Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail

Campsite information

There are five primitive campgrounds along the trail, each with three to four campsites, one picnic table, and a vault toilet. Campsites are walk in or bike in only. They are located at milepost 2109.5 at Roaring Creek, milepost 2113.2 at Cold Creek, milepost 2123.2 at Carter Creek, and milepost 2127.1 at Alice Creek, and at Ponderosa Pines in the Yakima Canyon. 

Check-in time is 2:30 p.m.
Check-out time is 1 p.m.

Camping is also available near the trail at U.S. Forest Service campgrounds at Tinkham, Denny Creek, Lake Kachess, and Crystal Springs. There is state park camping at Lake Easton and Wanapum Recreation Area.

Reservations & fees

Campsite reservations for Lake Easton State Park and Wanapum Recreation Area can be made online or by calling (888) CAMPOUT or (888) 226-7688. For fee information, check out our camping rates page.

The Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail traces the historic route of the Washington State section of the Milwaukee Road, a railroad that once stretched over 2,300 miles from Chicago to Tacoma.

The Milwaukee Road was the last of three transcontinental railroads built through Washington. It followed the Northern Pacific, which famously reached Tacoma in 1883, and the Great Northern, which reached Everett ten years later.

The Milwaukee Road route was developed by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company (the company’s name changed several times throughout its history). In 1905, the company made the decision to expand its line from Mobridge, South Dakota to Puget Sound in Washington. Unlike earlier transcontinental railroads, the Milwaukee Road was built on independently purchased land without the benefit of federal land grants. Its late start and strong competition encouraged the railroad to be resourceful and efficient. Construction of the Milwaukee Road started in 1906, and freight service began just three years later in 1909, an incredible pace. Passenger service followed in 1911.

The legacy of the Milwaukee Road is primarily technological. The route’s rapid construction was enabled by a highly mechanized approach using steam shovels and narrow-gauge construction railroads, which required fewer laborers than earlier railroads.  In 1911 railroad leaders began an ambitious first-of-its-kind project to convert long sections of the route to fully electrified lines. This advance allowed for carrying heavier loads with fewer locomotives and staff and required less maintenance than steam locomotives. Soon after electrifying a 440-mile stretch of track in Montana and Idaho, electrification was completed on the Milwaukee Road’s Coast Division, the 209-mile section between Othello, Washington and Tacoma, Washington. The combined distance made the Milwaukee Road the world’s longest electrified line. The Milwaukee Road also pioneered the use of regenerative braking, which allowed locomotives to generate additional electrical power while braking.

Despite its advanced technology, the Milwaukee Road was financially troubled for most of its history. The downside to electrification was the extremely high cost to develop the lines. Projected increases in freight traffic never fully materialized, and the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914 offered companies another way to ship goods between the east and west coasts. Additional loss of freight and passenger traffic resulted from the growing use of automobiles.

The company suffered its first bankruptcy in 1925 and entered receivership (a form of bankruptcy) again during the Great Depression and lasting until after World War II. In 1972, after decades of mounting losses and deferred maintenance, the Milwaukee Road made a last-ditch effort to stay operable by abandoning their electrified lines and switching to diesel. The move was unsuccessful, and bankruptcy proceedings began in 1977. In 1980 the railroad closed permanently. Efforts to convert the route into a cross-state trail began the following year.