Camas Prairie — Railroad on Stilts (Lapwai Canyon)

ID · Culdesac → Reubens

Eleven trestles in eight miles. Nothing else in the West looked like it.

Heads up: Old wooden trestles — do not ride or walk across them.

The Camas Prairie Railroad, jointly owned by the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific, built its Second Subdivision to reach the wheat of the Camas Prairie. Track reached Culdesac in 1899 and Grangeville on December 22, 1908.

Climbing out of Lapwai Canyon east of Culdesac, the line looped along the canyon walls on 11 trestles in about eight miles, on grades up to 3%. With more than 45 bridges on the subdivision, it earned the nickname 'The Railroad on Stilts.' The curved Half Moon Trestle is the most famous of them.

The last revenue train ran on November 29, 2000. The rails from Cottonwood to Grangeville were pulled up in 2002–2003, but six of the seven tunnels and most of the bridges still stand. The Library of Congress documented the line before it disappeared.

⚠️ Before you go: every railroad on this map is private property. A line that looks abandoned may still be owned by a railroad, used to store rail cars, or put back into service at any time — sometimes with no warning. Before going near any track, make sure it's truly abandoned (no recent use, rails not polished, no signals or cars stored on it) and that you're allowed to be there. Never assume a track is dead.

📷 Photos & stories from riders

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