New Richland hiking trail from Badger Mountain gets a big boost

A project to connect the Badger Mountain hiking trails to the summit of Little Badger Mountain is $25,000 closer to its goal, thanks to the foundation of Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

It plans to present a check for $25,000 to the Friends of Badger Mountain on Monday.

“As the land value in the Tri-Cities continues to escalate, land preservation is becoming a lot more expensive,” said Sharon Grant-Ghan, co-founder of Friends of Badger Mountain.

“Such is the case in creating the Littler Badger Preserve and why the contribution from the Kadlec foundation is so important,” she said.

Friends of Badger Mountain is creating a system of trails across Little Badger, Badger, Candy and Red mountains from Amon Basin to the east to the Yakima River to the west.

Kadlec Foundation’s donation will be used toward a new 2.2-mile trail connecting the east end of Badger Mountain to Little Badger Mountain.

Within the next two years the trail will be extended for a total of three new miles of trail. Longer term the trail will continue east to Claybell Park and Amon Basin, Grant-Ghan said.

With the establishment of the Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve in 2005 and the Candy Mountain Preserve in 2016, Friends of Badger Mountain has preserved over 900 acres of ridge land and has built and is maintaining 10 miles of trails for non-motorized public use.

The LIttle Badger Mountain Preserve will add 75 acres to the trail system.

The Kadlec Foundation is helping with the project to expand trails as part of its mission to promote the health and well-being of residents in the Tri-Cities area.

“Kadlec understands the importance of outdoor venues as a way for residents to stay healthy and saw during the pandemic that it was especially valuable for the public to have easy access to fresh air and recreation that the Friends of Badger Mountain has provided in creating the ridge preserves,” said Jim Hall, the Kadlec chief philanthropy officer.

The Kadlec Foundation and Friends of Badger Mountain plan a “Hike for Your Health” in 2022.

Donations to Friends of Badger Mountain may be made at friendsofbadger.org.

Source: Tri-City Herald