Trail Improvements Underway

Trail projects continue into winter at several Spokane County Parks. The work may not be fully polished until next spring, but these in-progress trails may be at least partially ready for winter visitors.

New Trail at Mica Peak

Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance – Eastern Washington Chapter has been taking the lead on the new Green Diamond Trail as a lower-elevation loop route on Mica Peak.

Snowshoe Route Markers at Hauser Conservation Area

Washington Trails Association has been working on improvements to the Hauser Conservation Area trails and will be placing snowshoe route markers on several Conservation Area trails to help with navigation once the trails are snow-covered.

Some general trail maintenance will also be completed throughout the system over the winter months.

Volunteer

Be sure to check the Out There Stewardship and Trail Maintenance calendar to learn about upcoming project dates and get involved with volunteer opportunities: Outthereoutdoors.com/volunteer-scheduling.

Conservation Futures Acquisitions

Spokane County Parks’ 2021 Prioritized Conservation Futures Acquisition List has been unanimously approved by the County Commissioners. The nominated Trolley Trail is expected to be acquired via an administrative acquisition.

Other top-ranked Conservation Futures nominations include a 118-acre addition to Palisades Park, a 54-acre addition to Saltese Uplands, and a 188-acre addition to Antoine Peak.

It will take some time for these acquisitions to be finalized, but updates will be posted at Spokane County’s Conservation Futures website.

Self-Guided Eagle Tours & Count This Year

The Bureau of Land Management is unable to host eagle viewing hikes near Coeur d’Alene this winter season due to ongoing Covid-19 concerns.

Instead, BLM encourages the public to take self-guided hikes and participate in the annual eagle count via the free iNaturalist app under the North Idaho Eagle Watch 2021-2022 project (open through the end of January). Mineral Ridge is a popular trail to try for prime eagle viewing.

Regional Outdoor Events Return

Several events that were cancelled in 2021 are scheduled to return in 2022. Mark the calendar for these fun regional outdoor opportunities, although stay tuned for potential cancelations due to the Omicron variant.

January 2022

• Republic Winterfest (Jan. 15). Not your typical fun run: three-person teams participate in outhouse races down Main Street in this event.
• Winterfest at Mount Spokane (Jan. 16), hosted by Spokane Nordic Ski Association with ski events for both adults and kids.
• Ferry County Rail Trail Ski Day (Jan. 22), a community ski event as snow conditions allow.
• Schweitzer’s Winter Trails Day (January 29), trail fees waived for both Nordic skiing and snowshoeing on 32K of trails at Schweitzer in Sandpoint, Idaho.

February 2022

• Loup Loup Randonee Race (Feb. 5), part of the Snowgoat SkiMo series. The competitive event will have one and four hour divisions.
• Langlauf Nordic ski race at Mount Spokane State Park (February 6).
• Souper Bowl for Women (Feb. 13) at Mount Spokane State Park. A fundraiser for the Women’s and Children’s Free Kitchen with both ski and snowshoe events.
• Spokane Great Outdoors & Bike Expo (Feb. 19-20), including local bike and gear shops, travel destinations, and more at the Spokane Convention Center.

Free Park Days

Washington State Parks: Discover Pass fee-free days this winter are January 1 and January 17, and the more upcoming free days are in March. Note that Mount Spokane State Park is a SnoPark during the winter months, so fee-free days do not apply.

Idaho’s Park N’ Ski: January 8 free day–no parking permits required. Priest Lake Nordic Club will be sponsoring a free ski and snowshoe event at Priest Lake State Park that day.

Methow Valley’s Backyard Ski Day: On January 21, fees are waived for the entire Methow trail system, including Nordic ski trails, snowshoe trails, fat bike trails, and free dog passes for the dog-friendly trails. Some local business will have free ski and snowshoe rentals on a first-come, first-served basis (make reservations ahead of time).

Schweitzer’s Winter Trails Day: On January 29, trail fees waived for both Nordic skiing and snowshoeing on 32K of trails.

Published in the January-February 2022 print issue.

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Protecting land for its own sake—for the sake of the animals and plants that rely on it, for the sake of clean water and air, and for public enjoyment now and for future generations—rarely makes sense solely from a financial perspective. Thankfully, there are private land owner conservation champions who see former working forests and ranchlands as so much more than short-term dollar signs.

James T. Slavin Conservation Area, Spokane County, WA

“It went from a love/hate relationship, to more love than hate, and then once the county took over, now I can just love it,” says Jim Slavin, Jr., as he sidesteps a pile of skunk scat in the trail and points out memorable landmarks on the 628-acre conservation area that bears his family’s name.

Jim’s father, James T. Slavin, Sr., was the son of a hops farmer in the Yakima Valley who eagerly homesteaded his first 160 acres of farmland south of Spokane in 1965. Over the subsequent decades, he added to his spread when land became available, putting in a canal to channel water to hayfields and provide grazing land for cattle.

“This was his sanctuary,” Jim Jr. says of his father, who preferred to spend the day on this land with “a dog, a gallon of water, and a bag of apples,” over time at a country club or other public setting.

The Slavins’ four children and Joanne, the matriarch of the family, got used to driving old cars with doors prone to falling off since investing in their beautiful agricultural land was Jim Sr.’s top priority.

As the kids grew up, Jim Jr. was the only member of the family to live on the property, and he has many fond memories of coming home to his family’s own 600+ acre slice of heaven during his college and early career days.

“When he was in his 70s,” Jim Jr. says about his father, “it just became a lot to manage.”

In 1998, the land went up for sale and to be sure it didn’t turn into a subdivision or mobile home park, the family worked with Spokane County to protect it as a conservation area in perpetuity.

When the county purchased the land, they returned the water to its natural state, allowing a shallow, meandering wetland to host hundreds of waterfowl, migratory birds, eagles, coyotes, deer, and the occasional elk. In addition to working to put this land into conservation status, the Slavins contributed $100,000 in an endowment to help care for and maintain the area for years to come.

A striking part of the James T. Slavin Conservation Area story is how relationships with land change over the years. “I remember bucking hay bales and thinning trees,” Jim Jr. shares. “And that was hard work.”

Now, he leads tours of young people, community organizations, and friends who want to learn about the flora and fauna, the history of the land, or just enjoy watching flocks of geese and pelicans settle in during a Spokane summer sunset.

“This place is special, and he wanted to see it protected so the community could use it,” Jim says of his father, a stalwart farmer and lover of the land to his last breath.

Slavin Conservation Area is open year-round, with interesting seasonal changes: winter (top left); spring (top right) // Photos: Amy McCaffree; summer (bottom) // Photo: Lisa Laughlin.

Cabinet View Nature Area, Sanders County, MT

“I want to save little places where nature can prevail over human destruction,” says Judy Hutchins, daughter of environmental advocate Ruth Powell Hutchins. Much of her life has been dedicated to the business of real estate, just not for the usual reasons people get into real estate.

A wildlife biologist by training, after stints in New York City and Ann Arbor, Michigan, Judy Hutchins landed in Heron, Mont., and never looked back. “It felt like coming home,” she says of her first visit to Montana from her childhood home in western Colorado.

Western Montana beavers and other wildlife have Hutchins to thank for the 76-acre Cabinet View Nature Area, which is home to a thriving spring-fed beaver complex. Throughout her life, Hutchins has purchased or otherwise worked with land in Colorado and Montana in order to put lands in conservation easements, which are legal agreements that protect private land from future development.

Hutchins’ strategy of buying land, putting those acres into conservation easements, and then reselling the real estate, has protected 10 pieces of land including wildlife corridors, wetlands, and habitat, including the Cabinet View property.

While a board member of the Kaniksu Land Trust (KLT), Hutchins helped KLT transition to a community land trust model, and when she saw the need for public places in which to educate local residents about land and water, she knew she’d found the perfect buyer for this pristine wetland.

Thanks to funding through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and tireless work by KLT, the land was purchased in June of 2019 and opened to the public. Mindful of disturbing the animals living on the land, KLT put in a trail system and signage to encourage responsible use and enjoyment.

“Although somewhat off the beaten track,” says KLT’s conservation director Regan Plumb, “the Cabinet View Nature Area has served local junior high and high school students as an outdoor classroom for many years. The land also offers a location for quiet walks and wildlife viewing for area residents and provides high-quality habitat for diverse wildlife species.”

From extensive water-storing wetlands to healthy timber stands, wildlife habitat, and scenic trails, this property provides myriad benefits to the two-legged and four-legged (and feathered) residents of our community, says Plumb. “And it would never have been protected without the generosity and foresight of the previous landowner, who recognized many years ago that there was something very special here.”

As the natural world around us changes rapidly, “It’s comforting,” says Hutchins, “to look up at the mountains and realize they’re unchanged. Things will change, but rocks, rivers, mountains will survive.”

Hutchins’ investment in those special places, those pockets of nature, give us hope and a fighting chance for the beautiful lands and waters we all love.

Phillips Creek, Dishman Hills Conservation Area, Spokane County, WA

Hiking down a path littered with bones, where the wind howls at night, even when everything else is still, is a lure so powerful that teenagers can’t resist. This proved true for Andrew Phillips as he and childhood friends tramped around the property his grandfather homesteaded in 1904. Nights spent sleeping under the stars—or, more accurately, lying awake wondering what massive night monster was about to have dinner at his expense—helped Andrew get to know and fall in love with the Phillips Creek land in Spokane Valley.

Phillips Creek, adjacent to the Glenrose Unit of the Dishman Hills Conservation Area, with its basalt outcroppings, grassy hillsides, and overgrown orchards speaks to the agricultural history of the area, but it also tells a story of Welsh immigrants who moved to Spokane Valley to build a future for their family—a future founded on farming and ranching.

“My sons made a camping area out there,” Andrew says as he reminisces about memories made on the land throughout his youth and then as he raised his own family. Although Henry Lloyd Phillips, the second-generation owner of the Phillips Creek property, had planned to sell the land for development, he was unable to because of zoning regulations.

When Phillips passed away and the family was working to settle his estate, they decided its value as green, open space was higher than yet another housing development.

For years, neighbors had used the Phillips Creek area as if it was public and the family’s concerns over liability grew. They wanted friends and neighbors to enjoy the beautiful place as they had, but didn’t have the capacity or desire to maintain it for public use. And so they decided to work with the Dishman Hills Conservancy and Spokane County to put the 179-acre piece of land into public ownership and management in perpetuity in 2018.

“I enjoyed growing up there,” Andrew says, “and I wanted to keep it natural—to give others the chance to experience it as well.”

Like Jim Slavin, Jr., Andrew says his love/hate relationship with the family farm—loving the place but not having the time for the endless hard work—has turned only to love since he can now hike the trails, listen to the birds, and look out across the valley, knowing the land is cared for and protected forever for the good of the community.

If you or someone you know is interested in creating a lasting conservation legacy for an important piece of private land wildlife habitat here in the Inland Northwest, contact one of our region’s hard-working land trust organizations.

Originally published as “From Private To Public: Conservation Champions Protect Open Spaces From Development” in the September-October 2021 issue.

Carol Corbin lives, plays, and writes in the Inland Northwest. She also works for Inland Northwest Land Conservancy, one of many non-profit organizations working to protect natural spaces throughout the region for wildlife, clean air and water, and climate resilience.

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The Spokane County Conservation Futures program includes more than 40 protected properties for a total of 9,145 acres throughout the county that serve as open space, wildlife habitat, and places for trail user to hike, bike, run, and enjoy.

The 2021 Conservation Futures nominations round closed on July 31 for eight prospective proprieties proposed as additions and now there’s a virtual public meeting for comments on the nominations that you can participate in. Scheduled for September 9 starting at 5-7:30 p.m. via a Zoom webinar (meeting link), this meeting will also be a great chance to learn more about the Conservation Futures program.

Detailed instructions for how the public comment section of the public meeting will work will be provided at the meeting. Each nomination will have a 10-minute comment period maximum with two minutes maximum allocated per commenter. 

Zoom Webinar Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84923466415 | Phone: 1-877-853-5257 | Meeting ID: 849 2346 6415.

Fall is one of the best seasons of the year to explore the mostly low-elevation Conservation Futures properties around Spokane. There is likely one with trails near where you live that makes for an easy after-work or weekend hiking or mountain bike outing.

Visit the Conservation Futures homepage for information about each area, including trail info and directions.

For more stories about Spokane County Conservation Futures, visit the OTO archives.

[Feature photo by Todd Dunfield. // Mica Peak Conservation Area]

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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.  

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The Park Advisory Committee (PAC) is sending to the County Commissioners the list of 36 properties nominated for this round of funding, probably the first 5 will be in the ‘sooner rather than later’ category for the County to begin working on acquiring.

#1 Knights Lake 590 Ac
#2 Dishman Hills 160Ac
#3 Antoine Peak 240 Ac
#4 Mica Peak 920 Ac
#5 Saltese 555 Ac
#6 Williams Lake 15 Ac
#7 Peone Prairie 20 Ac
#8 Indian Bluff 204 Ac
#9 Beacon Hill 30 Ac
#10 Beacon Hill 30 Ac

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