The 134-mile-long Columbia Plateau Trail (also called the Pasco/Fish Lake Trail) followed the old, historic route of the Spokane--Portland--Seattle Railroad from Pasco to Spokane. The trail today is a fabulous way to experience the human and natural history of this unique landscape.

The trail pierces the basalt scablands of the lower Snake River country and crosses the rimrock country of the Columbia River Plateau. It tracks through coulees cut by the Great Missoula Floods of 16,000 years ago. Settlers first used the route in the 1850s when wagon train master John Mullan surveyed a wagon road roughly following the same track we hike today. A half century after the first wagons rolled along the route, the surveyors for the railroad plotted the course that's still used--but not by trains--today. The section described here goes through some of the most rugged, scenic country along the entire route.

Leaving the parking area, hike upiver (northeast) to enjoy incredible views up the Snake River. The scenery is almost beyond belief. Desert country? No! You're traveling through dry environments, but this is a rich ecosystem, teeming with wildlife, large and small. Mule deer the size of small elk range throughout the area. Coyotes as big as timber wolves prowl the canyons. Even a few cougars prowl the canyons, keeping the deer population from exploding out of control. Raptors soar on the thermals rising over this sun-drenched canyon, while swallows and sparrows flit and flutter around the cliffs. On the ground at your feet, Hungarian partridge, chukar, and quail dart through the brush.

The trail follows the old railroad bed, but along this 4-mile stretch, a good part of the old dirt wagon road parallels the railbed, and that old dirt track is easier to hike--it lacks the rough crushed rock ballast that covers the railway.

Hiking east along the north shore of the Snake River provides ample opportunities to enjoy the sparkling waters of the river and the plethora of birds and other animals that are at home in the area. It also immerses you in the human history of the region. You'll be thrilled with the old telegraph poles that dot the route--some with old glass and ceramic insulators in place and wires strung between them.

The side canyons and sagebrush forests along the walls create interesting patterns around you, especially if you are hiking here early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the low angle of the sun casts the interesting topography into sharp relief and heavy shadows.

Hikers can travel as far up the Snake River as they like, but a good turnaround point is the mouth of Burr Canyon, where the trail crosses the Burr Canyon Road.