Category: Eastern Washington

The Palouse Cascade Trail part 3, biking west from Rosalia.

For my third trip this summer on the Palouse Cascade Trail, I headed west from Rosalia with the goal of making it to Malden. I fell short by a couple of miles. Better to enjoy a sixteen mile round trip than have a miserable twenty miler. Part 1 is under the hiking category as that is how I traveled it.

Rosalia is a small farming town on US-195 about thirty-five miles south of Spokane. The Palouse Cascade Trail crosses the old highway just south of Rosalia on this amazing concrete arch bridge. This bridge is a local landmark and still has the Milwaukee Railroad logo painted on it.

In addition to the old highway, this bridge crossed Pine Creek , a small stream the trail follows all the way to Rock Lake. The new US-195 crosses over the railroad easement just to the east. Rosalia is about twenty miles west of Tekoa, the town I used as my base for my last trip on the trail. The level of engineering used on the bridges give a hint that this was once one of the five transcontinental railroads in the United States.

The trail is a little hard to access from the town. Rosalia does have a small park with restrooms, but the trail is located up a steep slope from the town off of rough gravel roads. Within the first mile, a steep detour bypasses a place where an old bridge was removed over Gashouse Road. This intersection is the only thing resembling a trailhead in the area.

At the intersection their is an interpretive sign. The trail surface alternates between rough gravel ballast and soft sand. I heard the surface is far more challenging west of Rock Lake and Ewan.

The first couple of miles out of Rosalia parallels US-195 and passes though a typical mix of farmland and basalt cuts as it heads north and then northwest.

The trail passes a cemetery just outside of town. There’s one off the trail just east of Tekoa as well.

At Babb Road, the trail passes under the roadway in a newer culvert. I don’t think a train would fit through it. I’m not sure if this “tunnel” replaced a taller bridge or if the road just didn’t go through before the railroad was abandoned.

Evidence of a catastrophic wildfire from a few years ago was evident along the trail. This fire burned down much of the town of Malden and three or four bridges between that town and Pine City. Here I ran into the only other person I saw. This gentleman was nearing the end of a multiday journey that started in Cedar Falls over two hundred miles away. I was impresses. I made it sixteen and was tired by the time I finished.

Here is the first of several bridges over Pine Creek west of Rosalia. It was an impressive piece of engineering.

After the bridge, the trail passed through a couple of impressive cuts trough the basalt.

There are still old telegraph posts along the trail, some of which still had the old glass insulators. This was close to my turnaround point. I was still short of Malden by a couple of miles and the next bridge over Pine Creek was just around the bend. Sometimes a man has to know his limitations.

I saw a couple of coyotes and these white tail deer. Other than that my wildlife was limited to birds.

Most of the route of this trail is bordered by either farmland or cattle ranches. There were a few pieces of abandoned machinery along the way.

The trail passes through open range areas with gates that are the responsibility of the trail user to open and close. The State of Washington requires trail users to register on line so that they understand the rules. This process is simple and can be found here. The bovines did yield the right-of-way to me without argument.

On the way back to Rosalia I took a brief detour off trail to get a different preceptive of the bridge over Pine Creek.

When I got back to Rosalia, I ran into the same fella that I talked to on my way outbound. He was camping at the local park and we shared a couple of beers and traded stories about riding bicycle trails. Not a bad way to finish the trip.

An hour later I was back home after navigating rush hour traffic through Spokane. Between this ride and my two previous trips on the Palouse Cascade Trail I think I’ve seen most of it though eastern Washington. I would really like to explore the section through the Cascade Mountains closer to Seattle. I understand that part is beautiful and more user friendly. That might have to wait until next year.

McKenzie Conservation Area

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.

The Palouse Cascades Trail part 2, Biking from Tekoa to Seabury and back.

Yesterday I tool a sixteen mile trip on a section of the Palouse Cascades Trail on my old trusty mountain bike.

I started my trip in the small town of Tekoa. It is one of the nicer towns in the Palouse and has several historic buildings including this old art deco movie theater. Across the street is a small park with a public restroom, a rare amenity out here in farm country.

The landmark Tekoa trestle dominates the local landscape. This 976 foot long and 125 foot high structure carried the transcontinental Milwaukee Road rail line over Hangman Creek, State Road 27 and another old railroad easement.

There is a trailhead off Washington Street on the east side of the trestle with interpretive signage and a picnic table. This trail is managed as a Washington State Park and extends from the Idaho state line almost to the Seattle area.

From the trestle there is a view of the town looking up Hangman Creek. In the background is Liberty Butte, one of several large hills embedded in the middle of an expanse of wheat fields.

The trail winds through miles of agricultural land alternating between cuts through the hills and embankments between them.

About three miles in you come to Lone Pine. There are the remains of an old grain loading facility here and not much else.

Wheat is the main crop here and in places they cultivate it right to the edge of the trail bed. About eighty percent of the fields I rode by were already harvested but some were still waiting for the combines.

Tekoa is in Whitman County which bills itself as the largest wheat producing county in the United States.

Amber waves as far as the eye can see. From the trail you get to see scattered farm buildings and spacious skies.

I crossed under one old bridge. The trail surface varied from rough ballast to fresh gravel and some areas of dried compacted dirt. I don’t usually ride on gravel and going sixteen miles on it was like riding forty on pavement.

I came across two places where small bridges had been removed and the state build a bypass trail.

Just before my turn around place, I arrived at the historic Seabury Bridge. I walked the bike across as some of the gaps in the decking could easily catch a bicycle tire and eight miles is a long way to walk back. There is a lot of useful information about the trail on the home page for the Palouse Cascade Trail Coalition, a non-profit group dedicated to supporting improvements to the trail.

The Seabury Bridge crossed over another railroad which is now also abandoned. Here you can see the cut of the Spokane Inland Empire branch that at one time extended all the way to Lewiston.

Here is the best view I could get of this impressive structure. It’s long way down to the bottom and the land down there is privately owned.

So here was the end of my ride. Washington State Parks put up these mile markers at the same spots the railroad at one time had them. They show the distance from the start of the railroad in Chicago.

The way back was pretty but I did have to deal with a decent head wind. Winds on the Palouse are usually out of the southwest or west. Today it was out of the northeast.

It was a relief to make it back to Tekoa. That’s Tekoa Mountain in the background looking northeast from the deck of the trestle.

The 287 mile long trail almost spans Washington. Through Eastern Washington it is lightly used. I was the only one on it for all sixteen miles. Earlier this summer I had hiked the section along Pine Creek and Rock Lake. This was the first time I rode part of it. Next time I’ll bring a couple of replacement inner tubes just in case.

Dishman Hills, hiking Iller Creek and the Rocks of Sharon.

Dishman Hills is a natural area made up of three units. Iller Creek is the northern most and highest of them. The Iller Creek trailhead is located west of Dishman Mica Road in a residential area of Spokane Valley.

The trailhead has limited parking which usually isn’t an issue on weekdays. As soon as you start there is a fork. I always take the right path and hike the loop counter clockwise.

This trail follows a dry creek bed at a moderate grade through a thick forest. It isn’t very exciting but it gets you to where your going.

This preserved is managed by Spokane County as a conservation area. As is typical, Spokane County maintains a well built and marked trail system.

At two and a half miles in you come to the Rocks of Sharon. These massive boulders are a popular local rock climbing destination.

I typically spend over an hour exploring the rocks. There are over a dozen of these monoliths lined up on the south side of the high ridge.

This is a perfect place to stop for a break and enjoy the views.

And the view is of the Palouse Prairie, an area of rolling farmland that extends a hundred miles to the south.

North of the rocks is probably the largest collection of antennas and satellite dishes I’ve ever seen. Pretty much every television and radio station in greater Spokane uses this site to transmit their signals.

Another view of interesting rock formations.

At the Rocks of Sharon there is a junction with the Stevens Creek Trailhead connector. By using this access point it is possible to get to the rocks by hiking less than half the distance and a third of the elevation. Drive there though takes an extra hour.

I had the place to myself for a good hour. I highly recommend hiking this trail on weekdays. It can get awfully busy on weekends.

I just wish I hadn’t tried to drive my truck up the trail. No really, this isn’t the first old abandoned vehicle I’ve come across hiking close to Spokane. This was on the East Ridge Trail just after I started my return.

If you hike the loop counter clockwise, you will return to the Iller Creek Trailhead vis the East Ridge Trail.

The East Ridge Trail is more open and you get views of Spokane Valley and Mt. Spokane in the distance.

To the west you can see Mica Peak with it’s distinctive radar dome.

Five miles and twelve hundred feet later, you return to the starting point. Here is a picture at the trailhead of a mountain ash tree.

I first saw this place while flying out of the Spokane airport over a decade ago. It looked so cool from above I did a little research, found the trailheads and have since hiked it about a dozen times. I was a little surprised that the elevation gain turned out to be well over a thousand feet. It is one of the best little hikes close to Spokane that I know of.

Peewee Falls, Z Canyon and Sullivan Lake Kayaking Trip

Thursday I headed to Boundary Dam near the Canadian border to check out a couple of places I always wanted to kayak, explore the area a little and spend the night camping.

My first stop was at the overlook for the Box Canyon Dam and old railroad bridge outside of Ione along the Pend Oreille River. This old rail line is now abandoned, but as recently as ten years ago they operated a tourist train along this stretch.

A little further along the scenic byway there’s a rest area from which a short walk brings you to Sweet Creek Falls. Two trails access the falls. This is the lower trail.

The upper falls trail provides a different perspective of the cascade.

Sweet Creek Falls is a gem and easily worth a thirty minute delay. They’re are even picnic tables along the trail, some with views of the falls.

After about three hours of driving with a couple of stops, I arrived at my destination for the day, a recreation area just above Boundary Dam. You can see the dam’s Vista House on the right side of the picture on top of the bluff but it was closed and they weren’t giving tours either. I wanted to take a photo of the face of the dam. This is the dam that was used as the set for Bridgetown in the Kevin Costner movie, The Postman. Tom Petty played the mayor of this fictional post apocalyptic settlement.

The dam wasn’t the main reason I came all this way, well sort of. It did create the reservoir I planned to kayak on so there’s that. Boundary Dam is over three hundred feet high and backs up the Pend Oreille River over seventeen miles to the town of Metaline Falls. Immediately above the dam is Forebay, a substansial body of water with a campground on it. All of this is managed by Seattle Power and Light.

After picking my campsite, I unloaded the kayak and headed around the bend to check out Peewee Falls. This amazing waterfall drops straight in to the lake at the end of a deep cove. It is not visible from the recreation area or the dam.

I lingered around the falls and took a few photos. The sun was heading down putting the waterfall in the shade and the wind was picking up so I headed to my next destination.

A narrow opening at the south end of Forebay lead me to Z Canyon. This spectacular canyon was flooded by the dam a century ago and is now very popular with boaters and kayakers despite it’s remote location.

All along the way upstream there are interesting rock walls and a new view around every bend. The wind was intermittently building up which made for a lot of work. The few boats that came by created much more turbulence than I expected because the steep rock walls of the canyon reflected the wakes and in places it was like being in a washing machine.

After a mile or so, I came to the end of Z Canyon and at this point there is an island separating the main channel from a more protected slough. the Everett Slough Campground is located here and here I was able to land and take a break.

While floating over shallow water I came across this sight. Apparently the level of the water fluctuates daily depending on the power generation needs the result being that flowers and weeds that grow on the wetlands are sometimes covered in water.

I captured this amazing image and thought it looked a lot like an impressionist painting. Drowned daisies.

On my way back down the canyon, I came across an upside down tree. It looked like this Western Red Cedar had been growing like this for many years.

After getting back to the campground I took a trip exploring the area in the couple of hours I had before sundown. I checked out Gardner Caves in Crawford State Park and saw a hole in the ground surrounded by a fence. They have a very limited tour schedule and I missed the last one so I took a little hike and came across a sign that let me know I should turn around.

I drove across the river and towards Canada to find the Vista House and that’s when I found out it was closed. At least I got this view of Hooknose Mountain from a scenic overlook.

The next morning the lake was like glass and with the light coming from the east I decided to take the same trip again looking for a more relaxing and photogenic experience.

I got one. The waterfall was in full light creating a rainbow effect and the skies were perfectly clear and blue and the moon made a cameo.

It was early and I had the place to myself.

At least until the first boat showed up. Now it was time to explore Z Canyon again only this time wind and boat free.

It was much more relaxing this time.

There are a few small caves in the cliff sides along the canyon. I’m not sure how far they go in and wasn’t interested in the tricky landing and steep scramble up the bank to find out. After all there might be a grizzly inside.

Z Canyon is an amazing place and I would be happy to kayak it again. From the boat launch to Peewee Falls and then up the canyon and back only took three hours.

On the way back since the lake was still glass flat, I took the longer way across and was treated to this view of the falls with Hooknose Mountain in the background. It was still early so I packed up and headed to my next adventure.

Sullivan Lake was about a forty minute drive through Metaline Falls and east another few miles.

On the way I stopped at the Old Mill Pond Historic Site as was recommended by a friend of mine. This is the view of Sullivan Creek downstream from the old dam site. The creek drains Sullivan Lake and ends up emptying in to the Pend Oreille River in Metaline Fall.

I don’t know how long ago my buddy was here but it turned out they removed the dam seven years ago draining the 64 acre lake to restore the place to a riverain habitat. The dam hadn’t been used for power generation in over fifty years but they kept it in place as people liked to use the lake for recreating. There was a bunch of interpretive signage explaining the reasons and benefits of removing the dam.

So it was back to Sullivan Lake. I launched at the day use area for the west campground. A grass airstrip separates the east and west campgrounds. This bluff was just east of the east campground.

Sullivan Lake is over three hundred feet deep. It is a natural lake that was raised twenty-five feet by a small dam at the outlet. The west side of the lake is bordered by a scenic road and the east side is basically uninhabited, just steep slopes down to the shore.

The shoreline was to be honest kind of boring. The main draw for this body of water is the incredible water quality. Kayaking, you could see the bottom in thirty feet of water. I didn’t swim at Boundary Dam because, well because it is downstream from Missoula and Butte Montana, Sandpoint Idaho, Newport Washington and lots of other smaller town. The water looked okay but I knew where it came from. Sullivan was a much better place to take a swim.

So I found the only place on the eastern shore with a small beach and did just that. There was not one other boat or kayak on the lake in the middle of a warm clear summer Friday.

So I started the two and a half hour drive back to Post Falls and took the less traveled county road on the east side of the Pend Oreille River when I discovered a pull out for Manresa Grotto. They had a vault toilet so I decided to stop.

I’m glad I did. It was a fascinating place with small caves and historical significance.

It was a great place to stretch my legs for a few minutes. I was surprised that I had never heard of it. Another hidden gem in the Pacific Northwest.

The only downside was that the place seemed to be popular with vandals and was heavily graffitied. The biggest cave smelled like they sacrificed skunks in there over the years.

So I finished my tour of the Pend Oreille Scenic Byway and drove the rest of the way home. Three decent kayak trips in two days was the highlight. All of my short on foot walks weren’t long enough to call hikes but did add a little variety. I liked Peewee Falls and Z Canyon so much I paddled them twice and would be happy to do so again.

Spokane River Centennial Trail, Riverside State Park.

Today I rode the twelve miles of the Spokane River Centennial Trail inside of Riverside State Park, out and back. It was the first time in at least a decade.

I tried to access the trail at the T J Meenach bridge at the base of Doomsday Hill, but a crazed meth-head was yelling at me and anyone else driving down the road so I opted to start at the Fort George Wright Military Cemetery Trailhead instead.

This is the warning sign I was greeted with. I really never see these in Idaho. There were several other cars already parked so I decided to take my chances.

The old military post cemetery was well kept by the staff of nearby Fairchild Airforce Base. This area used to be an army post named after George Wright, a man who had a controversial past as it related to his treatment of native Americans. Apparently as part of the recent movement to rewrite history, the old post and the nearby major roadway were renamed. The only reference to the original name is the cemetery.

Immediately after the cemetery, the trail descends on a screaming grade down towards the river. This is by far the steepest grade I’ve ever encountered on a bike trail. I smoked by brakes to keep from gaining to much speed to control my bike. The photo doesn’t do it justice but we’re talking about maybe a 10% grade for a half a mile. I had to walk my bike back up the hill. There was no way I could have pedaled it.

Additionally, the first two miles of the trail had just about the worst surface I’ve ever encountered on a bike trail. The bumps were big enough to throw you off the bike and the weird gaps in the trail (expansion joints?) could easily catch and pretzel a bike wheel. I thought about giving up for a minute.

So it was with great trepidation when I saw the sign that told me the bikeway was ending and that the next part was going to be on share the roads. Surprisingly the grades were milder and the pavement in far better shape.

The old park scenic drive had been segmented many years ago so that the sections that still supported automobile traffic were by and large dead ends to trailheads used by hikers and bicyclist. There was next to no traffic on them and they were well maintained.

Soon I came across an old scenic overlook. This is looking back to the east up the river towards downtown Spokane.

Looking the other way there was a commanding view of the Bowl and Pitcher rock formations. These are the most popular places in Riverside State Park, but are usually accessed from the other side of the river.

Using the zoom on my basic phone camera revealed a nice view of downtown Spokane maybe five miles to the southeast. The highlands behind it are Dishman Hills, a popular in close to town place to hike.

Looking down the river from the bluff the view was of a flood plain pine forest between dry grassland slopes.

The old park scenic road was largely built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps. At the trailhead, the roadway was blocked to vehicles and was truly a bikeway again, only this time with a much better surface. As it was made for cars, some of the hills were fairly challenging for a bicycle.

A little further was the site of the camp for the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). The only reminder of this camp that supported a couple of hundred young men working on park improvements is the old fireplace from the recreation building.

At the McLellan Trailhead there was a nice map to show you where you’ve been and how far you have to go.

The trail continued along the old park road, some of which was open to vehicle traffic and most closed to it. For much of the ride, the Spokane River was near the trail with pretty views.

This one was one of the nicest. I thought it looked a little what I imagine Ireland looks like with the emerald green and peaceful water.

There are some nice rock (basalt) formations along the way. Most of the canyon carved by the Spokane River in the park is basalt.

A steep grade brought me to a place I recognized and yes, I had to walk my bike back up this one too. My brakes got a work out.

Around the bend was the bridge over Deep Creek, a place I hiked and posted about last spring. A lot of people land here in kayaks to swim and hang out.

Deep Creek here is a backwater of the Spokane River. There is no flow at all this time of year. The hike up the canyon is scenic but with it being in the mid-nineties today I rather be on a bike. It was a little on the toasty side.

In addition to the “bikeway” and sections of the old scenic park road, two short sections of the trail were share the road on public streets with generous shoulders. These parts of the trail were lightly traveled mostly by the few folks that live off of them and in really good shape. It was an easy way to get from point A to point B.

A couple of miles before the trail ends it passes by Nine Mile Falls and the dam of the same name. This hydroelectric plant is well over a hundred years old and still in use.

The last time I rode this trail this is were it ended. Since then they added a couple of miles starting behind this elementary school and continuing through pine flat woods.

The two miles of brand new pavement winds through an open ponderosa pine forest on the way to it’s final destination.

Just before the end of the trail, it descends towards the river on a series of well made switchbacks.

The trail ended at a recreation area with a boat ramp and a swim beach. It wasn’t anyplace special, but it was a place to end the trail While standing on the dock, I got one last pleasant surprise.

A low flying B-52 out of Fairchild Airforce Base orbited the lake. I used to see those regularly in Florida back when Orlando International Airport was McCoy Airforce Base. They are an impressive sight. Hard to believe a few are still in service after sixty years.

Combined with the Spokane Valley section and the urban section of the Spokane River Centennial Trail, the twelve miles or so of the Riverside State Park section makes for a forty mile long bike way from the Idaho State line to the Nine Mile Campground and Boat Launch. The North Idaho Centennial Trail continues east to Higgins Point for another twenty four miles. This twelve miles of the trail is by far the most challenging.

Mica Peak Conservation Area

For My Fourth of July, I hiked the Mica Peak Conservation Area outside of Spokane Washington. This 1700 acre preserve is owned and managed by Spokane County and was acquired as part of their conservation futures program.

Mica Peak at 5200 feet is a prominent landmark in the area made more distinctive because of the large radar dome at the summit which is visible throughout the region. The Federal Aviation Administration owns the site and for that reason the top of the mountain is off limits to hikers.

The trailhead for the property is located at the end of Belmont Road out of the small community of Mica which is about six miles south of Interstate 90 on State Road 27.

The first part of the hike travels on an old service road through about one mile of private property with open ponderosa pine forests on both sides. The climb is surprisingly steep and you can clearly see the mountain you’ll be walking up ahead.

The open forest with mostly a grass understory is typical of drier, hotter and often south and west facing slopes.

As you gain elevation the views open up. In this photo you can see three other hiking spots in the same frame. The high peak in the background is Mt. Spokane, a Washington State Park I visited earlier this year. The bare hills in the foreground are in Spokane County’s Saltese Uplands Preserve and the ridge to the left and in front of Mt. Spokane is Antione Peak which I recently visited and wrote about.

The variety of wildflowers along the trail was impressive.

As you gain elevation, the habitat becomes thicker with more fir trees and dense shrubs limiting views in sections. The main trail (service road) up the mountain is called Moonshine for some reason. I used the California Creek Trail, a single track, to make the nine mile loop.

This trail uses several switchbacks to climb the mountain. As usual the trails on Spokane County Conservation Areas are extremely well built and well marked. You’d have to try to get lost.

Near the high point of the California Creek Trail you hit open slopes with some outstanding views. The habitat also changes to something resembling an alpine landscape. It really isn’t one but it does look a little bit like it.

You are rewarded with big views of the Spokane Valley. Not everything out there is urbanized yet. There’s still some pretty farmland between the mountain and the city.

You can also see out to the southwest and part of the Palouse Prairie on the other side of the mountain.

This is about as close as the trail gets to the summit and the radar dome. It’s still a good half mile and two hundred feet of elevation away. A short descent from the trails high point brings you back to the Moonshine Trail and the long trip back down.

Fitting colors of some wildflowers for the day of the hike.

On the way down you pass by a couple more open ridges. Sometimes it’s nice to pause and appreciate small views too.

After this open ridge, the trail rapidly descends back through much thicker vegetation.

One more view out to the Palouse Prairie earned a look of that geological oddity, Steptoe Butte another place I have visited recently.

After four hours, nine steep miles and more wildflowers, I was back at the trailhead.

There’s considerably more trails that can be explored on this site. One trail connects to Liberty Lake Regional Park. Liberty Lake Park is a great place to hike, but I will have to wait until an extensive improvement project that is currently underway is completed.

The Fish Lake Trail

The Fish Lake Trail is a nine mile former railroad line that was acquired and converted in to a bike trail by the City of Spokane. It ends about one mile before Fish Lake, but the trail starts again at this point. However it is called the Columbia Plateau Trail from that point on. Are you confused yet? Good, we wouldn’t want that.

The trail starts just west of downtown Spokane at a trailhead off of Government Way under a couple of impressive railroad bridges in a really sketchy neighborhood. I’ve never had a problem here, but let’s just say I’m relieved every time I return to my intact vehicle.

Apparently that is Latah Junction above the trail, the place were the mainlines to Pasco and Wenatchee split.

Immediately after leaving the trailhead, you cross a bridge over Interstate 90 with an stunning view of downtown Spokane.

The first mile of the trail is between busy highway US-195 and an area experiencing rapid construction of much needed residential developments. For the most part they look like nice neighborhoods. Fortunately much of the trail through this stretch is located in a deep cut, screening riders from both.

The basalt rock formations and thick vegetation make the place seem more remote than it is.

Just over one mile in, the urban landscape ends and the trail takes on a more rural flavor. It’s hard to believe that this is only three miles from downtown. The traffic noise fades as the trail slowly curves away from US-195.

This is one of the very few road crossings on the trail. There’s not a lot of traffic to worry about on the ride.

The trail slowly curves towards the west. At this point it passes through an area that was effected by a recent wildfire. Wildfires suddenly seem to be a reocuring theme in many of my recent posts.

Since the prevailing summer winds here are out of the southwest, in addition to a headwind you are climbing a one percent grade. The good news is that you’re paying it forward. The return trip is all downhill and usually with a tailwind.

At a place called Marshall, the trail crosses under this impressive bridge. Two active railroad lines also pass under the bridge. For much of the length of the trail, it is sandwiched between two active railroad lines.

One of the other railroad lines passes over the trail here. One good thing about the Fish lake Trail is there is a lot of railroad infrastructure to admire.

And you get to see trains! Hey, that might be my brother grinding it up the high side heading towards Pasco.

The further you get from Spokane, the emptier the countryside gets. Towards the end of the trail it passes through this little valley.

The trail is just over nine miles long and the last mile and a half of that is a dead end. It is possible to back track to the last road crossing and ride on very bikable roads the three miles of so to the beginning of the Columbia Plateau Trail the first four miles or so of which is paved.

So here is the end. Two active lines cross each other just past this point making a safe passage impossible. Spokane would like to extend the trail, but bridging this gap would be prohibitively expensive.

It has been a couple of years since I rode this trail. The good is how easy it is to access, the true scenic beauty of the trail and for the most part a good surface. The bad is that its only nine miles long and the trailhead is in a bad part of town. When I get a chance, I’ll ride the gap from the end to the Columbia Plateau Trail and create an updated post with added material.

Spokane River Centennial Trail update. New Pavement!

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about the Spokane River Centennial Trail, specifically the first fourteen miles and how it was going to be closed for the summer for a much needed rebuilding. Well they finished the project much sooner than originally scheduled so I checked out the results.

I rode the entire section out and back plus three and a half miles each way on the North Idaho Centennial Trail so I could get to the new pavement from my house. Here’s the trail at the Harvard Road bridge.

It was really nice pedaling on a smooth surface after all of these years. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while.

I did notice about a dozen Lime Scooters abandoned along the trail. I’m not sure why these things are even allowed on the trail. I’m not a fan of E-bikes either. They are consistently misused by many of the knuckleheads that drive them.

Since I started riding on this trail seventeen years ago many improvements have been made to it.

It’s always a thrill to watch trains pass over the trail.

Now if we can get the first four miles of the trail on the Idaho side of the state-line rebuilt. Actually I heard that this might be in the works as the local managing agencies are working with the North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation to secure a grant for this project. Let’s hope this happens.

Antione Peak Conservation Area, the Emerald Necklace and Summit.

The Antione Peak Conservation Area is an over one thousand acre preserve owned and managed by Spokane County. It is located on the north side of Spokane Valley and has three easily accessible trailheads. Today I hiked the entire length of the Emerald Necklace Trail with a side trip to the summit.

I started my hike at the West Trailhead off of Brevier Road. From the parking lot there is a clear view across the Peone Prairie of Mt. Spokane, the highest point in the county.

As soon as you leave the trailhead, you find your self in the “tall grass”. It appears that this part of the preserve was pasture or farmland in the not too distant past.

The trail system is very easy to follow and well maintained. At this point you’re less than a mile from the edge of suburbia but it feels like another world.

The old fields were carpeted with wildflowers.

As I gained elevation, the views opened up. To the south is the urban area of Spokane and to the west and south are views of the rural areas outside of town.

After less than a mile, the trail enters a more forested area dominated by open Ponderosa Pine habitat. This one appears to have grown out of a rock.

This part of the trail skirts to the south of the ridge line and summit. The south side of the ridges are also the sunny side.

A view looking up the hill on a clear cool sunny day.

Signage along the trail is very good. If you come to a fork with an unmarked trail it is not part of the trail system. After a little more than two miles, the Emerald Necklace Trail intersects the Summit Trail east of the peak. If you take the Summit Trail downhill, it leads to another trailhead.

A couple of weeks ago, I walked the loop from the Canfield Gulch Trail and came across this small pond.

On that trip I also came across a small moose. It is surprising how often I cross paths with these animals. I even see them swimming in the lakes when I’m paddling my kayak.

On the backside or in this case the north side of the ridge the habitat is dominated by fir trees and thicker shrubs limiting the views. In this opening there is a nice view of nearby Rathdrum Mountain in Idaho.

This little guy didn’t seem fazed by me walking past his stump.

Another opening along the trail revealed a nice view of the Peone Prairie. This area of farmland is on the way to Green Bluff, a local agri-tourist area.

The Emerald Necklace eventually reconnects to the Summit Trail and a short hike uphill gets you to the high point. Of course there’s a communication tower or more like three of them at the top.

The summit is partially forested and you have to walk around to see the views. This one is looking across the valley towards Mica Peak Idaho, AKA Signal Point.

On the way back to the trailhead I got to enjoy the meadows covered in wildflowers again. It was a very enjoyable and relatively easy hike. I estimate I got in about six miles with maybe seven hundred feet of elevation gain. It was a nice way to spend the last day of my first month of retirement.

After completing my hike, I headed over to a friends house to watch the Stanley Cup Finals. As the sunset, I noticed they have a nice view of Antione Peak from their backyard.

Spokane County has several very nice conservation areas, many of which I have hiked. Unlike state owned sites, Spokane County does not require a pass or permit. I plan on visiting some of these places this summer and hope to share my experiences hiking on them.