McKenzie Conservation Area, Newman Lake, Washington
Well. I am here to be anti-climatic. After a week of hiking in the south west, it is difficult to be back in North Idaho during the beginning of March. The exciting trails are still inaccessible due to snow, and the accessible trails are…well, they are not the trails of the south west.
Not far from Coeur d’Alene, McKenzie Conservation Area is a good place to wander around, no matter the season. The trailhead is along a road where many people have homes, so it is maintained. It has an outhouse as well as a map posted.
Purchased with Conservation Futures funding in 2005 with a subsequent 44 acre addition in 2015, this 465-acre property protects important wildlife habitat and 3,000 feet of Newman Lake shoreline at the same time it provides hiking opportunities for visitors. The trail system consists of loop trails built by the Newman Lake Property Owners Association with the blessing of Spokane County Parks, along with a 2018 trail extension onto the property addition. Old logging roads are connected by a series of single-track trails to form the network of approximately 6 total trail miles.
https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mckenzie-conservation-area
Turtle Rock and Bedrock Ridge Loop is the main trail, while there is another trail away from the Lake, called Vision Quest. The loops take you through some forest to the wetlands connected to Newman Lake. There is a trail from Turtle Rock and Bedrock Ridge Loop through the wetlands to the edge of the lake, but when it is not frozen it might be difficult at times to stay dry. I told Barbarian Scientist that it was like walking on Frosted Mini Wheats that have been soaking. He basically told me I am a weirdo, but he did not disagree.
When you arrive at Turtle Rock, the trail turns into the forest. It is easy to get off trail and find yourself on some interesting private property. Trespassing on private property in the gun-crazy Inland Northwest is usually not a good idea, so make sure you have a map downloaded or know how to follow trail markers.
The McKenzie area has a long-lived and complex geologic history. The park occurs in the southern part of the Spokane Dome of the Priest River metamorphic complex (PRMC), (Doughty, et al. 1997). The bedrock geology here is composed primarily of Newman Lake Gneiss, a Mesozoic-aged granitic orthogneiss (Derkey, et al., 2004b, Armstrong, et al., 1987). Bedrock exposure consists of less than 10% of the total land area. Throughout the park, the Newman Lake Gneiss exhibits strong foliation, mineral lineation, and pervasive mylonitization. The mylonitization (blastomylonite) is characteristic of the upper part of the PRMC within the Spokane Dome mylonite zone. Bedrock knobs and adjacent gullies have a consistent NNW-trend suggesting possible structural control to topography. Scattered throughout the park are pegmatite veins and ice-rafted glacial erratics. There are also several seasonal streams and seeps, which ultimately drain eastward into Newman Lake. The park area has numerous exposures of basic to complex geology that are easily accessible by the existing trail network. Findings from this undergraduate service-learning research project could be utilized by the public that visit the park for the purposes of earth science education.
https://www.spokanecounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/4659/A-Geological-Study-of-the-McKenzie-Conservation-Area-PDF
When the trail leaves the lakeside, it climbs up a rocky hill. The views from the hill over the lake are beautiful, but more clear during the winter when the trees are less full. There are small trails branching off the main trail, (no)thanks to mountain bikers clearing paths. It is not too difficult to identify the main trail and the trails not placed by official trail work. When the Turtle Rock and Bedrock Ridge Loop nears the trailhead, the junction for Vision Quest will be on the left. Completing both trails gives 6 miles and approximately 500′ of elevation gain – not a bad way to pass some time and gain some miles when we have to stay close to town.