The new trail will start from the Sagebrush Trail near the eastern boundary of the Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve. Like the Sagebrush Trail, the new trail will meander near the edge of the ridgeline, showcasing the wonderful views to the north as the trail descends toward Queensgate Drive.

The trail will continue east through City facing slope land between two new residential developments.

The trail will then have an exciting section across the steep north face of Little Badger Mountain to a North Face Overlook in the middle of steep slope.

Next the trail will gain the ridgeline and have an exciting knife edge ridge section with precipitous slopes on both sides of the trail. The ridgeline trail will provide public access to the Summit Overlook near the water tanks at the top of Little Badger mountain.

Land Acquisition

December 2019: FOBM purchased Westcliffe Heights Phase 2, Tract E, critical land to get off the steep north face and allow the trail to go up the ridge top. (SEE parcel shaded in BLUE in map to the right). Tract E complements the land the City of Richland has secured (shaded in green). The ridge trail corridor to the summit of Little Badger Mountain is now secured.

February 2020: FOBM purchased Viking, Tract A & Tract F totaling about 19 acres. This is critical City facing slope land in the saddle between Badger Mountain and Little Badger. (SEE parcels shaded in YELLOW in map to the right). The Viking land connects to the City of Richland land (shaded in GREEN). The ridge trail corridor from the saddle to the summit of Little Badger Mountain is now secured. Only 2 parcels are left to connect the Viking land to Queensgate Drive.

May 2020: FOBM flagged a new trail section across the saddle of Little Badger Mountain. We’re hopeful to build this in the Fall (post COVID-19 lockdown).

October 2020: FOBM sold Westcliffe Heights Tract E to the City of Richland (City). The City now owns continuous park land from the summit of Little Badger all the way down the west ridge of the mountain. The City has also distributed the 2019 Hotel/Motel Tax grant to FOBM and FOBM used those funds to close our $200,000 loan from the purchase of this property.

November 2020: FOBM repaid our second land loan and are now debt free!

January 2021: FOBM has received a new land donation on the Little Badger Mountain ridge top (Tract Q). Another piece of the puzzle has been secured, that will allow the public trail to traverse the ridge top towards the summit of Little Badger Mountain. FOBM is another significant step closer to creating a 3rd local mountain park; another step closer to a public trail to the highest point in the City of Richland; another step closer to linking 3 local mountains (Candy to Badger to Little Badger).

April 2022: FOBM purchased the final twenty-one acres needed to finish the Little Badger Preserve. The new property is located east of Queensgate Drive and has some nice sagebrush at the north end of the property. FOBM now has a continuous trail corridor from Badger Mountain through the saddle and up the ridge to the summit of Little Badger Mountain.

April 2023: The City of Richland has approved the master plan for the Little Badger Mountain Preserve. The City master plan includes the trailheads, restrooms, trail layout and many other details. This City of Richland is now working on the trail design for trail section “D” across the steep north face of Little Badger Mountain.

Trail Building

February 2020: In spring 2020 the Friends of Badger Mountain trail crew started constructing the first section of the trail that will lead from east side of Badger Mountain towards the summit of Little Badger. It wasn’t completed because of COVID-19 but we hope to complete it spring of 2021.

January 2021: FOBM hired a world class engineering firm with experience design public trails across the steep rocky slopes above interstate highway I-84 in the Columbia River Gorge. Toole Design Group (TDG) will bring that experience to Richland WA and help us design the trail across the steep north face of the Little Badger ridge. TDG will perform a geotechnical evaluation and help us select the best trail route.

Summer/Fall 2022: FOBM will redo the trail connection Badger down to Queensgate Drive to move the trail further to the north.

Fall 2022: After the City of Richland finishes the Little Badger master plan, FOBM will start working on the trail sections east of Queensgate Drive.

Fall 2023: FOBM has hired PBS Engineering to design the trail mid-block crossing of Queensgate Drive.  The field survey is complete and design should be ready for City of Richland approval spring 2024.

Winter 2023: With some moisture back in the soil, FOBM started trail construction in October on trail section “F” from Morency Drive up the south slope, past the large Ice Age Floods erratic and to the summit of Little Badger Mountain. This will be the first public trail completed from the new master plan.

Spring / Fall 2024: FOBM will redo the trail connection Badger down to Queensgate Drive to move the trail further to the north.  FOBM will also start construction on trail sections “A, B & C” connecting Badger Mountain down through the saddle all the way to Meadow Hills Drive.

Visit our Trailwork page for future work party dates and how to volunteer.

Click image to view full size map

Key Milestones

April 2019

City of Richland Council approved $200,000 from the Hotel/Motel Tax Fund for the Little Badger Mountain Public Trail project.

Public access to 3 peaks for the Tri-Cities will make Richland a regional destination for outdoor recreation. City of Richland Park Rangers interviewed almost 300 hikers at the Badger Mountain Trailhead and found 26% of hikers are from Richland, 32% are from Pasco, and 19% are from Kennewick, and 19% are from outside of Benton & Franklin Counties. This public ridge trail project will benefit the entire Tri-Cities metropolitan area and beyond.

May 2019

WA State Legislature approved $450,000 in the 2019–21 Capital Budget for the Little Badger Mountain Public Trail project.

Our local WA State representatives Senator Sharon Brown, House Rep. Brad Klippert, Rep. Matt Boehnke and Rep. Bill Jenkin know how important local, high quality, public hiking trails are for our community. Our local WA State representatives lead the charge in this year’s legislative session to help buy land for the Little Badger Mountain Public Ridge Trail. Please send them an e-mail and thank our representatives for their support of this project.

December 2018

Hanford contractor, AECOM, and subsidiary, Washington Closure Hanford (WCH), are the lead donors with their legacy gift of $300,761.

The donation honors the employees of the former Hanford contractor WCH for their significant achievements to clean up along the Columbia River over the past 11 years. The donation will be used to secure ridge top access parcels needed to complete the eastern potion of the trail to the summit of Little Badger. In addition, a portion of the donation will be used to start trail construction Fall 2019 and build basalt monuments in honor of the WCH employees and their Columbia River Corridor Clean Up accomplishments.

Donate

You can help toward the Little Badger Mountain Trails by making a donation, either online to our Network For Good account or by mail. Friends of Badger Mountain (FOBM) is an all-volunteer organization with 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. In whatever ways you can contribute your help, we thank you!

Volunteer

We’re always in need of new volunteers to assist in building trails. If you’re interested, contact Jim by email at [email protected] and let him know. Mention “add me to your trail work list” so you’ll always know when the next work party is coming up.

Learn More

Part of an organization or group who’d like a presentation about this project? Contact David Comstock at (509) 521-8226 or [email protected]