[Schroder]

On our way back from Idaho, we weren't anxious to drive into the wall of rain we could see to the west and get home too early so we decided to head through Moses Coulee from the east and find Douglas Canyon. Quark had been there so I knew it couldn't be too bad. I've driven by this coulee many times on the way to Ancient Lakes but the lower end didn't look very appealing with all the powerlines from Rock Island Dam so I've never bothered to go into it. I was pleasantly surprised.

entering Moses Coulee from the east

Steamboat Rock Moses Coulee

wall above Palisades

We found Wagon Road but weren't sure where to stop and park so we parked at the bottom. It turned out we could have driven farther but we would have also missed some of the sights. After the short road walk, we joined the old railroad grade and started following it into the canyon.

top of old RR tunnel

Douglas Creek

Douglas Creek

We had to climb over a section where a tunnel had collapsed and then we followed a steep trail down to it's opposite entrance where we could see the falls.

Douglas Creek Falls

Douglas Creek Falls

Douglas Creek

We explored the canyon bottom around the falls for a while and then proceeded up to the first creek crossing where a trestle had been. We didn't want to get our feet wet so we turned around here.

looking down RR grade

canyon walls

lower creek

To delay our return home a bit more, we drove up the Rock Island Grade and walked out toward Moses Stool before getting back in the car and heading home via Waterville and Hiway 2.

sagebrush in bloom

trail to Moses Stool

trail to Moses Stool

looking west

Here's the map for the start of the RR grade. You turn off Palisades Road at Wagon Road and then left onto Slack Canyon Road SW. View larger size in new window

[Scrooge]

Dang, Randy, that's pretty neat. All the times I've driven Moses Coulee,* I've never found anywhere you could 'explore'. I thought it was all private, fenced property. Could you actually have driven that road (Wagon Road?) that leads up into Douglas Canyon? It looks like just following the old railroad grade would be fun. ........ It's very convenient to Wenatchee. Apologies to Quark. It sounds like I've missed one of your TR's. *I really thought I'd been on every drivable road in the coulee, in its several different accessible sections ..... on purpose.

[JimK]

Thanks for the report Randy. Some nice color back in there. Looks like another Quarkian spot neglected by the masses.

[Schroder]

I've shown a map on where you access the start of the rail trail. Don't park on the side of the road at the bottom of the hill - it's all private property. Quark's report from 2009 is here and Opus' from 2007 is here. The Douglas PUD website has an essay on the history of the coulee

[dropkick]

I did that once in the winter when it was all snowy. Beautiful country. I like the way it looks in the fall too! I didn't drive up the hill in the snow, but plenty of 4x's did.

[Quark]

Yah, great place. Talked to a guy a few years who said there was rumblings about making the canyon motorless. Great pics, Randy. Looking forward to hearing about your Idaho trip, too! I espied Moses Stool on the map several years ago, but haven't made it there yet; you could take the name a couple of different ways....I think Bloated Chipmunk did a report on that as well.