Columbia Plateau State Park Trail

When I was writing the post last week on Fish Lake Trail I mentioned that it will eventually make it all the way to Fish Lake where it will connect with the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail. I hadn’t been on that trail yet, for no reason other than neglect, so this weekend we drove to Fish Lake to check it out. This trail is built on the former Spokane, Portland & Seattle right-of-way which is now owned by the State of Washington, and at 130 miles it is the state’s longest (although not largest) state park. Starting from Fish Lake, nearly four miles are paved, then the trail switches to crushed rock. It is still smooth and comfortable for either hiking or riding bikes.

Near the start of the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail.

As I mentioned in last week’s post, the current Fish Lake Trail ends at UP Junction about 0.8 miles from Fish Lake Regional Park and the start of the Columbia Plateau State Park Trail. Within this gap are UP junction and Lakeside junction, where UP’s Ayer subdivision, BNSF’s Spokane subdivision, and BNSF’s Lakeside subdivision all meet. Heading westbound from Spokane, UP breaks off from the BNSF onto their own tracks, and BNSF goes from double-track territory to single-track territory. The BNSF line heads to Pasco on the Columbia River, and the UP line heads to Ayer on the Snake River, then follows that river downstream to the Columbia.

The City of Spokane owns the former Union Pacific right-of-way in this 0.8 mile gap but finishing the trail so it is accessible will require crossing two active tracks. The challenge is securing enough funding to complete the paving, adding one or possibly two bridges for the trail, and possibly adding in fencing where the trail is very close to the tracks.

While the City of Spokane owns the former UP right-of-way in the 0.8 mile gap, the State of Washington owns the former SP&S right-of-way between UP junction and Fish Lake Regional Park. So technically the current UP line runs on state property, then crosses over City of Spokane property briefly in order to reach its own property. The city owned property is also being used today as an access road by BNSF. There is appropriate signage warning people not to cross the tracks or drive on the road and I understand that this is necessary for safety, but it does seem just a little bit absurd to see “do not enter” signs on public owned land where BNSF is using city property as a private access road and the UP track is on state property.

While looking at maps of this area I learned that immediately east of the City of Spokane owned right-of-way, Spokane County now owns just over 105 acres of land that sit in-between the UP and BNSF tracks. So there is plenty of land here if its necessary to divert the trail to make a safe crossing over the active lines. I don’t know what the long term plan is for this land, but if it were developed and a safe railroad crossing were built, it could more than double the area of Fish Lake Regional Park.

Looking north (track direction east) where the UP line crosses in to state owned property, formerly the SP&S right-of-way. And to the right of the equipment, the gravel road is the former UP line that is now owned by the City of Spokane and is used by BNSF as a private access road—this is the missing 0.8 mile gap in the Fish Lake Trail. The land to the right of the gravel road owned by the county. As I was standing by the tracks the signal light turned on, so I knew that a train would be coming soon!

Mile post 365 on the SP&S line is right next to the parking lot for the trailhead. This view is looking north where the SP&S tracks once ran. If you were to head down this road bed you'd run into the active UP line, which uses the former SP&S right-of-way up to the junction with BNSF.

To help visualize how everything in this post fits together, here's a photo of part of the map signage at the trailhead, which includes mileposts.

But let’s get back to the trail itself, which starts at milepost 365 near Fish Lake. The milepost numbers indicate the distance from Portland along the old SP&S line, and milepost signs along the trail have been preserved. Heading westbound, the roadbed is still on its climb up the hill from Spokane. For the first few miles of the trail, you’re traveling next to two active lines, both of which have bidirectional traffic. There are some great spots for watching trains pass, but not as many as I was expecting, as the trail is in a rather deep cut through the first couple miles, blocking views of the active lines. Eventually the roadbed levels out, the deep cuts disappear, and the trail is crossing mostly flat, rural terrain with relatively shallow fills and cuts. But by this point the active rail lines are a couple miles to the north so you can hear but no longer see passing trains.

After the trail crosses underneath Cheney-Spangle road just before milepost 361 the pavement ends. And then just past milepost 360 the trail passes underneath Cheney-Plaza road and you enter the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge. Nearly all signs of human habitation disappear and are replaced with a magnificent stretch of ponderosa forest and lakes (some vernal, but most year-round). While the trail through the refuge is owned by the state, the land on either side is federally owned. We biked about halfway through the wildlife refuge before turning around. It is around this point—somewhere in Turnbull but I have a hard time figuring out exactly where—that the SP&S reached it’s highest point in between Spokane and Portland, having climbed about 430 feet from the old Union Station in downtown Spokane. While crossing through Turnbull, the railroad also crosses over from the Spokane river drainage basin into the Palouse river drainage basin which it will follow all the way to the Snake River.

Fish Lake

Near the start of the trail the two active lines are very close. Here we see the UP line next to the trail, and the BNSF line a little further up the hill.

A westbound train on the UP line.

The trail goes through a lot of beautiful cuts in basalt like this one. Given how dry it has been this summer, I was amazed by how much water was running along both sides of the track through here. In some spots you can springs where the water is seeping out of the rock. This long cut is essentially a permanent stream now. And the water level can be much higher at times. There has been trail repaving in several spots where the stream has washed out part of the road bed, like the dark patch in this photo in the foreground. 

UP track crossing over the trail.

There are a number of bridges over the trail—rail, highways, and small local roads.

Here an eastbound BNSF unit grain train (probably empties) crosses over the trail and over the UP track, which is just visible on the right side of the photo.

This is a closer view of the same bridge. The span over the trail is a drop girder bridge. The next span to the right crosses over the UP line and must have a higher clearance as the UP line is higher than the trail is here.

This was a fun sight. A basalt column has broken off the rock wall but fell straight down without breaking apart or falling over. 

The cuts still include various utility poles and other train hardware, such as a piece of track here and there.

By milepost 360 the trail has reach mostly flat land in a rural setting. No one here right now but us and the cows. From this point on the landscape is filled with lakes of various sizes. Many have water year-round, but others are vernal and are only filled with water in early spring. On the right is an example of a vernal lake which is now a field of green grass. The roadbed as well as the cows are up high enough to stay above water year round.

Concrete foundation right next to the trail for a former railroad structure, likely a water tower.

It was nice to see an osprey right by the trail. I was surprised at first given the surroundings, then realized we were only a few hundred feet away from open water.

This bridge carrying Cheney-Plaza road over the trail was built in 1936. Same construction technique and very similar in style to the Marshall Bridge I wrote about in my last blog post.  

Shhh! You are now entering the Turnbull Nationall Wildlife Refuge.

Aside from the former railroad bed an occasional decaying fence, there are no signs of human habitation once you're in the wildlife refuge. Just lakes and trees.

Another shallow roadcut while going through the refuge.

A small lake alongside the trail.

Spokane's Fish Lake Trail

I’ve been biking on the Fish Lake Trail a few times this year and wanted to post some pictures. I’ve mentioned this trail in a previous post about rails to trails projects in the Spokane area which also includes a few pictures along Fish Lake Trail. This is a very enjoyable and accessible multiuse trail as it’s built on an abandoned stretch of Union Pacific track so the grade is very gentle, and includes some great views as well as interesting cuts and fills. I also like it as the trip is uphill from the parking lot so it’s an enjoyable downhill ride back to the car.

Train of auto carriers headed upgrade. This picture is taken from the trail which is visible in the lower-right, showing how close the trail is to active tracks.

Fish Lake Trail is sandwiched between two active BNSF lines so you are bound to see multiple trains. This is part of the BNSF mainline between Spokane and Pasco and this stretch is double-track territory. The Fish Lake trail starts literally below BNSF’s Latah Junction (MP 1481.6 on the BNSF Columbia River subdivision) and runs along the Hangman Creek valley and then up Marshall Canyon to UP Junction (MP 365.8 on the BNSF Spokane subdivision) where Union Pacific trains can switch from BNSF to their home tracks. See my Rail Trails in Spokane County Google layer map for the exact location and alignment of the trail.

The roadbed the trail is on was built in 1912 by the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Company (OWR&N), a subsidiary of Union Pacific, and opened to through traffic by 1914. This line was also used by Milwaukee Road through passenger trains as their mainline didn’t go through Spokane but instead passed about 25 miles to the south, so they used OWR&N tracks to access the city.

Detail of a 1950 USGS topo map  (Spokane SW Quadrangle, Wash. 1950. 1:24,000) showing all three lines running up Marshall Canyon. The middle line, which is the trail today, is labeled here as both Union Pacific and Milwaukee Road.

The OWR&N was this third railroad to build up Marshall Canyon. The Northern Pacific completed the first line in 1881. And the Spokane, Portland & Seattle (jointly owned by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern) built a line through Marshall Canyon in 1909. As the third railroad, OWR&N had a tough job squeezing in, and construction of their new line required the old Northern Pacific line to be moved a bit further east in a couple areas. This required extensive rock removal which the OWR&N contractor had to do carefully and slowly so as not to disturb traffic on the existing NP line.

The Burlington Northern (BN) merger in 1970 combined three of the four big railroads in Spokane: the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, and the Spokane, Portland & Seattle. With all the excess facilities and lines in the Spokane area, BN set about consolidating down to a single line through downtown Spokane and a new high bridge over Hangman Creek to the west of downtown. Union Pacific was encouraged to use this new BN bridge so that UP could abandon two Spokane River crossings. The UP line up Marshall Canyon was then abandoned as the two BN lines could handle the combined BN and UP traffic. Today the old NP line is used for eastbound trains and the old SP&S line is used for westbound trains as it has a lesser westbound ruling grade.

In this detail from a 1973 USGS topo map (Spokane SW Quadrangle, Wash. 1973. 1:24,000) you can see that the UP line now appears as abandoned and the other two lines are now labeled as Burlington Northern.

The Union Pacific approached the City of Spokane in 1990 about selling the right-of-way between the city and UP junction, and in time the city and the state were able to work out a deal. It took many years but eventually the old railroad grade was smoothed out and gradually paved in segments as funding could be secured. Today the paved section of trail is 9.4 miles long, and with luck (and funding) it will eventually be 10.2 miles long and reach all the way to Fish Lake. The trail ends today at UP Junction where the UP line breaks off and the two BNSF tracks merge (at Lakeside Junction) into a single track that follows the original NP line to Pasco. The last 0.8 mile stretch of the trail beyond UP Junction will be expensive as it will need to cross over two active rail lines, likely requiring one bridge and either a second bridge or an at-grade crossing. Where the trail ends at Fish Lake it connects with the existing Columbia Plateau State Park Trail which follows the abandoned SP&S roadbed for 130 miles from Fish Lake to Pasco.

Another detail from the same 1973 USGS topo map with the missing 0.8 mile trail segment highlighted in yellow between Queen Lucas Lake and Fish Lake.

The trail starts right under BNSF's Latah Junction, a wye junction built in 1973 at the west end of a new high bridge over Hangman Creek (also known as Latah Creek) as part of the Burlington Northern consolidation of lines in the Spokane area.

Looking north from the trail at the two BNSF lines west of Latah Junction. The one in the foreground connects leads to the old Spokane, Portland & Seattle line that heads up Marshall Canyon. In the background is a new line built in 1973 that will connect with the old Great Northern line about five miles down the track.

Another image showing the Fish Lake trailhead parking lot.

Use the trail anytime of day and you will see trains. Here we see a westbound (upgrade) unit coal train on the old SP&S line.

Here we see the trailing locomotives at the end of a westbound unit grain train.

A mixed train passing along a nice rock cut.

A tunnel-like structure was built here for the OW&RN line to pass under a track at Scribner.

This historic 547-foot long bridge, only partially visible here, was designed by noted Spokane engineer W. L. Malony. It is a parabolically arched concrete T-beam structure with varying span lengths, allowing it to carry Cheney-Spokane Road over all three railroad mainlines and some rail yard diverging tracks as well as Marshall Creek. This was the primary highway between Cheney and Spokane prior to I-90 being built. The bridge was completed in 1949 and added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1995 as an outstanding example of 1940s T-beam construction.

Another view of the Marshall Bridge from where the trail passes underneath.

As we near the end of the trail we pass by Queen Lucas Lake, here seen in spring when the water table is still high.

Here is the same view in mid-summer. The lake doesn't dry out completely but the open surface water (out of view to the left) is only about a quarter of the area compared to when the water is high.

And here we are at the end of the trail, where we see the lead locomotives on a train passing the signal at UP junction. I hope to see this fence gone and a paved trail continuing on to Fish Lake in my lifetime.

2025 National Garden Railway Convention in Sacramento - Part 3

 Some more pictures I took on garden tours in Sacramento...

Train crossing over a tunnel and across a bridge on the Franz Family Railroad. I liked how there were two merging streams here, including two small waterfalls.

Another view of the Franz Family Railroad.

The Granite Creek & Rattlesnake Gulch Railroad is spread out over a large area with over 500 feet of track so far—and it's continuing to grow as it's a work in progress. There is a stream and a pond and multiple bridge crossings over water.

I didn't see any rattlesnakes (real ones, at least) but I did see a lot of granite. I really like how this track (currently a dead-end spur) curves around the huge granite boulder and between a smaller one.

I also really liked this curved bridge over a large pond.

There were a couple trains running on the Granite Creek & Rattlesnake Gulch Railroad but I didn't see one often as there was so much track to cover.

We're now at the Maple Rock Garden Railway.

The Maple Rock Garden Railway is in a very large garden and the railroad just ambles through, gradually climbing 15 vertical feet to its highest point.

A train on the Maple Rock Garden Railway following a small stream.

The Coyote Pass Railroad was a real treat. It's over 20 years old and it looks like it, both from intentional weathering of buildings and vehicles as well as natural weathering. My favorite feature was a working water flume over 30 feet long.

A beautifully weathered building with the flume behind it.

Another amazing building that looks like it's going back to nature and halfway there.

A close-up detail of the flume where the water drops down and changes direction.

Old locomotive leading a train underneath the flume on the Coyote Pass Railroad.

A train going around the upper pond on the Deadwood, Eureka & Northport Railroad.

The Deadwood, Eureka & Northport Railroad is an amazing railroad that wraps around two sides of a house. Sandwiched in between the wall of the house and a sidewalk, the railroad was built up vertically in order to fit as much as possible into such a narrow space.

This bridge allows trains on the highest track to cross over the pathway from the sidewalk side of the layout to the house side. I only had to duck a little bit as the bridge is so high. This railroad has 11 bridges and seven tunnels.

Train headed out from town on another loop through the canyon country.

Superb rock and concrete work and use of model trees led to some great views like this.

And this sighting was a first for me—an ore bulk carrier modeled in 1:32 scale on an actual pond. Amazing!