this race, we are offering 12km, half-marathon and 50km distances.

Western Red Cedar Seedlings

In honor of Earth Day, the first 150 people to register for the half, 50K or 12K will receive a free Western Red Cedar seedling at the race. Read up more here about the importance of the Western Red Cedar to Native peoples.

Woodland Speeders Kid’s Race

As part of our new Woodland Speeders program, we offer free kid’s races at all of our events. Parents are welcome to run with their kiddos. You can register your child during the registration process for your own race or sign them up later. The course at Squak is a fun interpretive nature loop with good singletrack, flat, and is 0.5 miles long. See schedule below for start time.

Squak Mountain
at a Glance


April 20th, 2024


12K, Half, and 50K


Beautiful forested park in the Pacific Northwest features miles of trails in wilderness solitude with glimpses of Issaquah below

Detailed Race Description

Squak Mountain is arguably one of our most challenging trail races and a staff favorite! We’ve changed the course around a bit this year and we think you’ll like the differences. Instead of multiple confusing loops, we have simplified the courses. Although, it still isn’t super straight forward and while we mark our courses very well we encourage you to study the map before the event. Please see the color-coded map below for the order of trails in which you will run and email us if you have any questions.

All distances will begin with a steady but significant climb. The 12k will then split off from the Half course and head towards the summit aid station, while the Half and 50k runners will continue on up to summit the Southeast Peak of Squak. The Half course will then follow trails along the north side of Squak before arriving at the Summit Aid for the first time. Then after completing another loop using some of the Chybinski Loop and summiting the West Peak of Squak the Half course will pass by the Summit aid stations again. All distances will descend west past the old historic Bullitt homestead remnants.​ This trail is super fun, fast, and technical! While the Half and 12k runners will then be enjoying excellent post-race refreshments, the 50k runners will get to enjoy the Half loop again! Then after passing the lap aid station a second time they will head out again and do a 5 mile loop. It will travel the initial part of the first climb, cut west after 1000′ of gain, and link back up with the Bullitt Gorge Trail Descent all the way to a rewarding finish!

 

Evergreen Trail Runs acknowledges that the Squak Mountain trail race takes place on the Indigenous Land of Coast Salish peoples who have reserved treaty rights to this land, specifically the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe (sdukʷalbixʷ). We thank these caretakers of this land who have lived and continue to live here since time immemorial.

Image of finisher's swag for trail race.

Finisher swag

Every finisher at an Evergreen Trail Run event receives a piece of handmade finisher swag! We make our awards using solar power in Anacortes, Washington. 

HOW WE ARE HELPING SAVE THE PLANET

There are no higher stakes than being kind to the earth; we care deeply about keeping our planet viable for the next generation.

To that end, we organize our events with an eye towards minimizing our impact on the planet. Read more here.

 

We Welcome All

Committed to Making All Feel Welcome

Evergreen Trail Runs is making a new effort to make sure that everyone feels welcome and safe at our running events and in our trail running community. There is space for all on the trails. We have a non-binary registration option and a non-binary category for overall awards. 

If you have a suggestion or idea for how we can improve our events in this regard, please let us know!

Race Notes:

Squak Mountain is comprised of two courses: a 12K loop and a half-marathon loop. The 50K runners get to complete two half-marathon loops and a bonus 5-mile loop – lucky! Both courses start and finish at the main Squak Mountain Trailhead.

The trails will be open to other users during the event, including equestrians on the first small loop, and hikers. See our FAQ page for more information about sharing the trails.

There will be aid stations throughout the course with volunteers to help, food to eat and hydration to refuel. And of course, there will be an assortment of yummy food and treats waiting for you at the finish line.

This is a cupless race. All runners should carry with them a refillable container that they can run with. There will be a limited number of cups for emergency situations.

Squak Mountain is a Washington State Park, which means that a Discover Pass is needed to park. See the Directions section below for more information.

Courses and aid stations
12K course
Half marathon & 50K course
Directions

 

Registration

Online registration will close the Friday before the race at noon.

12K:
Regular price: $57
December 1: $62
March 1: $67
Race day: $72

Half Marathon:
Regular price: $68
December 1: $73
March 1: $78
Race day: $83

50K:
Regular price: $85
December 1: $90
March 1: $95
Race day: $100

Parking

There is very limited parking! Please carpool!

The 50K runners will receive priority to park at the Squak Mountain trailhead/May Valley Loop trailhead.

When the lot fills up, please park on S.E. 135th St. in the Sunset Valley Farms neighborhood and walk to the start/finish. 

Give yourself ample time to get to the race, pick up your bib, and get to the start line. Please stay on the pavement when you park in this neighborhood, not on the grass near the roadside ditch. 

May Valley Loop Trailhead: 21492 SE May Valley Rd

 

Event registration is conditional on receiving Special Use Permit from WA State Parks.

Schedule

Packet pickup begins at 6:15am

Pre-race briefing before each event start

Race Starts
7:00am: 50K
9:00am: Half marathon
9:30am: 12k
10:00am: Kid’s Race
12:00pm: 12k Brunch Run

Cutoff Times
11:30am: Lap aid station (mile 13)
1:15pm: Summit aid station (mile 19)
2:30pm: Summit aid station (mile 22.7)
3:30pm: Lap aid station (mile 26)
5:00pm: Course closed

Youth Pricing

Participants 24 years of age and under automatically receive a discount of 20% on their registration fee. 

CLIF

Evergreen Trails is proud to serve GU Energy products on course.

TS-Approved

We are Trail Sisters approved! That means that we have made a commitment to provide women the race day they deserve. Learn more about what that means.

Nuun

 

 

Evergreen Trails is proud to have Tailwind as our official hydration sponsor.

Nuun

 

Running Evolution is the  training community for people who might not want to win the races, but have a darn good time out there. 

Nuun

 

 

Locally made Partner’s Crackers provides post race snacks to all runners.

Washington Trails Association

Evergreen Trail Runs wants to do all we can to support our local PNW community. That’s why all of the Evergreen races support the Washington Trails Association. Both Evergreen and the WTA support environmental stewardship and the protection of our public lands.

PDF Course Map

Below is a high quality downloadable race map. If you’d like to open an online interactive course map, scroll just a little further down.

Please note that distances and elevations noted below and on maps below are approximate and are derived from online mapping programs. Your recorded distance and elevation gain on race day may vary. 

Elevation Profiles

12K

Half

50K

12K Course

Elevation gain:
12K: 1800′

Aid station locations:
12K: 3.4 miles

Half Marathon & 50K Course

Kid’s Race Course Map

0.4 miles, flat

Elevation gain:
Half marathon: 3400′
50K: 8300′

Aid station locations:
Half marathon: 6.2, 9.7 miles
50K: 6.2, 9.7, 13.0, 19.2, 22.7, 26.0 miles

50k Loop order:
Blue twice, then the yellow loop.

Directions

The park is located just south of Issaquah, Washington. The address for the main entrance of the park (where the race starts/finishes) is 21492 SE May Valley Rd., Issaquah, Washington 98027.

From I-90, take exit 17. Head south on Front Street, which turns into Issaquah-Hobart Road. Drive 4.5 miles, then turn right on S.E. May Valley Road. Drive 1.5 miles and turn right into the park. If the lot is full, please park on nearby S.E. 135th St. Do NOT park on May Valley Rd.

Discover Pass

Please note that you will need a Discover Pass to park. To purchase a discover pass, visit www.discoverpass.wa.gov.

 

Race Location

21492 SE May Valley Rd Issaquah, Washington 98027