Wiildrose Goes for a Bike Ride ~Bill Chipman Trail Traditional Cache

The Bill Chipman Palouse Trail stretches 7.1 miles through the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse region, from Pullman, WA to Moscow, ID. It runs along a piece of corridor from the former Union Pacific Railroad (constructed by the Columbia & Palouse Railroad in 1885), which transported passengers from Colfax to Moscow. The last passenger train ran in 1957. You can actually ride over 25 miles of trails if you want, via the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail, Paradise Path, Latah Trail & Bear Creek Canyon paths.

The Pullman trailhead is located at Bishop Boulevard Birdhouse Depot. It has a cirque of benches and an interpretive station. Parking in Pullman is available at the Quality Inn lot or on Derby St. near Koppel Farm.

From Pullman, the trail's seven-mile route gently climbs eastward along Paradise Creek, crossing it twelve times on original railroad bridges. Trail users will find 3 emergency phones, 2 restrooms accessible for people with disabilities, benches, bike racks, and multiple interpretive signs describing the history, agriculture, and ecology of the region. It is south of and parallel to State Route 270, the Moscow-Pullman Highway, which becomes State Highway 8 in Idaho. The BCPT is not only a recreational facility, but also a commuter route that connects the land-grant campuses of the University of Idaho and Washington State University.

As you travel farther along the gentle uphill grade, you'll come to the next point of interest, a giant grain elevator. A greenway buffers you from the four-lane highway to Moscow, as do the lovely waysides with interpretive signs and benches along the corridor. Grab some water at Neil Wayside near Pullman. This dry, unsheltered path is often windy heading eastward.

The trail culminates at Farm Road (Perimeter Drive) in Moscow. Continue east on the 2.2-mile Paradise Path through the north and east edges of the University of Idaho campus and up Paradise Creek to the Moscow city limits. Here, it connects seamlessly with the paved, 12-mile Latah Trail to Troy, Idaho. I actually placed this cache at the end of the Bill Chipman trail, and at the beginning of the Paradise Path.

NOTE: In Moscow, park in the Palouse Mall parking lot. Cross back over SR 8 to get to the trailhead. All property to the south of SR 8 is part of the University of Idaho and not available for public parking. Be careful of traffic when crossing the highway, and also beware of cars crossing the trail at road crossings along all the trails.