Back in the Day... The old MilWest Foamers Group ran a bus tour of Lines West, from Thorp ( West of Ellensburg ) to either Whittier or maybe Hyak ??? A Washington State DNR employee rode on each 15 passenger bus, as well as retired Lines West employees for tour guides. The DNR guy on my bus explained that maintaining the Hiawatha Trail was quite similar to maintaining the railroad, with ditching, clearing fallen trees, slides & culverts, and road crossings ( gates ) to deal with each spring. Just no track or signals, which Milwaukee Road didn't maintain in their later years anyways !!!
When EwePee abandoned their line from Plummer to Wallace, Idaho, the state required a soil remediation before taking title to the right of way. With all the lead powder that had leaked out of drop - bottom gondolas through the years, the clean up would have been quite expensive, so the railroad and state agreed to simply cap the dirty dirt by paving over it, thereby creating a first class biking & hiking Trail of the Coeur d' Alenes.