While it was lightly raining when we arrived at the trailhead, the sun came out for most of the day and it was nice and warm.
With a newly developed trailhead just off highway 14 in Lyle, Washington, this hike is on old rail corridor. The first 1.5 miles are next to the highway without open views of the river, so I would recommend driving another 1.5 miles to park on either side of the pedestrian bridge. We hiked 4 miles out and back, with another 1.2 miles of backtracking and exploring to find out if another trail existed lower along the river in the first section. There is a side trail, but it leads to small fishing paths before ending a short distance later. There was a mile marker at every mile along the trail, and it's very easy to follow without a map.
At the converted railroad bridge over the river, there are great views looking far below to the Klickitat River Gorge, with wooden platforms that Native Americans use for dip netting the salmon that run this river. After the bridge, the trail is along the fast moving river most of the way. The drier and scrubby looking landscape here is quite different from the western side of Washington where I usually hike, with large rounded hills, pines and oak trees, making it look much like the old wild west familiar in western cowboy movies.
