Cycling in Ellensburg

Ellensburg, the Kittitas County seat and home to Central Washington University, sits where I-90 meets the Yakima River Canyon and offers some of the best all-around gravel terrain in the state. The town sits directly on the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail and is ringed by a dense grid of forest-service and ranch roads through the Naneum State Forest, the Colockum, and Table Mountain, with local route catalogs ranging from short valley loops to hundred-mile epics. The signature gravel event is the HI90 Grindy, a gran fondo (a timed ride, not a race) run by Vicious Cycle and confirmed for June 6, 2026, with 26-, 53-, and 90-mile options; the long course climbs roughly 7,800 feet over about 60 miles of gravel. The Grindy stages just up the I-90 corridor at Dru Bru in Cle Elum, and the Kittitas Valley’s gravel network spreads out from there.

Local rentals are genuinely thin. Ellensburg’s shop, the Recycle Shop at 415 N Main St, is a long-established Specialized dealer that sells and services bikes but does not advertise rentals, so it is best treated as a resource for last-minute parts and mechanical help rather than a place to rent a bike. The nearest confirmed rental with drop-bar-adjacent options is Ride Roslyn Bike + Board, about 30 miles northwest in Roslyn along the same Palouse to Cascades corridor, which rents e-bikes, mountain bikes, and fat bikes (call ahead for gravel-specific rigs). Plan to bring your own gravel bike if you can.

For lodging, neither of the town’s main hotels advertises a cyclist-specific program, so the pick comes down to location and amenities. The boutique Hotel Windrow anchors walkable historic downtown with two on-site restaurants, while the Best Western Plus Ellensburg sits near the I-90 interchange with free parking, a pool, and a fitness center. Confirm secure bike storage directly with either property.

Every Labor Day weekend Ellensburg hosts the Ellensburg Rodeo, a PRCA event running since 1923 that fills the town alongside the Kittitas County Fair — the region’s biggest weekend, worth timing a Kittitas Valley ride around.