| Where: Method#1: From
downtown take second street west until approaching the Brown's Addition. When you pass the
7-11 convenience store look for the road that goes down, (the underpass). Take this road
(Inland Empire Way) through the small housing area and take a right turn on 23rd Avenue
and stay on 23rd until you arrive at a T at highway 195 to Pullman. Do not head towards
Pullman, but carefully cross the highway over to Thorpe road and follow it through two old
tunnels all the way up to Assembly (roughly 2 miles). Turn left on Assembly and follow it
for about 2 miles to a dead end sign and then take the next right turn into Maxs Lane and
follow it to the turn around and park here. I don't know how long before they build here,
but if you go there now you will find other ways to park and access these trails later if
need be. Ride West over rough forest or follow a crude 2 rut road about a block or two to
a sewage disposal pond with a high cyclone fence around it. Go around the fence and lagoon
in a counter-clockwise fashion until you find a small two rut road heading south, not west
toward the houses. Go about one mile until you see the railroad tracks below you. Do not
go down to the tracks although there is a trail that might be of interest there also. Stay
at the top of the ridge overlooking the railroad tracks, and head east and north along the
ridge in view of the same tracks. In this way you could always retrace your tracks easily
back to your car.
Method#2: Go West on I-90 and take the exit to 195 South
to Pullman. Look for the Cheney-Spokane Road on your right. Take the turn for 4.5 miles
until you cross over a bridge over railroad tracks. Park just across from the gravel pit.
N 47º 33' 977" W 117º 29' 744" Do not use
the gravel pit property as your entrance however as this is private property.
Find another entrance near without using this property.
There are a lot of trails that you could use to make loop trips, here is another. Park
off Thorpe where it meets 195, there is a side road there with room for a couple vehicles.
Ride your bikes the 5miles following the directions above on pavement because it makes the
end of the ride nice and easy. Of course with coordination between 2 cars and you could
make it even easier. After you are riding above the tracks and roller coasting up and down
just keep on until you are heading north again back to your car. If you get tired before
the 15 mile end of this one, just go down the hill to the railroad tracks and ride the
track maintenance road back to where it ends and then take either the right or left and it
will get you back to your car.
There are two very wild versions of the above that I will ride when I can so I can give
good directions, because you could easily get lost in the low valleys and high mountains
here. Nary will you see any sign of others or civilization here. This area deserves
healthy respect for its vastness. I wonder who owns it and why I've never heard of it.
Here is another site on this great rollercoaster
ride. It gives more detail on the Method#2 from above. Good pictures also.
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