In July and August, you’ll see native wildflowers flush the area with hues of white, blue, purple, and yellow. Look for yarrow, bachelor’s buttons, wavy-leaf thistles, goldenrod, and more this time of year.

This is a great place to stroll with kids or babies strapped to your back, as the elevation gain is mild and there are several out-and-back or short loop options. Dogs should remain on leash, since this area is home to waterfowl and songbirds that frequent the small lake at the center of this trail’s loop. Equestrian riders are also common.

What I enjoy most about this hike is its “best of both worlds” feeling. Half of the time I’m wandering through a singletrack wooded trail, looking close at the plants and flowers with a peek of the lake every now and then; the other half I’m strolling an open meadow, where the clouds take precedence and you can soak in the seasonal color palette at large. It’s a place that inspires deep breathing.

Take the full 3-mile loop around the lake to experience both trail types. Seasonal trail closure occurs in the northwest corner due to flooding. In upcoming months, grasses will turn taupe and gold for a beautiful morning or sunset hike.

Visit Spokanecounty.org for a trail map and list of the 121 species of birds that find habitat here.

To learn about some of the other best hiking trails and destinations throughout the Inland Northwest, visit the OTO archives.

The post Easy Summer Hiking At Slavin Conservation Area appeared first on Out There Venture.

When your boots crunch through the dirt, or your tires race over a technical section of trail, or you catch a glimpse of an eagle in the trees, do you wonder how that land is available for your enjoyment? As recreationists, it’s all too common that we take land for granted—thinking it has always been, and always will be, available for our use. 

Think of areas like the Little Spokane River, Beacon Hill, Liberty Lake Regional Park, Palisades Park, Iller Creek, and Saltese Uplands. What do these local areas have in common?

Besides providing beautiful destinations for enjoyment of the outdoors, they are all home to pieces of land that experienced widespread use before they were open to the public. In recent years, securing public access in commonly used but privately owned areas has gotten a lot of attention with projects like “Make Beacon Public.” 

Organizations like Evergreen East, Spokane County, Washington State Parks, and other entities work hard to protect places that have become meaningful to our recreation community. One of the unsung heroes of this work is Inland Northwest Land Conservancy. INLC has worked to bring about land deals that protect things like the cedar forest on the Liberty Lake Loop, the kiosk area at the head of the Iller Creek Trail, access to Avista-owned property on Beacon Hill, and most recently, Waikiki Springs Nature Preserve on the Little Spokane River. 

INLC needs your help to raise $500,000 to protect more land that is currently (illegally) being trafficked by well-meaning but likely oblivious recreational users. These fifty-five acres (about 42 football fields) are adjacent to the Saltese Uplands Conservation Area, where usage has increased 48% over the past two years, reflecting rapid residential growth in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake.

Located on Henry Road, the Uplands are home to dozens of species of birds and native plants. Across the street, Spokane County Environmental Services is restoring the historic wetlands of the Saltese Flats and working on a proposed nature education center nearby. The land to be purchased by INLC and retained for public enjoyment is prime for residential development.

If you’ve ever watched the sunset from the water tower at the top of the hill, or gazed down into the valley at Liberty Lake or at Mica Peak in the distance, you know how that view would change with houses butted up against the hillside. 

Protecting land and water for the health and future of our community, the natural world, and the climate is at the center of INLC’s work. Ensuring that the Inland Northwest remains a beautiful, adventurous, and easily accessible place should be at the center for all of us who love to play outside. 

The post Funds Needed to Protect Saltese Uplands appeared first on Out There Venture.

I started to consider additional nearby possibilities by pulling upMapMyRun on my computer and tracing “epic dayhikes” to local trails I could pull off directly from my front door. MapMyRun allows users to click from point to point on a roadmap to get an estimate for the route’s total distance. I now have a 22.75 mile loop planned to hike from my house to McKenzie Conservation Area, do my favorite loops on the trails, and return via different roads. It’s not how I normally visit my favorite trail systems, but nothing has been normal lately. It’s nice to know I have an option that doesn’t require driving, and it will be a very good workout when I do it. 

We’re starting to get back to the full range of activities and locations for recreating on public land. If it’s possible to drive to the trailhead, an excellent route at McKenzie Conservation Area is a more manageable 6.75 miles. I love McKenzie in the spring for its variety, including terrain, wildflowers, and view sheds.  

My favorite route is to start south from the parking area on Bedrock Ridge Trail and do the short warm-up loop to the west at the first trail junction on the newest trail in the system, Vision Quest. The trail’s name comes from the 1985 movie, portions of which were filmed at this location. The 1.5 mile spur trail to Vision Quest crosses the paved road and heads up a hill past the former cabin site (now gone) featured in the movie. The trail passes a pond and cedar grove at the bottom, but quickly climbs to a pine and Douglas fir forest. This trail makes a short lollipop loop, then returns hikers to the road crossing and the initial trail junction.  

Once back at the Bedrock Ridge Trail, continue south. The trail passes through a mature forest and reaches a rocky outcropping that offers excellent views of Newman Lake before dropping quickly to intersect the Turtle Rock Trail.  

For some additional distance and elevation, turn right at the trail intersection to hike the entirety of the Turtle Rock Trail, including the steep climb to the alternate access point at Peninsula Drive. Following the loop, continue straight from the intersection with Bedrock Ridge, where the trail quickly reaches the lakeshore and the trail’s namesake, Turtle Rock. From Turtle Rock, the trail climbs gradually back to the parking area via an old roadbed. 

Round-trip distance: 6.75 miles 

Rating: Moderate 

Elevation gain: 1000 feet 

Map:  https://www.spokanecounty.org/1406/Trail-Maps 

Getting There: From Trent Ave. in Spokane Valley, turn north on Starr Road toward Newman Lake.  Drive 3.6 miles, then turn right onto East Hauser Lake Road. Continue 0.3 miles, then turn left on North Muzzy Road for 2.9 miles. Continue onto NW Newman Lake Drive for 1.9 miles to the parking area for McKenzie Conservation Area, located on the east side of the road.   

Support Local Trails: Provided group gatherings can resume, consider joining WTA for a weekend of trail work. Sign up at wta.org/volunteer. 

Holly Weiler is trying to adjust to staying at home and is growing her biggest garden yet in an attempt to stay both sane and healthy.  

The post Hiking at McKenzie Conservation Area appeared first on Out There Venture.

Trail work is very rewarding. Every time you hike a trail you have worked on you take pride in a job well done. Here is the option to work on Sat or Sun or spend an evening camping in a beautiful Cedar Grove.

To sign up for either or both go to: wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties

Check out some of the other work parties too!

Sat May 14 – Spokane County Parks – Liberty Lake Regional Park

Spokane County. Optional overnight backpack!* This park has many recreation opportunities including camping, swimming, hiking, biking and equestrian and is a popular destination for Spokane area folks. The most popular hike is a 7.5 mile loop which utilizes several trails that have great views of the lake and pass scenic destinations including a beautiful waterfall and large cedar grove. We are currently working on restoring switchbacks and tread about 2 miles in, near the cedar grove.

Sun May 15 – Spokane County Parks – Liberty Lake Regional Park

Spokane County. This park has many recreation opportunities including camping, swimming, hiking, biking and equestrian and is a popular destination for Spokane area folks. The most popular hike is a 7.5 mile loop which utilizes several trails that have great views of the lake and pass scenic destinations including a beautiful waterfall and large cedar grove. We are currently working on restoring switchbacks and tread about 2 miles in, near the cedar grove.

The post Trail Work Volunteers Needed Liberty Lake appeared first on Out There Venture.

Our latest editorial has some folks rilled up, including reader Doug Kelley:

Jon,

Doug Kelley

All good points. We still maintain that the best outcome for the land, for a number of reasons, would be county ownership–but only if the financing ensures environmental clean-up and doesn’t threaten projects like the Avista Stadium repairs and the Cheney Pool. The auction this Thursday should be pretty interesting. You can read the original editorial here.

The following letter was emailed to Spokane County Commisioners on 3/26/08:

I URGE SPOKANE COUNTY to give the strongest possible consideration to purchasing and operating Spokane Raceway Park.

As the publisher of the region’s only outdoor recreation magazine some of my readers are going to think I’m crazy for advocating this. At Out There Monthly you’ll often find us arguing against irresponsible use of motorized vehicles, whether it is ORV riders who go off-trail, snowmobilers who disturb wildlife, or drivers who won’t share the road with cyclists.

But not all vehicle operators are irresponsible and not all motor vehicle recreation is bad. It would be hypocritical of us to advocate for non-motorized trail designations in places like Ferry County and not support sensible, structured motorized recreation like Spokane Raceway Park.

Did I mention that car racing is super-fun? I’m not talking about NASCAR mega-races (boring), but local races where the cars are sponsored by the auto shop down the street. It was no surprise to me after reading the Spokane Raceway Park Feasibility Study that the report concluded that SRP could be a major tourist attraction and a money-maker from the get-go for the county. Last year some friends and I rode our bikes on the Centennial Trail to the Stateline Speedway in Idaho to see races and a demo derby. The place was packed and we had a terrific time. I would love to be able to bike out to SRP and do the same thing-or perhaps see a bicycle race, which have occurred at SRP in the past and hopefully will again in the future.

While “Big Daddy” Don Garlits and Shirley Muldowney may never race again at SRP, one of the many reasons to save the park would be preserving our racing heritage. Another would be to give the Fast and the Furious generation of young adults a legal place to race off city streets. The most important reason is economic development. SRP is one of only a handful of full racing facilities in the Northwest and would attract visitors and dollars for years to come.

The Stateline Raceway in Idaho is already threatened by sprawling residential development and if it closes, and we lose SRP, there will be no auto racing here. Please don’t trade in SRP for acres of tract homes and strip malls and more dubious urban growth boundary expansion. Don’t let this opportunity slip away on your watch. //

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JON SNYDER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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