Description
The John Wayne Pioneer Trail is a 285 mile rail trail spanning the state of Washington, from the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains to the Idaho border. Designated a National Recreational Trail, it is enjoyed by hikers, horse riders, bikers, Boy Scouts, rail historians, scientists, and trail enthusiasts of all sorts. The trail highlights Washington's diverse and scenic landscape, traveling through evergreen forests and dark tunnels, over high trestles and spectacular rivers, and across open farmland and high desert.
Ellen Lavoie posted the route and some detail (see also her FKT page):
I completed the entire Iron Horse/John Wayne Trail (also known in sections as the Milwaukee Road) as a run. The trail utilized the old Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railroad bed (also known as just the Milwaukee Road) that was designated as a recreational trail in 1985. Due to some local landowner disputes and active rail areas, parts of the official trail also utilizes local dirt and paved roads that allow the recreationalist to "pick" their route. I chose roads that kept me away from traffic as much as possible. The total mileage recorded on the tracker came out to 296 miles although the setting was set to take points in such a timely manner that some of the mileage is left out. Actual mileage turns out to be 305 miles as I did it. Parts of the trail are inaccessible but are re-routed by road. Those sections were completed on nearby road re-routes. One exception that takes the original railroad route across the Columbia River is forbidden to travel on the trestle and going around on the I-90 bridge by pedestrians or bicyclist is illegal. In that case, I ran to the very edge of the trail where the trestle is fenced off on either side and to cross the river I was transported by car.
Here is the Garmin tracker info: connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1985036193/share/0?lang=en
This route on the old FKT site
