The pullout, without markers or interpretive signage, is on the southwest side of the highway as it climbs out of the Columbia River Valley toward the village of Montrose above.
High above the valley bottom and the
Columbia River, the pullout has several distinct views to offer. For airplane spotters, one looks down at the nearby Trail Airport, to the east. Below, the Columbia River meanders past on its voyage from the western watershed of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. Already a large river at this point, by the time it reaches the Pacific it has become the largest of any North American river draining into the Pacific. On the way it provides us with many gigawatts of electricity from dozens of hydro projects along its length.
To the west, one looks up the valley toward the Rossland Mountains of the Monashee Range, snowcapped until May of each year. In the winter they provide a skier's paradise of fresh powder. The best known ski area here is
Red Mountain, above Rossland, BC. In between is a peekaboo view of East Trail.
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