The Palouse Cascade Trail, part 1 Pine Creek and Rock Lake.

Today I hiked a short but scenic stretch of the Palouse Cascade Trail from Hole in the Ground Road outside of the small community of Pine City to the high bridge on Rock Lake that has been closed by the State of Washington.

On the way I stopped outside of Rosalia to snap a picture of this amazing viaduct. The Milwaukee Road was once one of the five transcontinental railroads but was abandoned decades ago. Most of he old railroad right of way was acquired by the State of Washington and is managed as the Palouse Cascade State Park.

At the place were Hole in the Ground Road crosses the trail there is a wide shoulder that you can park on. There is signage both directions and it was nice to know how far I was going to be walking.

About half a mile in you come to Pine Creek Bridge #7. At this location a couple of rail cars derailed and are still here to this day.

The old railroad bed follows Pine Creek.

Pine Creek is a scenic little stream.

After the railroad bridge, the trail passes through cuts in the basalt rock.

As you continue, the rock walls become more impressive.

As the creek drops, the railroad bed stays level and after awhile you are far above it and the views get even better.

It wouldn’t be an abandoned railroad without a tunnel or two. A deep cut in the rocks leads you to the entrance.

The tunnel is curved and you cannot see light from the other side when you first enter it. If you persevere and walk in as far as you can see, you will come to a point where you can see light from the other end.

On the other side there are stunning views of basalt cliffs framing the Pine Creek Valley. The bottom of the valley is farmland. These over sized canyons were formed by ice age floods as the tiny creeks in them could never produce the power to carve out the gorges.

Soon you will catch a glimpse of the north end of Rock Lake. This three and a half mile walk is on the boundary of the Palouse Prairie, a rich wheat farming area with rolling hills and the Channeled Scablands, the place where ancient flood waters scoured the land down to bedrock.

The views of Rock lake open up. This is a fascinating body of water. The largest natural lake in eastern Washington it is over four hundred feet deep and almost surrounded by steep cliffs making access very limited.

Opposite from the lake the cliffs seem to get even bigger.

Rock Lake has a vibe. There is even a legend about a lake monster and stories of derailed railcars on the bottom. Due to it being orientated with the prevailing summer wind, the lack for sheltered bays, limited places you can even land a boat and submerged basalt pinnacles boaters are strongly cautioned and kayaking discouraged.

It is hard to relate just how big these cliffs are and how big the waves can get when the scabland winds blow over miles of lake water.

This is an epic landscape. It is amazing they built a railroad through here a hundred and twenty years ago. The Milwaukee Road failed largely due to it being routed through such remote country. The railroad through Montana, Idaho and Washington was abandoned in 1980.

Near the end of the passable part of the trail impressive cliffs with basalt arches dominate the far shore.

This bridge is fenced off and posted by the State of Washington. I crossed it about seven years ago and it was sketchy back then. A second tunnel is just beyond and another mile or so down the line a section of the railroad easement reverted to private ownership and it is blocked at that point. I raised my camera above the chain-link fence to get a decent shot of the bridge.

So I turned around and walked the three and a half miles back to my car. That’s when I read the sign. The sign on the other side of the road mentioned that the trail was closed that direction due to the decks of four bridges being destroyed during a devastating wild fire a few years ago. It would be nice to get those rebuilt along with the deck of the bridge I had to stop at.

The Palouse Cascade Trail spans the entire state of Washington and ends just a few miles from the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s which almost spans the Idaho panhandle. The Hiawatha Trail is also an abandoned section of the Milwaukee Road. I hope to check other sections of the Palouse Cascade Trail in the near future. The section I walked today is one of the most beautiful and interesting trails I have ever explored.