CENTRAL WASHINGTON

Summary

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Douglas Creek is a relatively easy, albeit longer, hike through a canyon. Within the canyon you’ll find remnants of the old railroad as you walk past the remarkable canyon walls.

Trail Stats

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Trail Details

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I have a confession to make. I’ve driven through central Washington countless times, starting around age 7 when my family moved us from Western Washington to Northern Idaho. We drove back and forth at least once yearly. We’d left family and my best friend back in Western Washington. To this day we remain good friends. And I haven’t been seven for a VERY long time. After high school I moved back to Western Washington and drove over for visits. Much later on Doug and I moved to Eastern Washington and make trips back to the West side. Never ending cycle. Loads of driving. The confession lays in the fact I’ve never really explored and poked around the central regions of the state. Sure I’ve done the bare minimum, camped with friends at Lake Roosevelt, driven past Grand Coulie Dam, stopped for gas numerable times in Moses Lake. But explored? No. 

Which brings us to this year. We like to hike (duh) and just so happen to have a functional travel van. It’s not complete yet (3 years later) but it is now functional. Bed?  Check. Shower? Check. Miniature cassette toilet? Check. Fridge? Check. Sink and propane stove top? Double check. Even has a small dinette and a dedicated place for Lucilles litter box. We can be mobile! 

So we loaded up the van, grabbed the cat and headed out to the vast midlands of the state. Which brought us to Douglas Creek. Which is somewhere east of the petite town of Wilbur, in a canyon surrounded by farm fields. Basically the middle of nowhere. The dirt road turning off Highway 2 is remarkably well maintained despite signs warning of “primitive road” conditions. 

The Douglas Creek Trail is on Beauru of Land Management property and roughly follows an old service road and railroad bed through a canyon. Meaning the trail is pretty much all railroad grade and there’s minimal elevation to be had. But, it does offer length. We chose to walk from the trailhead parking lot to the next dirt road (about 6.5 miles out) and then turn back. The trail technically continues further on if one cares to venture further out. 

Starting out, pass a gate to enter the trail. You’ll basically follow this path until you choose to turn around. There are quite a few trail markers along the path to assure you’re headed in the correct direction. Shortly into the trail, you’ll hit what appears to be a road. It’s actually the old railroad bed. Turn right and follow the markers. It’s the only real turn on the entire trail. Don’t miss it on your way back or you’ll have an extended hike through the other end of the canyon instead of returning to your vehicle. Likely not ideal if you’re ready to see the car. 

There’s a nice bench somewhere near the start of the trail. And two placards, one stating the animals native to the area. Basic things, snakes, birds, coyotes. Shortly after that, there’s another sign. This one informs you about “pillow basalt.” Its very brief description stated that when lava flows into water it will form pillow shaped rocks, which can be seen through the canyon, proving the area was at one time completely under water. Regardless of how they were made, the rocks are pretty fascinating. Besides these “pillows” there are gorgeous basalt columns throughout the hike. 

When Doug looked at reviews of the trail, most mentioned it was bone dry. I suspect this trail generally is dry. However, we traversed it in late April. The creek was not dry. Granted, it appeared and disappeared fairly regularly. Within the first mile and a half or so we had two creek crossings. The water was not deep but did splay out quite a bit, over running the trail completely. The first one had a few rocks you could step on to cross. Doug went first. He’s got ridiculously long legs, which comes in rather handy in these situations. I followed. It all went well clear up until nearly the end. One rock tipped over, dumping my foot into the ankle deep creek. And the rock had the audacity to flip over and nail me directly in the medial malleoli, or rather inner ankle bone. On the plus side, Doug also has a large arm span and he yoinked me pretty hard toward dry land, which meant my shoe, sock, foot and pant leg were minimally wet. The ankle however, hurt like the dickens for the remainder of the hike. Great start to a hike. 

The next water crossing was navigated without any significant failure. Lucille even crossed by herself, following Doug like a shadow as she gracefully hoped from rock to rock. There were a few minor wet spots in the last quarter of the way out. Nothing requiring any particular skill. 

The trail is rather basic in that it’s a relatively constant low grade with a few bits that are rather steep when you’re required to descend an embankment. Your greatest risk seems to be the rocky path itself. There are loads of places where the trail is smooth and easy going. Which lulls you into a false sense of security. Because just when you’re nice and confident, strolling along while taking in the splendor of the canyon, wham! You’ll fall in a pothole, slide on loose rock or simply trip over a rock. Almost guaranteed to happen on this trail.

Throughout the walk you may notice quite a few remnants of the rail way. Old oil treated rail ties. Treated timbers still desperately trying to hold up the hillsides and support bygone rail beds. Gigantic bolts and lock washers strewn here and there. And my favorite, the rail spikes. I love finding those, they make my heart smile. One of those weird things from my childhood. My father adored trains. More than is likely normal. Trains were a big part of my childhood. We had model trains. We saw train museums. He loved old steam trains. Back then, they’d take old trains on “road trips” and stop in little towns. They made the man so happy. We had rail spikes, would even search for them. Nowadays I still look for them, I just don’t collect them. 

There are a few places where workers obviously blasted a path through a hillside to make way for a train. Always fun to walk through.

The canyon walls are frequented with gorgeous basalt features. Striking basalt columns seem to reach to the heavens. The sheer cliff walls are interspersed with waves of basalt. And they do look like waves. If you happen to appreciate, or at least enjoy, rock formations, this place will make you happy. The first 3/4 of the trail in was stunning. The last 1/4 out (prior to our turn around point) transformed to more rolling hills as we exited the canyon. Pretty in it’s own right, just now jaw dropping. 

If rocks aren’t your thing, there’s plenty of wild life to glimpse. We saw two deer high tailing it up the hillside once they became aware of our presence. They have such amazing agility. There are quite a few marmots throughout the canyon. If they don’t make you smile, nothing will. Cute fuzzy little chunky buggers. If the four legged creatures don’t appeal, there are an insane amount of birds in there. The sound of birds chirping, mixed with crickets and what sounded like a whole symphony of frogs was nearly deafening at times. Otherwise, it was dead silent back there. No “human” noises. No other people at all in fact. We had the entire place to ourselves, which we delighted in immensely. 

I will note the trail has minimal shade. There are very few trees in the canyon. We found a shaded spot about 1.5 miles from our turn around spot that was shaded, but only because of the time of day. Consequently, beware that the trail is near full sun exposure. It was HOT. And it wasn’t even a hot day. 

Our turn around point was when we reached another dirt road. Additionally, it’s marked with two posts sticking straight up. Should you continue on the trail, head left on the intersecting dirt road. We were happy with how far we’d walked by this point and felt no pressing need to walk further. Plus, just down the road we could see the road completely under what appeared to be a shallow “seasonal lake.” No way around getting wet with that one. 

Once you’ve turned around it’s simply retracing your steps back to the parking lot and the ever welcome sight of your vehicle. That being said, beware where you step. I was happily slogging along (in front of Doug a little ways) when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Looked down. SNAKE! I do not care for snakes. At all. Especially rattlesnakes, which this one was. As it turns out, I am a “shriek and jump straight up in the air” kind of girl. Pretty much the only way to get any vertical out of this girl is to put a rattlesnake under my feet. Then did a hopping, skipping type movement back toward Doug. The thing RATTLED at me. No bueno. Luckily it slithered off, with its head up freakishly high and watching us. Bleh. Thanks a lot. Snake. Now I’m all jittery and freaked out. 

The odds of seeing another snake would be quite low, right? Not this day. No more than 15-20 feet further down the path I stopped dead in my tracks. Snake dead ahead. This one was laying by a bush in the middle of the trail. Had to toss a rock toward it to make the thing move. I’ve no idea what that one was, but it did not appear to have a rattle. Needless to say we were walking on eggshells for a few minutes after those snakes. Maybe I should purchase (and bring) an anti-venom kit on these hikes. Hadn’t really ever considered it as I don’t generally come across venomous snakes where we reside and hike. 

Besides that, the hike out was uneventful. No more snakes. All water crossings were successful. We remembered to divert off the main path near the end/start of the trail and head to the parking lot instead of further down the canyon. 

Both of us enjoyed this hike. We loved the solitude. The canyon wall formations were stunning. I don’t think the hike would be pleasant temperature wise in the thick of summer, unless you like to roast. Do watch out for snakes. 

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