WTA professional crews build staircase in beloved Spokane park
Washington Trails Association’s professional trail crews recently built a staircase in Spokane’s High Drive Bluff Park. The new staircase provides safe and more sustainable access to one of Spokane's most popular trail systems. By Joseph Gonzalez
Washington Trails Association’s professional trail crews recently built a staircase in Spokane’s High Drive Bluff Park trail system. The new staircase, also known as the Rocket Gulch Stairs, replaces a steep gully, providing safe and more sustainable access to the southern end of the park. Friends of the Bluff and the City of Spokane worked in collaboration with WTA to make the project possible. As of this fall, the stairs are officially open for use.
85 box steps were installed to create this behemoth staircase. Photo by Joe Hall
High Drive Bluff Park is the premier trail system in the South Hill neighborhood of Spokane. It’s popular with neighborhood hikers and dog walkers, and serves as the main trail system for the local mountain biking community (some users bike to the park right from home). But most of the trailheads are in the upper half of the park, and the trail that was replaced by the staircase was steep, treacherous to navigate and prone to erosion. This renovation provides formalized neighborhood access.
“The entire south portion of the trail network was lacking in access from the north and east. There was an access trail, but it was narrow — bordered closely on either side by private property — steep and unsafe. Building the stairs will allow more people to spend more time enjoying the trail rather than driving or walking on roadway,” said Dorothy Tibbetts, a volunteer coordinator with Friends of the Bluff.
Friends of the Bluff is a community-based organization that helps steward the park. They recognized the issues with safety and accessibility and worked hard to get the project off the ground. And as the scope and size of the project came together, it became clear it would require a consistent team of highly skilled trail workers to tackle some of the more technical complexities involved. That’s where WTA’s professional Lost Trails Found crews came in.
From the backcountry to the bluff
In prior seasons, WTA’s pro crews have spent most of their summers maintaining backcountry trails that have suffered from burns or deferred maintenance. This year, the professional crews have brought their expertise into Spokane's backyard. And while building a staircase for a city park might initially seem like a far cry from rock steps or logouts deep in the wilderness, the crew’s technical expertise and experience made them the perfect fit to build the staircase.
WTA's Eastern Washington professional crew spent three hitches building the structure. Photo by Joe Hall
“This project is unique because we’re building one linear structure and adding to it with each hitch. Having a core group to start and finish the structure is crucial,” said Joe Hall, who manages WTA’s professional services.
Professional crews are trained to work with a variety of power tools on complex projects. Their backcountry experience provides them a unique perspective on risk mitigation and trail engineering. And since they work consistently together on the same projects week after week, having a single team complete the project made sense for efficiency and nuance.
The Rocket Gulch Stairs were built over three hitches spanning May and June by WTA’s Eastern Washington pro crew based in Mazama (the other two operate out of North Bend). The Mazama location helped our program cut travel and logistical expenses.
85 layers of box steps comprise the behemoth staircase. Unlike wilderness projects, which allow a bit of flexibility, each step needed to be precise to support the steps above it. It required a lot of math, measuring and power tools. And, it needed to be built in a concentrated timeframe — all challenges making it a better fit for professional crews than for WTA’s dedicated Spokane-area volunteers.
Step by step
It takes serious coordination to make a project like this possible. For some projects, land management agencies do most of the heavy lifting behind the scenes to produce resources, coordinate dates and design an outcome. Sometimes, it can be as simple as “point and dig.”
This project was a little different. WTA’s professional services were tapped to shepherd much of the project from beginning through its finish.
“Joe Hall, WTA's Professional Services Manager, delivered a proposal based on an existing design that met the needs of the Friends of the Bluff and the Spokane Parks Department. Joe coordinated the basic logistics and communicated the work plan in a way that made it easy to anticipate how everything would play out. WTA’s professional trail crew took on this urban project with enthusiasm and skill. I visited the site on most days during construction, and I enjoyed talking to the crew and seeing the progress,” said Dorothy.
Many trails. One community.
The Spokane community is at the heart of this project. A local couple with Friends of the Bluff even invited our crew to camp in their yard for the duration of the project, including access to a porta-potty and an entire outdoor kitchen. After work and between projects, crew members swam in the local creek. And unlike their typical projects, the crew had access to comfortable amenities, like cell service or the deli at Rocket Market, a neighborhood hub.
The staircase replaces an eroded gully, providing safer and more convenient access for trail users to reach the southern end of the park. Photo by Andrew Zimmerman
“Thanks to WTA, the Spokane Parks Department, and Friends of the Bluff board and volunteers, we now have a beautiful set of stairs that the many neighbors who live in this area can use to leave behind the commotion of the city streets for a quiet walk on the bluff in just the few minutes it takes to walk to the stairs,” said Dorothy.
While WTA’s professional program may have started in the backcountry, they’ve become experts at holistically addressing the needs of hikers statewide. Frontcountry or backcountry, great trails and trail work starts with the passion and concern of local hikers to advocate for the trails they hold dear.
“Washington Trails Association’s talented trail builders were key to the success of this project. This staircase helps users navigate very steep terrain to access a beautiful and beloved portion of the bluff, an extensive network of trails, and acres of natural area. We, along with our partners at Friends of the Bluff, are grateful for their skill,” said Angel Spell, Assistant Director of Natural Resources with City of Spokane Parks & Recreation.
Step by step, advocates from Friends of the Bluff and professional trail maintainers came together to see this project through. Photo by Joe Hall
With the staircase complete, WTA’s Lost Trails Found crews returned to backcountry projects while the weather holds until late fall, leaving a legacy in the heart of a beloved Spokane park.
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