New 'water trail' at Priest Rapids pool by 2016

BEVERLY - The Grant County PUD will build new riverbank launch spots for canoes and kayaks along the shoreline of the Priest Rapids Recreation Area.

The project should be completed by the end of 2015, PUD spokesperson Chuck Allen said. Allen said the cost estimate is somewhere between $200,000 and $250,000, with a more detailed estimate available when more of the planning is completed. An outside contractor will do the work, but no one has been hired yet, Allen said.

The 5.8-mile "water trail" will start at the northern end of the Priest Rapids Recreation Area, hit Goose Island and return up the east shoreline to the campground and swimming beach, according to information from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A different trail, three miles long, will go from the northern end of the Priest Rapids Recreation Area to Buckshot Recreation Area, the FERC release said.

The PUD will build trails so kayak and canoe enthusiasts can carry their watercraft to the new launch sites, Allen said. "Near the swim beach a new hand launch site will be developed to separate non-motorized boaters from the heavily used motorized boat launch," the FERC release said.

"Kiosks will be installed at all water trail access points to provide interpretive information and to mark the water trail as a segment of the Northwest Discovery Water Trail," the FERC release said. Gravel parking areas will be built at the north and south ends of the trail.

As a part of its license renewal, the PUD was required to build a water trail in the Crab Creek area. But FERC officials changed their minds as a result of environmental concerns, the release said. The new trail "provides the most similar experience possible, within the project boundary, to the originally required water trail in the Crab Creek corridor," the release said.