Rail Trails in the Northwest

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

Bill Metzger did a terrific job mapping the nation’s larger rail trails in the May issue. A very clear and organized presentation. I’d like to clarify and expand on some of the trails near my home in the Inland Northwest.

IDAHO

Route of the Hiawatha

Only 14.5 miles are in Idaho. More than a mile of the trail lies in Montana. About one mile of the Idaho side involves non-railroad trail sections which detour around a large wash-out and a collapsed tunnel.

Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes

West end, approx. 1 mile Plummer to Plummer Jct., is not on railroad grade.

Approx. 63 miles Plummer Jct. to Wallace is ex-UP, as the map indicates.

Approx. 7 miles Wallace to Mullan is actually ex-BN (NP), operated by UP only from 1980 to 1993.

Another 11.7 miles of unpaved trail, mostly on ex-BN (NP) grade, continues from Mullan east to Lookout Pass on the ID/MT border, connecting there with the Montana half of the Northern Pacific Trail, which the map does show. Lookout Pass has 4-percent grades, so be ready for some killer pedaling if you bike uphill!

North Idaho Centennial Trail

Only a tiny fraction of this 24-mile trail is on former railroad grade. It crosses ex-NP in several spots but does not actually follow NP grade for any discernable distance.

Approx. 1.25 miles along Front Street and Mullan Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, the trail is loosely associated with an alignment where BN (joint MILW/GN) street-center trackage once operated.

Approx. 5.25 miles between Post Falls and the WA/ID border is on ex-MILW.

WASHINGTON

Fish Lake Trail

Actually two disconnected trails with a roughly 2-mile gap between them, and not all of it ex-UP.

Approx. 3.75 miles Fish Lake to South Cheney

2

Thanks much for those details, Bruce. [tup]

Any websites with details about trailheads, parking, directions, etc. ?

I’ll be posting some “typical” photos and that kind of info about a few in my area, too.

  • Paul North.
3

ridethehiawatha.com

inlandnorthwesttrails.org

friendsofcdatrails.org

northidahocentennialtrail.org

Paul, you’re not far from that trail up in the Lehigh Gorge, right? My wife and I walked a portion of it to where you could look up at Rockport Tunnel. Another railfan I know used to bike his way up and down the gorge, getting some good pictures along the way.

4

thanks much for those links, Bruce. [tup]

Correct - about 30 miles/ 40 minutes away. Here’s a short version: It’s 26 miles or so, mostly ex-CNJ roadbed that’s right next to the active tracks - 1 RBM&N, 1 NS - for the lower half of the Gorge to Penn Haven Jct., which allows some really neat close-up views, such as from below and next to the cars and locomotives ! Lehigh Gorge Scenic RR - R&N subsidiary - runs seasonal 1-hr. passenger excursions. Above Penn Haven Jct. the R&N line separates and turns west and away for Hazleton, the NS separates and crosses the Lehigh River to the east side for the next 10 miles or so, while the trail stays on the west bank of the river, until up near the White Haven/ I-80 end, where it crosses back over to the west side. The Rockport Tunnel is about halfway along that stretch - but when I was there in late June last year, the Tunnel couldn’t be seen due to the heavy vegetation growth. I’ve got maybe a hundred or so photos from 2 or 3 trips up there to sort through and label before I post them . . . [:-^]

Lehigh Gorge State Park website and info: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/lehighgorge.aspx

Link to State Park Map - 12" x 22’, approx. 754 KB in size: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/lehighgorge/lehighgorge_mini.pdf

See this link for reviews a lots of good photos: http://www.traillink.com/trail/d--l-trail---lehigh-gorge-state-park-trail.aspx

  • Paul North.