Hiawatha Scenic Bike Trail – Just Do It!

Leaving Mountain Meadows on Saturday, 7/10, we made our way to Albert’s Landing, another private RV park, just across the Idaho border near Kingston. The good news, with temps in the mid-90’s we had hook-ups so Riley had the AC to keep him cool. More importantly, we were also right on the Coeur d’Alene River so you know where we spent every free moment. Lol.

 

Coeur d'Alene River

Riley and Rog, my favorite river rats. 

Riley selfie. 

Unfortunately, the park was completely full and the spaces were tight. Even though we’d given them the length of our RV and towed vehicle when we made the reservation, the gal at the desk took a look at our rig and said she wasn’t sure we’d fit. Uh Oh. With little hope of finding an alternative on a Saturday afternoon, we were determined to make it work. Rog had to back down a long drive and squeeze the short bus into our space. He did and even made it look easy. Whew!

 

Tucked into our spot at Albert's Landing.

The real reason we’re here is to ride the Hiawatha Bike Trail – the Crown Jewel of America’s Rail to Trails. At least that’s what the brochure says, and after doing the ride I am happy to report that we totally agree! The Hiawatha Trail follows the abandoned Milwaukee Railroad grade between Taft, MT and Pearson, ID. It is 15 miles of gentle downhill grade (which makes Momma happy!) with – and this is the really cool part – 10 tunnels and 7 sky high steel trestles. IT IS AMAZING. So much fun! Oh, and did I mention there is a shuttle so we didn’t have to ride 15 miles back uphill. Yay!! (Gotta say, that was a huge draw for me. When Rog mentioned maybe riding back and not taking the shuttle, he got some serious stink eye. Lol.)

Brochure map of the Hiawatha Bike Trail.

The Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area operates the Hiawatha Trail under a special use permit from the United States Forest Service. You purchase tickets for the trail and shuttle from Lookout Pass. They also rent bikes, helmets and headlights (required for those tunnels). Lots of detailed info available online if you’re interested, and you should be!

Rog at the entrance to the trail.

The first tunnel is right at the trailhead and it’s a highlight of the trial. The St. Paul Pass Tunnel, is 1.66 miles long! It is also cold and wet. Only 44 degrees year round with water running down the sides and dripping from the ceiling. Some of the tunnels actually have small stalactites and stalagmites forming along the ceiling and walls. The other nine tunnels aren’t nearly as long as St. Paul and range from 217 to 1516 feet. Most are smooth concrete, but a few are natural hewn stone.

Entering the famous 1.66 mile St. Paul Pass Tunnel.

 

Can you see the tiny stalactites hanging from the ceiling?

The tunnels were so much fun! Very cool and a little spooky. 

The views of the Bitterroot Mountains were beautiful.  There was some smoke from wildfires that made it a little hazy. We actually caught a break, the staff said it was much smokier the day before. The trail switchbacks through the mountains and you can see some of the trestles in the distance that you’ll eventually be riding across.

Trestle in the distance and then a zoom shot.

On a trestle with a tunnel in the background.

The trestles rivaled the tunnels for coolness factor with their breathtaking vistas – not sure which was my favorite. The 7 trestles ranged from the relatively diminutive Russell Creek trestle (281 ft long, 96 ft high) to the magnificent Kelly Creek trestle that is 850 ft long and a dizzying 230 ft high! Wow!

The trail across the trestles is gravel roadway, but the board walkways on each side are cantilevered over the edge. When you walk on them you can see…all…the…way…down through the gaps in the boards. That was a little disconcerting. Lol.

Kelly Creek Trestle - 850 ft long and 230 ft high.

It's a long way across and...

...a LONG way down.  

There are also 50 interpretive signs along the way. I think we stopped at almost all of them. They provided lots of interesting history on the railroad, the engineering of the trestles and tunnels, and a devastating fire that swept through the area in 1910. The route was built in 1907-1911 and was in service for 71 years. The bike trail was first opened in 1998.

Beautiful day for a ride!

Most of the trestles were straight, this one curved.
Quite a feat of engineering. 

 

Looking down the valley at the Bitterroot Mountains.

What a fun ride!

This is one adventure that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. There were folks of all ages and abilities on the trail. It doesn’t require any technical skill and it’s just a ton of fun. We were smiling all the way.

We got to ride both ways through the St. Paul Tunnel.

End of the trail and still smiling!

Our final stop on this trip was Wanapum State Park near Vantage, WA. We’ve stayed here several times, it’s right off I-90 and then an easy drive home. We arrived in the afternoon on Monday, 7/12, and found the park staff were still running the sprinklers in our site. Riley was not sad about that. Lol. Unfortunately, he’s not content to just play in the water, it’s a challenge to keep the big doofus from nomming the sprinkler heads. Rog has had to reset the oscillating heads on multiple occasions. Since we were camped right on the Columbia River, we also found a secluded spot where he could play with his ball in the water. Spoiled pupfish. Lol.

Rog doing damage control. 

Do you wonder if he's ever dry?

Evening light on the Columbia Gorge. 

Home again. We arrived Tuesday afternoon, 7/13. Our housesitter was a jewel. The house looked great, the cat was well cared for, and she’d even managed to keep all my plants alive through the 111° heat. We unpacked and Rog tackled the lawns while I started in on 15 (yes, count ‘em 15!) loads of laundry. I did a few loads when we moochdocked at Faith’s house, but managed to avoid the laundromat for over a month. Those debts came due. Lol.

We haven’t got any solid plans for our next trip. We’re hoping to do something this fall. Whatever we decide, you’ll be the first to know! Which brings me to a logistical issue. Google owns Blogspot which I’ve been happily using for years. They have, in their infinite wisdom, decided to discontinue the “Follow by Email” widget that has worked so well. Sigh. By the time I post again it will likely be gone, so you may get an email directly from me or there may be some new mechanism to sign up for a feed. Once I figure it out, again, you’ll be the first to know! 😊