Klickitat Rail Trail is a 7.2 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Centerville, Washington that features a waterfall and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
Flat hike through a small canyon to bedrock pools along an old railroad track. This is a very flat hike that follows an old railway. The bridges along the trail have all been recently renovated with wooden planks (you can still spot some of the rail ties and metal along the trail). The first section goes through cow pastures with several gates you need to pass though. Make sure you close them as you walk through. As you come across the rocks next to the creek be on the lookout for sunning groundhogs and hawks flying overhead. As you go deeper into Swale Canyon you will eventually come across the bedrock pools. For those with a second car, or on mountain bike you can continue down the trail 8 miles further to the town of Wahkiacus.
Kickitat Trail Conservancy http://www.klickitat-trail.org/
From the Portland area, take I-84 east to the third Hood River Exit (exit 64), cross the Hood River Bridge to Washington, and turn right (east) on Hwy. 14. Go about 13 miles to the Klickitat River Bridge (the entrance to Lyle). From Lyle, take the paved Lyle-Centerville Hwy., which starts in the center of Lyle between the gas station and the Cafe. Head north and east for approximately 15 miles. Turn left on Harms Rd. Drive north one-half mile and park just north of the bridge. There is a portable toilet at this location. Bring along binoculars for bird/groundhog watching. Bring sunscreen as much of the trail is uncovered.
January 17, 2021More of a walk, than a hike, but was very nice. Got there early and saw 2 River Otters right off the bat. Trail, which is an old railroad grade goes for quite a ways. You could keep going past the 7.2 listed here. Was peaceful as others mentioned. Only saw a few people on the way out. Trail was in good shape. Some wet spots and some heavily graveled areas. No shade would make it a warm hike in the prime summer months. Wildlife spotted: •2 Otters in the river •2 Deer high up in the hills •1 Hawk on a wire fence •Misc. small birds
January 9, 2021This trail was very peaceful! We passed a few people, but not many. We loved that the trail followed Swale Creek the entire time. The constant running water was very soothing & made for a very tranquil walk. We found some nice, flat rocks at the bedrock pools to eat lunch at. We would walk this trail again, on cool days only, due to the extremely limited shade.
December 13, 2020Nice trail to get some solitude. What little of the river there is right now is partially frozen. Lots of railroad artifacts!
November 24, 2020November 9, 2020Nice easy rail trail hike. Beautiful scenery throughout the path. Most of the creek was dry at this time of year. There were lots of remnants of the old railway. The restored bridges were wonderful.
March 1, 2020Really beautiful area, sort of in the center of cattle grazing lands. I would love to come back with my bike. PET OWNERS BEWARE!! Lots of ticks. LOTS. I pulled several off of my own clothing, but must have pulled 50+ ticks off of each of my two dogs. Extremely windy, bring warm layers even though there is no shade, sunglasses are a must. I even had goggles on my dogs with how windy and dusty it was. Highly recommend your pet being on a current flea/tick preventative for this hike. Check yourselves for ticks before getting back in your vehicle. If you like canyons and desert like scenery, this trail is for you.
February 16, 2020Really pretty scenery but extremely windy when we went. One of the gates gave my friend and I a bunch of tiny metal splinters.
February 9, 2020Hiked here 2/8/2020. Roads were in good condition. Harms road is gravel with some small potholes in the center, but over all good gravel road. Plenty of parking at the trail access here and a clean porta potty. No parking pass needed. We saw no one on the trail till we got back to the car (a couple and their tiny dog was pulling up.). We hiked west on the trail to Swale Canyon, beautiful canyons if starting from this access point. Hiking along Swale Creek is so much fun in the winter. Stacker Butte had a dusting of snow. Very windy in the prarie and a little less windy every where else. Trestle were not slippery at all and on the way back most of them were dry. Some water/mud on trail, but not hard to cross. This trail is not HC accessible. This trail is great for young children Make sure you close the gates after passing. 13.91 miles with 584ft elevation gain.
May 25, 2019Beautiful landscape you'll never experience from a car. Rugged, serene, solitary. Highly recommend.
May 5, 2019Trail was nice and flat though had some bigger gravel that was a little uneven. Beautiful and very quiet. There was only one other 3 person group we passed. We did encounter 1 rattlesnake and had numerous ticks on the dogs. Would definitely do the trail again, just maybe without pups. I would classify this hike as EASY
April 12, 2019I don't know what you're calling waterfalls? Easy, flat trail that goes and goes. A few spots had poison oak just off the trail. My dogs had 9 ticks total (so far) and I just treated them with a repellent. We turned around at a shot-up sign that read, "25." One of my two chihuahua's started lipmping, so he had to be carried. The old railroad bed was a very hard walking surface. We ran into three mountain bikers, no hikers. Lots of creeks feed into the river you follow. Some of the creeks cascade really nicely into the river, but I didn't notice any water falling.
February 3, 2019Felt this was quite good for a flat hike, I give it a minimum of 3 rating. The only minor difficuly was the large gravel which made up the trail. The gentle sounds of Swale Creek accompany you throughout, and the outcroppings and hills make for interesting views. While the trail continues, the distance shown here makes for a pleasant day walk.
September 13, 2018Currently closed due to fire hazards
January 21, 2018
First to ReviewBEWARE TICKS!!! The trail was fairly uneventful, but had a few nice views and waterfalls. I did like the few train bridges we encountered on the trail. I'm sure other stretches of the rail trail are more interesting than this stretch. The reason for my 2 star rating is that in January this spot was absolutly infested with ticks. Our 2 dogs were covered in them after our hike we removed easily 15 off each dog. Thankfully they are on Bravecto so no tick burrowed too deep.
January 17, 2021January 17, 2021December 14, 2020November 28, 2020May 15, 2020March 8, 2020February 14, 2020October 13, 2019April 17, 2019March 30, 2019January 13, 2018
