Neighbors preserving our natural city park and promoting a safe recreational experience.
Palisades Loses Its Steward
Spokesman — Robbi Castleberry, a pillar of Spokane-area conservation efforts since the 1970s, died today of an apparent cardiac arrest in her home near Indian Canyon, her husband, Vic, has confirmed.
Castleberry, 80, was on the original city-county committee that spearheaded development of the Spokane River Centennial Trail.
Her many conservation leadership roles include her current committee services for the Spokane County Conservation Futures Program. She's been the energizer behind the improvements and additions to the city's Palisades Park and the closure of Rimrock Drive so it could be enjoyed by walkers and bicyclists.
“Robbi was involved with groups like the Backcountry Horsemen and the Spokane Canoe & Kayak Club, and when it came to issues such as trails and river access she could be counted on as an absolute driving force to keep them open for all users,” said Julia McHugh, another original member of the Centennial Trail committee.
There is a celebration of Robbi's life being planned for July 11. Please check back for details as they become available.
You will be deeply missed Robbi Castleberry.
TREE THINNING BY DNR
DNR has been at work in the park thinning trees to the west and south of the sandpits. The area was overgrown with dog hair pine in one sections and had more trees that the area could sustain in other areas. Take a walk or ride (bicycle or horseback) on Trail #101 and enjoy the work they have done for us.

Blazing Trails
They say many hands makes light work, and that was proven true on Sunday, November 4th as volunteers from the Spokane Mountaineers, Washington Trails Association, Cheney High School, Northwest Hiking Club and Palisades Park Organization pitched in to create a beautiful new hiking/biking/equestrian trail in Palisades Park.
Volunteers were coached in safety by Spokane Mountaineer, Lynn Smith, and then given hard hats, loppers, pulaskis, hand saws, picks, and Mcleods. The new path had been marked with flags beforehand--traversing through dense hawthorn, basalt, and burdock. Volunteers got straight to work cutting out overgrown branches, removing loose rocks, trees, and roots, and building support walls.
After a long day working with newly-made-friends and neighbors, the trail was successfully completed. "It was a lot of fun," said Cheney High School volunteer, Coleman White, as he surveyed the dramatic transition. When asked if he'd be back next spring to clean-up the same trail he didn't hesitate to answer, "Definitely."
