Forum Index > Trail Talk > North Bend or Sultan-which is better?
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Roly Poly
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PostMon Sep 27, 2021 5:41 pm 
If you had to pick one of these two towns to be based out of for hiking or light scrambling, or winter snowshoeing, which would you pick?

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Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?



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Bedivere
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PostMon Sep 27, 2021 5:47 pm 
Tough question! I think I have to choose North Bend for a variety of reasons. For what you are considering - there is just a lot more easily accessible terrain (in winter) from North Bend, especially on the East side of Snoqualmie Pass. There just isn't a lot of acessible terrain East of Stevens (again, in winter) but there is a mind blowing amount from Snoqualmie to the East.

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Randito
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PostMon Sep 27, 2021 5:56 pm 
North Bend has Twede's Cafe and Scott's Dairy Freeze Sultan / US-2 has Alpen Drive-In, Zeke's and Sahara Pizza So I guess it comes down to what is more important to you: Cherry Pie or Elk burgers ?

Roly Poly
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neek
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PostMon Sep 27, 2021 7:00 pm 
Sultan, no competition. Access to Leavenworth and Lake Wenatchee areas in non-winter. There's good stuff on the west side too. But also it's not too hard to get up to Mountain Loop or 20 when you want something different. Unless you need to keep the driving to under say an hour, I think Sultan has way more to offer. And you can still go down to I-90 if you want. If it were just about fitness or snowshoeing I'd say North Bend, but I'm assuming the other three seasons are relevant. And not that it matters, but way better biking too.

Roly Poly
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Anne Elk
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PostMon Sep 27, 2021 10:48 pm 
RP - if by "based out of", you mean as a place to live, I'd agree with Neek, except that Sultan is prone to rather severe flooding on a semi-regular basis. FEMA data here. Gold Bar might be drier if Snohomish and Monroe don't suit.

"There are yahoos out there. It’s why we can’t have nice things." - Tom Mahood
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H. Hound
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 4:01 am 
North Bend. Traffic on US2 vs I90 is the main reason.

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thunderhead
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 9:56 am 
We love north bend. 90 is safer, faster, and usually more reliable than US2. 90 struggles while it is actively snowing more than US2 does, but is superior at all other times.

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zimmertr
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 10:11 am 
Honestly I dream about owning property near the Middle Fork. That's like the most ideal location for me at the moment. All those houses seem to be extremely expensive though.

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thunderhead
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 10:33 am 
Ya, theres not much bad to say about North Bend, except price. And property taxes. And a slight fire risk.

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Schroder
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 10:35 am 
Park your car along Hiway 2 between Monroe and Sultan on a weekday afternoon and take a look at the traffic. I think you'll be able to decide after that.

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domaz
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 1:39 pm 
Neither, Port Angeles and Sequim is far better if your only consideration is hiking / winter recreation. Traffic on weekends is heavy but not terrible, and you can get to the coast or the mountains easily anytime.

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kw
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 1:49 pm 
domaz wrote:
Neither, Port Angeles and Sequim is far better if your only consideration is hiking / winter recreation. Traffic on weekends is heavy but not terrible, and you can get to the coast or the mountains easily anytime.
Fewer nazis in north bend though.

mosey
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oldwild
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oldwild
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 3:10 pm 
Hi. I live right outside North Bend so that pretty much nails it for me. The TH around here are always crowded but the new trailhead busses help. There are a good number of trails that aren't mainstream so they have a lot fewer people. If you want, you can get the access pass for the North Fork area, it was Campbell Global but I think it is someone else now. They limit the number of passes they give so that helps. There aren't a lot of "trails" but there are a lot of unused roads to walk. The only issue is you can't camp overnight. Other than that, I would pick I90 over 2 any day.

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flatsqwerl
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 4:07 pm 
I would like to end up living between Arlington and Mnt Vernon. I have had my fill of living in S Tacoma. If you found a place in Monroe, it would not mean as much hellish traffic to go N up I-5 to greater glories than the over-peopled I-90 corridor.

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JPH
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PostTue Sep 28, 2021 4:23 pm 
neek wrote:
And not that it matters, but way better biking too.
Road maybe? North Bend has Tiger, Raging River, Ollalie, Tokul, etc.

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