Steigerwald Lake reopened last year after a restoration project that was quite a transformation. There are miles of trail to walk, much of it along the Columbia River. Wildlife is thriving and even as a thick fog persisted much of the day it was a beautiful winter walk. I stayed outside over 6 hours and walked all of the open trails. There is one trail closed, The Art Trail that will reopen at the end of April. I got 15 miles in and saw a variety of birds. Harriers, eagles, red-tail hawks, Western meadowlarks, a number of woodpeckers and more. This is a wonderful trail year round. I parked in the main lot where parking was plentiful early. 

We hiked the Hamilton Mt. trail to Rodney and Hardy Falls and the Pool of Winds.  We took the Hadley trail to Little Beacon Rock and returned to the trailhead via the campground.

The trail to the Pool of Winds was a little muddy given the rainy weather but there were no large puddles and the mud was not too bad.  There was some snow but nothing too sketchy.  The Hadley trail had a fair amount of blowdown, mainly small branches, no trees or anything blocking the trail.

We stopped at Beacon Rock, but the trail is closed until further notice, due to storm damage/downed trees.

Next stop Steigerwald Wildlife Refuge.  Since we were already wet and a bit muddy, (and had some energy left to burn), we opted to check out the environmental improvements that were completed last Spring. We had wind, rain, brief sun and more rain.  Not a lot of activity wildlife-wise at this time but we did get in a nice walk.

Excellent experience on the newly reopened trails out by the river. Saw multiple deer families, herons, and many other types of birds. Mosquitos were horrific off the wildlife art trail however. Even fully clothed they swarmed so much that we had to turn back.

Rarely do I choose a hike where my dog can't go along, but I did so to visit the newly reopened Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge outside of Washougal just opened on May 1 after a 2-year closure for a $25 million restoration project that reconnected 965 acres of Columbia River floodplain to the river after being blocked by a levee since the 1960's, reduced flood risk from Gibbons Creek, improved habitat for fish and wildlife, and created new trails for recreation.

We decided to check it out on one of the dry days this week. So did many other people; the parking lot was full by 9 am.

We spent a full day on the refuge walking slowing and birding. We each carried binoculars and three people in our group of six also carried spotting scopes.

We saw a few other visitors with binoculars, spotting scopes and long-lens cameras, but most of the crowd seemed to be there just to check out the new trails. Many people did not even carry a water bottle and several people stopped to ask us for directions since the new trails are not well-signed and there are not any mileage markers. The only orientation map is at the kiosk at the refuge entrance.

From the parking area, we walked the Mountain View Trail atop the west levee south for a mile to it's junction with the Refuge River Trail (aka the Washougal Dike Trail). On a clear day, the Mountain View Trail provides views of Mount Hood. Since the trail is high on the levee top, it does not have any shade or wind protection.

At the Refuge River Trail intersection, we turned left (east) and walked .3 mile to the junction with the Gibbons Creek Wildlife Art Trail. we took the Art Trail into the refuge, where it passes a lake, crosses two bridges, and winds through cottonwood riparian forest.

We took a spur trail to a dead end that will become a wetland viewpoint, then returned back to the Art Trail and continued on its route. When we rejoined the Refuge River Trail, we turned left again and continued east to the second bridge, which spans Gibbons Creek. We could view the dike breach and the mouth of Gibbons Creek where it joins the Columbia River.

By then it was getting late, so we turned around and walked the Refuge River Trail back to the junction with the Mountain View Trail, and returned to the parking area.

We walked about 5 miles in 7 hours and saw 88 species of birds as well as deer and a raccoon.

I recommended downloading a trail map from the refuge website (link below) prior to visiting.

Steigerwald is open again (effective May 1st, 2022). 

Walked in from the West along the Dike Trail today because the new parking lot along Highway 14 was full late Wednesday morning with lots of people out to exploring the "re-done" Steigerwald.

There are many signs of the industrial earth movement associated with re-imaging Steigerwald... but still many waterfowl and lake creatures to be seen, plus we saw a deer on our route.  The Purple Martin are busy nesting along the southern dike walk...