Hikes in Washington: Pine Ridge Trail (Kamiak Butte)

Basic Information

• Name: Pine Ridge Trail
• Where: Kamiak Butte County Park
• Distance: 2.6 miles
• Elevation Gain: 751 feet
• Max Elevation: 3,641 feet
• Time: 1-2 hours
• Difficulty: Easy
• More Information: Day Hike! Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and Sandpoint

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

To reach Kamiak Butte County Park take Highway 195 south from Spokane and at Rosalia exit off the highway and follow Road 271 to Oakesdale.  At Oakesdale take Road 27 south to the village of Palouse.    Continue on Road 27 through Palouse and a short distance south of the town make a right on Clear Creek Road that leads to Kamiak Butte County Park.

The entrance to the park is well marked with this big sign:

Parking

At the county park there is a huge parking lot and on a summer weekend we found plenty of parking available here:

At the trailhead there is also a large park, picnic area, and restroom facilities available as well:

Narrative

Over the 4th of July holiday, my kids and I made a drive through the heart of the Palouse region of southeastern Washington to explore Kamiak Butte County Park.  The Palouse region is composed of small, rolling hills that are believed to have received their name from French fur trappers.

These early trappers used the French word “pelouse” which means “land with short and thick grass” to describe the area. The Palouse hills were formed between 15,000 to 17000 years ago from sediment left over from the Great Ice Age Floods.  This leftover sediment formed the Palouse much like wind blown sand creates sand dunes.  Unlike sand dunes, the fertile sediment of the Palouse region makes it great for agriculture.  Small farming communities can be found all around the Palouse region growing primarily wheat.  One of the best locations to view the Palouse region from is the summit of Kamiak Butte.

Kamiak Butte is not like the other hills in the region because the rock that was pushed up through the surface was not completely covered by lava from an eruption that occurred millions of years ago.  All across Eastern Washington these ancient lava flows covered the ground and hardened into basalt rock:

At the parking lot, the trailhead to hike up Kamiak Butte on the Pine Ridge Trail is very easy to spot:

The trail is a loop hike and we began the hike by taking a left and immediately began ascending through a thick forest:

The trail does a number of switchbacks up the mountain and along the way we were able to look at the rock and see that it is not basalt, but instead quartzite:

Since this section of the hike has a lot of elevation gain, there are some benches installed for people to take a break at:

When my kids were taking a break, I enjoyed looking around at how thick and large these trees were in the middle of the nearly treeless Palouse region:

First of all I was amazed the park survived being logged, but also it may me wonder how much more forested was the Palouse region before the arrival of settlers who transformed most of it into agricultural fields?   At the top of the final switchback we reached the summit ridgeline and were immediately awarded with views of the Palouse to the south:

In the distance below us we could see Pullman, Washington, which is home to Washington State University:

Here is a closer look at Pullman:

We were even able to see Moscow, Idaho which is home to the University of Idaho.  Their large indoor stadium was easily visible in the distance from Kamiak Butte:

After taking a break and taking the in views we then continued our ascent up Kamiak Butte by following the ridgeline trail:

On the ridgeline we were able to spot a variety of different wildflowers. Here are some white wildflowers:

Here are purple wildflowers:

Finally here are yellow wildflowers:

If anyone knows the name of these wildflowers please let me know in the comments!  The trail next reached a crossroad where a spur trail led to the summit and another trail led back down to the parking lot:

We followed the spur trail for a short distance through a thick forest:

On the summit there is a picnic table to take a break at:

The views from the summit were very similar to the ones we had seen previously, so while my kids took a break, I took out my DJI Mavic 2 Zoom – Drone to get some aerial photos.  Here is a photo of the ridgeline trail that leads to the summit.  Notice how thinly forested the southern slopes of Kamiak Butte are:

The southern slopes of Kamiak Butte contrasts sharply with its thickly forested northern slopes:

Below is another view of the trail along the ridgeline looking towards the east.  The mountains and hills in the background are all in nearby Idaho:

The below picture shows a view of the ridgeline looking towards the west.  In the background the Palouse hills can be seen covering the entire horizon:

Even from high up in the air, the rolling hills of the Palouse seems almost endless:

However, another prominent butte does stick out of the rolling hills, Steptoe Butte.  Just like Kamiak Butte, this rock formation was large enough to not be completely covered by lava.  Today it is Steptoe Butte State Park, which even has a road built to its summit that allows people in cars to take in the expansive views of the Palouse region:

We spent about an hour eating snacks and taking in the views at the summit of Kamiak Butte before heading back down.  There is actually an option to take a primitive trail down the mountain from the summit that we decided to pass on.  It appeared overgrown and my kids had shorts on and did not want to get scratched up:

So we took the loop trail back down the mountain to the parking lot.  Since the trail was all down hill it was a quick descent:

Conclusion

Kamiak Butte is a really nice park to visit in the Pullman area.  The beautiful forest provides a nice respite from the summer time heat and has a great playground and picnic tables for families to use.  Additionally the Pine Ridge Trail is a nice short hike that provides some of the best views of the region.  Definitely worth checking out if visiting the Pullman area.