Yesterdays hike at the McKenzie Conservation Area on the north side of Newman Lake is a return to a local hidden gem. Thank you Spokane County. This was my fourth trip here this year. The trailhead is only about fifteen minutes from my house.
A simple gravel parking area provides access to about five miles of hiking trails. I hiked about four miles of them by taking the Bedrock Ridge Trail and returning on the Turtle Rock Trail with a side trip south through the marshlands to the property boundary and back. Oddly enough, Spokane County has another conservation area only a few miles to the south with slightly different spelling called Mackenzie next to Liberty Lake Park. If anyone who reads this blog knows why that is please let me know.
The first part of the Bedrock Ridge Trail winds through a nice mixed forest. One of the things I like about McKenzie is the tree variety. Pretty much every species native to the area is represented.
The two species of firs, Grand and Douglas often grow side by side. Douglas firs are not true fir trees and the needles grow out of the stem in a radial pattern. Grand firs have flat needles like a feather.
The Bedrock Ridge Trail gains a little bit of elevation and true to it’s name about a mile in you come to rock outcroppings near the high point of the trail.
Here you see Newman Lake for the first time on the hike. On the drive to the trailhead you get to see a lot of the lake from the the windshield. It is a scenic drive.
At the junction with the Turtle Rock Trail I went right instead of left to check out the wetlands on the south end of the conservation area.
Something had a sweet tooth. I saw more than one hive broken open and scattered. I imagine the first few licks of honey were awfully tangy.
I turned around and made my way to Turtle Rock. This is the only spot on the property where its possible to access the lake without wading through marshlands. Allegedly this was a favorite campsite for Native Americans.
Most of the walk back on the Turtle Rock Trail is flat and skirts wetlands.
There are some pretty big cottonwood trees in the lowlands along with cedars and hemlocks. The conservation area has several mature western white pines which is nice to see as they were almost eliminated from the region due to the white pine blister rust and over harvesting.
Another view of Newman Lake.
McKenzie Conservation Area is a nice place to enjoy a relaxing walk in the woods. The elevation gain is minimal and views are beautiful. That’s Mica Peak Idaho, AKA Signal Point, in the distance. There is another trail that crosses Newman Lake Road and climbs considerable higher up the ridge if you just have to get more of a workout. This loop adds another mile of two to the hike and gains maybe 400 feet of elevation. There are no views of the lake through from this trail.
