In the shade of the old oak trees

To reach the trail head: From downtown Camas travel east on Northeast Third Avenue, turn right at the Northeast Second Avenue stop light, and follow as it curves to the right. Parking is available along Northeast Yale Street, and in a gravel lot.

For more information, visit www.ci.camas.wa.us.

A celebration to mark the completion and opening of the Washougal River Greenway Trail will be held Thursday, Sept. 2, at 3 p.m.

The event, open to the public, will include light refreshments under the natural canopies of the Oregon white oak trees that look out onto the Washougal River at Southeast Yale Street and Second Avenue in Camas.

A variety of local, county and state officials and elected leaders have been invited to attend.

Among the highlights of the mile-long trail, which opened to the public in July, is a steel trussed pedestrian bridge. Installed in sections, it is 370 feet long, and 12 feet wide.

The primary purpose of the bridge is to carry a waterline beneath the bridge’s deck to transport water via a 24-inch waterline from the city’s wells on the south side of the Washougal River to holding facilities on the waterway’s north side. Beneath the deck, there is also a 24-inch sewer line, which is being reserved for future use.

The new section of trail runs from Northeast Third Loop and Crown Road to Northeast Second Avenue and Yale Street. It consists of a raised cement boardwalk as well as nearly 5,000 linear feet of hard surfaced pathway.

There is also a viewpoint, picnic site and off-street parking.

The trail is part of a citywide system that runs approximately eight miles in total — from Goot Park to Goodwin Road North of Lacamas Lake.

The bridge engineering work was conducted by Oregon-based Otak, which won an Engineering Excellence Honor Award from the Oregon chapter of the American Council of Engineering Companies for phase one. Contractors on the project included Stellar J Corporation of Woodland, and Tapani Underground, Inc., of Battle Ground.

For more information or to RSVP for the dedication ceremony, contact Krista Bashaw, Camas Parks and Recreation coordinator, at 817-7991 or kbashaw@ci.camas.wa.us.