Lyle Cherry Orchard Hike

Overview

Friends of the Columbia Gorge founder Nancy Russell purchased the core of this 500+ acre property and, over the years, added parcels to the west that abut the town of Lyle. Until 2009, the property was under Nancy's name, but then she bequeathed it to the Friends. Long before that, a hiking trail open to the public allowed visitors to climb above the rimrock layers and visit the old homestead site labeled by Nancy as the "Cherry Orchard" after the few old cherry trees that remained. Between 2019 and 2021, the Washington Trails Association added a western loop that crosses the hillside above the town of Lyle and modified the loop trail at the cherry orchard site. The hike offers ever expanding views to the east and west as it climbs to the oak forest that cloaks the upper slopes. Poison oak abounds along most sections of the trail, so stick to path and keep your dog on a leash. The wildflower season here begins in February with the early grass widows and Columbia desert parsley and runs into June. The unsigned trail begins at the east end of the parking area under an imposing basalt spire. It climbs through a scrub oak forest carpeted with poison oak. Soon reach an old road bed, the remains of entrepreneur Sam Hill's "convict road" (see below). Follow the road to the left. You'll come to a beautiful wooden trailhead sign and a newer map kiosk at the western edge of the defile. There's a boot brush here that you should use both going in and coming out. (The main invasive culprit here is yellow star thistle, which blooms in the summer and fall.) To left of the sign, the convict road runs out to the rimrock cliffs above Highway 14 and the railroad. The trail leaves the old road and starts up a small draw, which blooms with prairie star, fiddleneck, and lupine in the spring. Switchback up, and arrive at an open meadow blooming with death-camas in April. A user trail leads left across the lower of the two Lyle benches, and here you get views across bright clumps of poison oak to Sevenmile Hill, Crates Point, and T

Trail Stats

Photos

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