The Races to Larches in Washington State

The battle of “larch supremacy” is raging in Washington State with several race organizations offering races in the Cascades in the fall during peak larch season. Gretchen Walla with Walla Trails was one of the first to tap people’s love for golden larches by hosting a race during that magical fall season: The Golden 6 Hour – on the Swauk Forest Discovery Trail, a 2.45 mile loop near the top of Blewett Pass between Leavenworth and Cle Elum has been going since 2021.

I love everything fall. The colors, pumpkins, hot soups, warm sweaters, etc. It was brought to my attention that there was a sweet but neglected loop near the top of Blewett Pass that had larches and loads of autumn color.

Then last year in 2024 Rainshadow Running added their March Madness event on the same weekend at the Loup Loup Ski Bowl near Twisp. This race also is on a looped course.

It’s not everyday you stumble into such a brilliant and terrible idea. While scouting the trails on the eastern edge of the North Cascades at the Loup Loup Ski Bowl for a different race idea (stay tuned for details on that one) we couldn’t help but notice that it seemed like every tree was a larch! 

Evergreen Trail Runs just today announced their “larch peeking” event called ‘Mad Meadows’:

October is such a magical time in the Eastern Cascades that we couldn’t resist offering a new event! This course has a bit of it all: smooth single track, incredible views, steep climbs, and technical sections. Oh, and did we mention it’s Larch Season over here?

Evergreen are the first to announce a date for 2025: October 11. Ostensibly this is the same weekend as Rainshadow’s and Wall Trails’ races – both were on the second weekend of October in 2024.

Most of these events are small. Walla Trails’ had 80 runners in 2024 and sold out. Rainshadow’s had just 60 across the various distances. Clearly there’s room for more events in the area – the more the merrier… maybe? But also: Where’s the creativity, people?