The Bill Chipman Palouse Trail is a paved rail trail in the northwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, from Pullman,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, eastward to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. Completed in 1998, it follows the former

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

right-of-way and connects the rural university towns on the

Palouse The Palouse ( ) is a distinct geographic region of the northwestern United States, encompassing parts of north central Idaho, southeastern Washington, and, by some definitions, parts of northeast Oregon. It is a major agricultural area, prima ...

across the state border.

Route

From Pullman, the trail's route gently climbs eastward along Paradise Creek, crossing it twelve times on original railroad bridges. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

at its highest point, the eastern terminus at the Perimeter Road trailhead in Idaho, is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

and the vertical drop westward to Pullman is just under . The trail has two rest areas, three emergency phones, and multiple interpretive areas. It is south of and parallel to State Route 270, the Moscow-Pullman Highway, which becomes State Highway 8 in Idaho. The BCPT is not only a recreational facility, but also a commuter route that connects the

land-grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

campuses of the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho. It is the state's land-grant and primary research university,, and the lead university in the Idaho Space Grant Consortium. The Universit ...

and

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

Trail connections

The Bill Chipman Palouse Trail ends into Idaho at the UI's Perimeter Road, but the trail continues eastward. It connects with the Paradise Path, which spans through the north and east edges of the UI campus and to the east edge of the Moscow city limits, where it seamlessly connects with the Latah Trail at Carmichael Road. The Latah Trail travels east to the small city of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

at . Completed in October 2008, the trail was paved in stages over a six-year period. It parallels Highway 8, the Troy Highway, for most of its length, separating to the north a few miles outside of Troy. All three trails follow former rail corridors and result in a total length of from Pullman to Troy.

History

After 12 years of community efforts and donations, along with agency cooperation, the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail was dedicated on April 4, 1998. It is part of the federal

Rails to Trails A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

program, which preserves railroad corridors for non-motorized transportation and possible future transportation use. It is open dawn to dusk year round – day use only – and to all ages and abilities. The trail is maintained and managed by a coalition of park and trail representatives from Whitman County, the City of Pullman, the City of Moscow, the University of Idaho, and Washington State University. With non-motorized traffic transferred to the BCPT, the highway was later improved and widened to five lanes (two lanes in each direction with a center dividing lane), completed in spring 2008. The extended time frame for completion was because the railroad was not yet abandoned. Two rail lines ran between Moscow and Pullman and the issue was which to consolidate upon. The former U.P. line, operated by the Palouse River Railroad, ran along Paradise Creek, south of and parallel to Highway 270. Further south, the

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

line arcs southwest from the state line to follow Sunshine Creek and then the old highway to Pullman Junction. When it was agreed that the BNSF route would remain, the old U.P. route was removed, beginning in October 1996. The U.P. line between the cities was first constructed in 1885 as the Columbia and Palouse Railroad, which later became part of the

Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company The Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company (OR&N) was a railroad that operated a rail network of running east from Portland, Oregon, United States, to northeastern Oregon, northeastern Washington, and northern Idaho. It operated from 1896 as a ...

References

External links

Trail Link.com
- Bill Chipman Palouse Trail
Trails.com
- Bill Chipman Palouse Trail {{coord, 46.7324, N, 117.0255, W, display=t, type:landmark Rail trails in Washington (state) Rail trails in Idaho Protected areas of Whitman County, Washington Protected areas of Latah County, Idaho Transportation in Whitman County, Washington Tourist attractions in Latah County, Idaho Tourist attractions in Whitman County, Washington Moscow, Idaho Pullman, Washington 1998 establishments in Idaho 1998 establishments in Washington (state)