We took the unmarked side trail to the Boxley Blowout overlook. This is the location where a newly dammed reservoir failed when water seeped through loose glacial moraine material eventually causing a catastrophic blowout and flooding. It destroyed the downstream logging town of Edgewick Dec 23 1918. Fortunately a vigilant night watchman noticed the rising waters before the ensuing flood and was able to alert the residents to evacuate. No one was killed by the flood! The lookout is next to the gorge created by the blowout.
At the top of Cedar Butte there is a USGS marker infamously misspelled "Ceder Butt". After enjoying the view up the Middle Fork Valley we headed back down to the trail junction and took the faint and brushy 0.7 mile trail that connects to the Cedar Butte Tr to the Olallie bike route. Turn left and this eventually connects up with the John Wayne Railroad trail.
We ate lunch at South Fork restaurant which is on the road to the trailhead (exit 32) just south of I-90. The food was excellent! I highly recommend it.
RT 7.3 mi, 1200 ft
Comments
bentley-edelman on Cedar Butte, Olallie State Park - Olallie Trail, Palouse to Cascades Trail - Rattlesnake Lake
Thanks for the report!Sounds like you didn't run into any snow? I'm wondering what the snow levels are like on the Ollalie bike trail, one of our off season go-tos . . .Also, is the trail between Cedar Butt 😉 and Ollalie easy enough to trace? Thanks!
Posted by:
bentley-edelman on Jan 05, 2023 06:26 PM
Maddy on Cedar Butte, Olallie State Park - Olallie Trail, Palouse to Cascades Trail - Rattlesnake Lake
We only did the lower 1.6 miles of the Olalie trail and it was 99% snow free. I think that it would be mostly snow covered at higher elevation. The connector trail between Cedar Butt and Olallie is more subtle than I anticipated. It starts just 50 feet beyond the signed Cedar Butte/Bagley Blowout upper junction. Once on it, it was fairly easy to follow. The portion of the trail around 1500 feet in the valley bottom was covered in a few inches of snow and was a bit hard to follow. GPS was very useful. It doesn't get much use.
Posted by:
Maddy on Jan 05, 2023 07:13 PM
bentley-edelman on Cedar Butte, Olallie State Park - Olallie Trail, Palouse to Cascades Trail - Rattlesnake Lake
Thanks for the info. Also, the snippet of history on the Boxley blowout was interesting!
Posted by:
bentley-edelman on Jan 06, 2023 07:59 AM