In 1895, the Nez Perce Indian Reservation was opened to white settlement. Edward Harriman and James Hill were engaged in a "railroad war" for control of routes through this area to reach the Pacific Northwest by the turn of the century. Regardless of their competing interests, the railroad barons cooperated to build the Camas Prairie Railroad. Known as the CSP, it was built to tap the rolling, fertile hills of the Camas Prairie, and the timber of the forested hills and cayonlands of Clearwater River. The Camas Prairie Railroad was notable as the "railroad on stilts," due to the many wooden trestles along the route. There were more than a dozen trestles in one five-mile stretch. The railroad's second subdivision had a sizable steel viaduct, 1,520 feet in length with a maximum height of 280 feet, in addition to the wooden trestles. Bridge 38 spans Lawyer's Canyon between Craigmont and Ferdiand, and is visible from US Route 95, perhaps the most widely known trestle in the area to-date (and not the subject of this virtual).
Construction of this railroad showcases the daunting engineering challenges presented by the state's natural geography. The 287-mile regional system originally consisted of four branches, each branch constructed within a unique set of natural conditions: wild river channels, basalt sided canyons, rolling hills riddled with creek draws, or steep mountainous terrain. The most striking and costly branch to build, known as the Second Subdivision, ran from Spalding along the Clearwater River up to Grangeville. The 66.5-mile route ascended from the Clearwater River, up the steeply winding Lapwai River Canyon at a 3-percent grade, crossed trestle bridges, tunneled through basalt hillsides, reached a peak elevation of 2,900 feet above the river, and traversed the prairie’s relentlessly rolling landscape to its destination. Railroad engineers engaged hundreds of workers, including local farmers and European immigrants, to construct the route’s 7 tunnels and 45 trestles.
While Lapwai Canyon’s wooden bridges are more difficult to access for trestle enthusiasts, travelers along the Old U.S. Route 95 pass directly under a trestle near the town of Ferdinand. Two miles north, the old highway passes underneath a 493 foot timber railroad trestle, 122 feet high. Representative of the 45 wooden trestle bridges along the Second Subdivision Route, Bridge Number 40 was designed to span a particularly steep draw. After years of planning, the highway was re-routed in 1993, now bypassing Ferdinand on its east side and staying east of the railroad and above the canyon. For those that were blessed to drive the old highway prior to that date, the site of this trestle will not be new, and will likely invoke some nostalgic memories. However, many a traveler today has no idea this still exists, hence the virtual to rectify the situation.
TO LOG THIS CACHE: Upload a picture of yourself OR a personal item, taken under the bridge with beam # 20 visible in the background. (As shown in our picture above.)
**Logs without photos will be deleted. Group photos are acceptable as long as the photo poster states who is in the photo (i.e Geocaching names).**
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.