“The fact that this is open will make a big difference.” “A lot of people stopped at the Columbia River,” Wert said in a trailside interview at the foot of the refurbished Beverly Bridge. Through-hikers and riders typically would need to hitch a ride in a vehicle to get across. The wide Columbia River presented one of the most troublesome barriers for trail riders because the next closest public crossing was the Interstate 90 Vantage Bridge, which has no sidewalk or shoulders.

The mostly gravel rail trail still has a bunch of gaps necessitating detours.

It’s a challenging, but fascinating journey to take.” It goes from the deep forest to the wheatlands of the Palouse. “One of the beauties of it, it’s away from everything else in general. “I try to tell people this is a secret way to get across the state,” Wert said. He sometimes calls it the “invisible trail” because it is not well known. Fred Wert of Winthrop has traversed the full length once and biked and walked it in sections many times. The Palouse to Cascades Trail stretches for 285 miles from the outskirts of North Bend, Washington, to the Idaho border, including a 2.5-mile tunnel under the Cascade Crest. Now, a rebuilt rail trestle over the river south of Vantage connects the two sides making it easier for cyclists, horse riders and hikers to undertake a spectacular east-west journey. The Columbia River has long divided the two halves of Washington’s cross-state Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail.

She Rode The Rails by Beverly Adam