Candy Mountain Trail — Monday, Sep. 18, 2017

In 2016 the Friends of Badger Mountain bought 195 acres of land on Candy Mountain overlooking the Tri Cities area.  Volunteers have since put a nicely graveled 1.7 mile trail up to the summit.  You can read all about it here: http://friendsofbadger.org/making-the-candy-mountain-trail/

The trail is pretty easy, starting out flat until it finally rises up to the summit.  During the flat bit, there's a portion of beautiful basalt boulders that are exposed right along the edge of the ridge.  Keep your eyes peeled for one that's a little different.

There was a fire here recently (Sept. 8) and generally I'm not a fan of hiking through burns, but since this is sage steppe, and I haven't been here yet... I gave it a shot.

The trail itself is nicely graded, I found it pretty easy, but it could probably be considered a moderate hike even if there is nothing strenuous about it.  It does, after all, go up.  The trail is open to hikers, bikers, and those crazy trail running folks.

Overall this is a nice easy day hike.  If you've got an extra hour or two I'd recommend it.  It would be good for kids, and provides a nice alternative to Badger Mountain while affording interesting views from a different perspective over the area.