The Klickitat Trail is a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

along the

Klickitat River The Klickitat River is a tributary of the Columbia River, nearly long, in south-central Washington in the United States. It drains a rugged plateau area on the eastern side of the Cascade Range northeast of Portland, Oregon. In 1986, of the r ...

in southern

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in the

Columbia River Gorge The Columbia River Gorge is a canyon of the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Up to deep, the canyon stretches for over as the river winds westward through the Cascade Range, forming the boundary between the state ...

. The

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

and

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trail offers river and canyon views throughout its length. It follows an old railroad corridor that at one time linked the towns of Lyle and Goldendale.

Route

The trail consists of two sections; one along the Klickitat river, from Lyle to Swale Canyon, and the remainder which continues through Swale Canyon to Warwick. The Swale Canyon section is closed during fire season, approximately July 1 - October 1.

Geology and biology

The route includes a remote tributary canyon, a nationally designated Wild & Scenic River and a National Scenic Area. The wildlife in the area includes

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...

rattlesnakes Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera '' Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small an ...

and

cougars The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, '' KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild ...

. Deer kills on the trail by cougars are common, and yearly

salmon run A salmon run is an annual fish migration event where many salmonid species, which are typically hatched in fresh water and live most of their adult life downstream in the ocean, swim back against the stream to the upper reaches of rivers to s ...

s attract

bald eagles The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a Species complex, species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies ...

History

The region was originally passed through by the

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gro ...

, with Lewis and Clark calling the Klickitat river the "Cataract river". In 1903, the

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S; ) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank ...

built the original track linking Lyle and Goldendale. Passenger service existed for several years during the 1920s between Portland, Oregon, and Goldendale, Washington. Lumber was an important part of its transport until the 1980s. It was abandoned in 1992 following the decline of the lumber mill in the town of Klickitat and the mill in Goldendale. The railroad right-of-way was purchased in 1993 by the national

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is an American nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works with communities to preserve unused rail corridors by transforming them into rail trails within the United States. RTC's purpose is to c ...

. Ownership of the rail line was transferred to Washington State Parks in 1994, despite some local opposition. In 2003, local supporters of the Trail formed the Klickitat Trail Conservancy (KTC). The Klickitat Trail, a public right of way, is now managed cooperatively by Washington State, the U.S. Forest Service, and the KTC. In 2007–2008, the U.S. Forest Service completed its Trail management and development plan which includes a partnership with the Klicktitat Trail Conservancy (KTC) and Washington State Parks.

References

External links

Klickitat Trail Conservancy

Friends of the Columbia Gorge

{{coord, 45, 44, 55.3, N, 121, 13, 26.7, W, display=title Protected areas of Klickitat County, Washington Rail trails in Washington (state) Transportation in Klickitat County, Washington