Northwest Hiking

A great hike and walk, the trail between Rooks Park in Walla Walla, WA and Bennington Lake offers a couple miles of wonderful views and scenery.  Starting out at Rooks Park, the trail rises gently initially, falls about 100 feet, and then rises and falls one more time before finally reaching Bennington Lake.

Although there are several different options, if snow is present, you’ll want to take the main gravel road.  It is well maintained and offers you a nice trail to walk on, even if there is a lot of snow on the ground.

In general, plan on dressing warm, but also look forward to great views of the lake if it does indeed snow (when you’re lucky enough).  To get there, go east on Isaacs, then turn right on Rooks Park Rd.  The trail is located over the bridge and to the left, where you can follow the gravel/dirt road all the way to Bennington Lake.  Happy trails!

A great walk, Pikes Peak Road offers you a beautiful view of the Walla Walla area and the surrounding hills.  Closed in the winter to vehicle traffic from December to spring, Pikes Peak Road offers you a great way to get out and get some exercise after it has been snowing and rainy.

The road is primarily gravel, climbing uphill to a communication site.  The communication site is a couple miles away, so unless you are booking it, you won’t be able to reach the top and still enjoy the scenery around you in the snow.  The views all the way up the road are worth it, though, and you’ll find snow covered fields bordering snow covered mountain foothills.  It is definitely a great place to go.

To get there, follow Poplar Road in Walla Walla to Howard Street, and go south.  Continue until you reach Cottonwood Rd (Howard turns into Cottonwood).  At the four way, turn left to continue on Cottonwood.  Then from there, continue for a couple of miles until it turns into a gravel road.  At some point, you’ll have to park and continue on foot.  After a couple turns on Cottonwood, you reach a T at a gravel road intersection, turn right and that’s Pikes Peak Road!

A little earlier than what was posted as the effective date for changes on NWhiking, I decided to post one hike which I have been on, but is supposed to be even more spectacular in winter.  It’s the Carbon River road area, and it’s just passed the Mowich Lake turnoff by a couple miles.  The road is easy to access, and lets you hike the road and river area as long as you can get to it.

Since the area sees snow often, the best time to go is after a couple snowfalls, when you can walk along with river and not be stuck on gravel roads (although that’s okay, too).  Don’t expect to get too far, but do expect some amazing views.  I know that the area is beautiful in summer, and I am looking forward to gearing up this winter and possibly trying to reach it during my Christmas break.

To get there from Tacoma, go south on I-5 to hwy 512.  Take hwy 512/167 to hwy 410 towards Bonney Lake.  Turn right on hwy 165, and keep going on past Wilkeson and Carbonado until you reach a turn off to the left with a large bridge crossing the Carbon River.

Happy hiking!