Before this trip, I had only ever seen the highway side of the community of Desert Aire, and wondered why it was there. After seeing the adjacent river (Priest Rapids reservoir), I can understand a bit better!
The trail is 3.2 wheelchair-accessible miles each way, and in addition has some dirt or gravel spur trails to the river. It was a mild morning when I walked it (80 degrees or less), but the sun was intense and I got pretty hot on my return trip. Fortunately I could dip my sun shirt in the river now and then and use evaporative cooling to stay comfortable.
Other users of the trail were mostly on the paved portion north of the park, and I expect it's used mostly by local people who walk portions of it with their dogs, kids, and friends.
My Gaia GPS basemap shows a symbol for drinking water at one point along this trail, but it lied. Even the developed park with its green grass and trees doesn't have drinking water.
After my walk I drove to Mattawa and had some delicious tacos at Los Jacalitos. I also stopped by the Catholic Church because I know they sell the BEST honey (from JC Bees -- the money they get from the bees and their honey goes toward the parish building fund), but unfortunately the office was closed for lunch.
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