Richland to reopen popular Badger Mountain trail — with a big warning

A warning sign dangled from where Badger Mountain hikers tore through a barrier meant to keep them off a popular hiking trail last week.

It was only the latest in a series of signs that have been pushed aside and barriers tossed into the bushes since the trail closed in April.

The city and Friends of Badger Mountain have been trying to convince hikers to take a detour around this section by using the newly extended Sagebrush Trail, but the hikers would rather take the steeper path.

After months of torn up signs, Shawn Harper, the parks and facilities supervisor plans to open it again to the public.

But the opening will come with a warning to use it at your own risk.

“It’s going to have quite a bit of slope to that first step,” said Shawn Harper, the parks and facilities supervisor. “We don’t have the staff to sit someone up there all day and tell people not to use the trail.”

Harper plans to shore up a few of the steps where erosion made them unstable before opening up the path again.

He also will post signs to warn about the steepness the first part of the trail. He compared it to a marking a ski slope as a black diamond.

“I’m going to try and make it as safe as I can,” he said. “It is a challenging trail.”

Working on permanent fix

The city hired a landscape architect to draw up the plans to finish the steps after a $40,000 project unexpectedly stopped.

The path leading out of Badger Mountain Trailhead Park in south Richland was closed on April 25 when Allstar Construction Group of Richland started working on replacing the uneven basalt steps with more even ones.

Work stalled in May after crews encountered unforeseen conditions and steep slope.

When the work paused it left a 700-foot unfinished gap beginning at the trailhead parking lot near Queensgate Drive and White Bluffs Street.

They are working on getting the project out to bid, with the hope of having it finished by this summer. A landscape architect has finished the plans, said Harper.

Along with the signs warning about the possible dangers of the trail, they will explain the city’s next steps to finish the project.

“The city is working on a temporary solution for now,” Harper said. “We’re working on the bid and getting that out, and we’ll get the steps constructed as soon as possible.”