Popular Badger Mountain trail still closed to hikers. Project appears to have stalled

A trailhead improvement project on the Badger Mountain Canyon Trail in south Richland has stalled.

And it appears improbable the popular trail will reopen this month as planned.

The city of Richland closed the stairs leading out of Trailhead Park on April 25.

At the time, it anticipated three to four weeks of construction on a project to replace the steep and irregular basalt stairs with a more forgiving surface and more evenly spaced steps.

But on Friday, the trail remained closed.

A detour continues to direct hikers along a less steep, but longer path to the top.

Construction appears to have stalled at the lower end of the trail where the cement stairs abruptly end and a steep gravel path leads the rest of the way to the bottom.

Allstar Construction Group of Richland was installing the stairs. Its crews and equipment are no longer at the site.

City officials did not respond to requests for information about the reason for the delay.

Friends of Badger Mountain posted on its website Friday about the delay.

“We will provide updates here and on our website when we hear any news about the project’s status,” said the post.

The city included $40,000 for the project in its 2019 budget.

Trail users can still access the 1,579-foot mountain using the Bypass Trail.

Friends of Badger Mountain recommends users walk around the steps on the newly extended Sagebrush Trail.