Walla Walla is all about reds, whites and the Blues
Hey snow-sick Spokane: It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.
Need an escape? Spring comes early to Walla Walla, where you can take a hike amid the wildflowers, go on a world-class bike ride, and if you aren’t finished with the snow, do some sunny skiing in the Blue Mountains.
After your outdoors needs are met, head inside to sample some of the best wine in the world. Reds, whites and the Blue Mountains: It’s not a bad way to welcome spring.
Bicycling With a warm, Mediterranean climate and a seemingly endless supply of empty, rural roads, Walla Walla has become one of the most popular road-riding destinations in the Northwest, if not the country. Spring is a great time to visit before the hot days of summer hit.
“The road-riding scene here has exploded,” says Greg Knowles, owner of the Bicycle Barn. “We have lots and lots of country roads to explore.”
“We get a large number of people from Seattle and Portland coming here,” agrees Michael Austin, co-owner of Allegro Cyclery, the other bike shop in town. “And the wineries play into that of course. You can ride in the morning and taste wine in the afternoon.”
Both bike shops do a thriving rental business to wine-tasters. Austin often sends riders on the “Southern Winery Loop,” a flat 12-miler that takes in many of the region’s best and most popular wineries.
“It’s easy enough that just about anyone can do it,” Austin says.
For dedicated road riders, dozens of great routes are available in the countryside surrounding the city. If you want flat riding, head west. If you want challenging hilly routes, head east into the Blue Mountains or north into the Palouse.
On a recent bluebird day, the roads were deserted south and east of the city, perfect for a 20-mile ride that meandered past emerald fields of winter wheat into the foothills of the snow-capped Blue Mountains. Once on top of a ridge, there were sublime views of the Walla Walla Valley, just waking up from its winter nap.
“We have access to some of the nicest roads anywhere in the Northwest,” says Scott Peters, an avid cyclist from Walla Walla. “We also have a very welcoming community.”
Both bike shops have an active schedule of group rides, and Peters says newcomers are always welcome. For those who want to plan their own ride, the free Walla Walla Valley Bicycle Map has several suggestions. Pick it up at visitor centers and bike shops around town.
For mountain bikers, the best riding is along the South Fork of the Walla Walla River near Milton-Freewater, Oregon, Austin says.
Hiking and birding Mike Denny is standing in the Palouse north of Walla Walla, making strange clicking noises with his tongue. He’s staring up at the sky, trying to talk with some gray-crowned rosy finches, a mountain bird that winters in the Walla Walla area.
Denny is a naturalist and wildlife expert, and we are out on some remote farm roads, looking for birds. On this day, we see the frisky finches, northern harriers, northern shrike, three species of owls, eagles, hawks, turkeys and much more.
Walla Walla is an excellent place for birding, with many species from the Arctic wintering nearby. More than 340 species have been identified in this migratory hot spot, Denny says.
Exploring the remote farmland that stretches north to Snake River from Walla Walla is like taking a master class in the natural world. Denny points out evidence of ancient volcanic eruptions, the vast pathway of the Missoula Floods and how the wind has created the rolling Palouse country.
We eventually hit the Snake River and walk along its shores at several Army Corps of Engineers-managed parks, where wildflowers are just about to bloom and birds are abundant. This lowland hiking is dry and sunny, a great escape in the early spring. Other great lowland hikes are in the Wallula Gap of the Columbia River west of town, Denny says.
As the snow melts, many more hiking opportunities will open up in the Blue Mountains, Denny says. Some of the best locations are along the south fork of the Walla Walla River.
“We have every ecozone in this valley, thanks to the Blue Mountains,” he says. “From town, you’re literally just 20 minutes away.”
Skiing at Bluewood The season is far from over at Bluewood, a great little ski area about an hour’s drive from Walla Walla, where the lifts keep spinning into mid-April.
“We’re a great family resort,” says Kim Clark, general manager of Bluewood. With the lowest ticket prices in the state – adult day passes are just $39 – Bluewood is certainly affordable. Ski and stay packages at nearby Dayton, Washington, lower the cost even more, and if you happen to be 70 years old, the skiing is free. It’s also free if you have a season pass at 49 Degrees North or Lookout Pass, which have reciprocal agreements with Bluewood.
This small mountain packs a few surprises too. Tree skiing is excellent off the main chairlift, the Skyline Express Triple, which delivers visitors up 1,125 vertical feet to the crest of the Blue Mountains at elevation 5,670. Another chairlift, the Triple Nickel, serves primarily beginning and intermediate terrain on the lower mountain.
Some of the very best skiing at Bluewood is in the hikeable side-country known as Vintner’s Ridge. A 15-minute walk takes you to a remote ridgeline that bends around the Bluewood basin, offering some great tree skiing and glades.
During a recent visit, 10 inches of light, untracked snow was waiting in the trees off Vintner’s Ridge. Few people did the hike, leaving plenty of untracked terrain available all day long.
Other outdoors diversions
Golf: Walla Walla has one of the best courses in Washington state at Wine Valley Golf Club. The links-style course is challenging on the level of Chambers Bay, near Tacoma, site of the 2015 U.S. Open. Three other golf courses are within an hour of Walla Walla.
Palouse Falls: There’s no better time to see Washington state’s official waterfall than spring. Roughly an hour’s drive from Walla Walla, the 200-foot plume gets a little extra oomph as the snow melts. Wildflowers start blooming in March on the many trails around the state park, leading to views of the dramatic drop.
Fishing: The Snake, Touchet and Walla Walla rivers are all places to go after steelhead. Trout fishing starts heating up in rivers and lakes in the area in March.
Wine: Once your spring outdoors needs have been met, you just may need some refreshment. Luckily, more than 140 wineries – among the very best in the nation – are ready to help.
Two great options await downtown: Seven Hills, one of Washington’s oldest and most respected wineries, is located in the historic Whitehouse-Crawford Building; and the party-crowd-pleasing Charles Smith, where loud punk music blares in a funky former auto repair warehouse.
In the popular winery region south of downtown, Pepper Bridge’s tasting room sits on a pretty hillside amid the vineyards and production facilities. And perhaps the most unpretentious tasting room in the region is found at L’Ecole No. 41, a former schoolhouse in Lowden, just 13 miles west of Walla Walla.
John Nelson is a freelance outdoors writer based in Seattle. Follow his blog at skizer.org.