OctOber 7, 2015 The Reflector D

Lifestyles Fall Auto Cruise Time

KELLY MOYERstaff reporter

If you haven’t yet explored the 70-mile North clark

county Scenic tour, au-tumn, with its crisp, cool, usually sunny days, is the perfect time to take a weekend drive.

created by the board of clark coun-ty commissioners, the Scenic tour winds its way through bat-tle Ground, Yacolt, Amboy, La center

and Ridgefield, taking drivers past some of the

area’s most picturesque places.

Area residents or visi-tors can pick a portion of the

tour, or try to visit the entire 70-mile stretch in one day or

one weekend. Following is our recommendation for getting the

most out of the Scenic tour:

A Wild(life) BeginningSince the tour actually includes

an auto-tour-within-the-tour, we think starting your day at the ridge-

field Wildlife Refuge and completing that site’s one-way, 4.2-mile auto tour

might be a good plan. Known as the river ‘S’ Auto tour, the drive winds

through the fields, wetlands, sloughs and forests that make up this bird-viewer’s

paradise. expect to see raptors and water-fowl during this time of year.

the refuge is open each day during day-light hours and the river ‘S’ Auto tour route is open to drivers from 6:30 a.m. to dusk (usually until 5 p.m.) daily. to access the auto tour portion of the refuge, enter on Hillhurst road. the entrance fee is $3 per non-commer-cial vehicle.

to make your tour even more enjoyable, pick up a free Audio tour cD at the refuge visitor’s center before starting your auto tour. the cDs are free, but the refuge asks that you return them to the visitor’s center at the end of your tour. The Friends of the Ridgefield Wild-life refuge have also put free audio podcasts – a Spring/Summer podcast and a Fall/Winter pod-cast – on itunes to help guide visitors through the river ‘S’ Auto tour. Find links to those podcasts at http://ridgefieldfriends.org/visit-the-refuge/riv-er-s-unit-audio-tour/.

Bottoms Up! After visiting the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge,

continue the Scenic tour toward La center, where you may be in the mood to stretch your legs. the La center bottoms trail offers the perfect spot to get a little walk in, see more waterfowl, and take in some of clark county’s natural beauty. Located on the east Fork Lewis river, the bot-toms trail winds its way around wetlands and offers interpretive signs, bird-viewing blinds and benches.

Good GrainsAfter leaving La center, the Sce-

nic tour takes drivers north, to-ward cedar creek. If you’re do-

ing this drive on a weekend, make sure you stop at

the historic ce-

dar creek Grist Mill at 43907 Ne Grist Mill road, about eight miles east of Woodland.

the only water-pow-ered, grain-grinding mill in Washington, the 140-year-old mill draws visitors from around the country and offers tours to the pub-lic from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

If you can, visit the Grist Mill on Sat., Oct. 31, for the annu-al apple pressing. the mill opens at 9 a.m. that day and will have a bluegrass band playing on the back deck, and a crew of volunteers press-ing about 10,000 pounds of apples into some of the best apple cider you’ve ever tasted. For more information about the mill and its roster of monthly special events, visit http://cedarcreekgristmill.org/.

History Repeats ItselfAfter you’ve sampled some of the delicacies at the

cedar creek Grist Mill – and maybe bought yourself a small bag of freshly ground grains – drive across the historic covered bridge next to the grist mill and continue your Scenic tour to the North clark Histori-cal Museum, at 21416 N.e. 399th St., in Amboy. Open from noon to 4 p.m. each Saturday, this little museum takes visitors through time, to the beginning days of Amboy and Yacolt, when folks churned their own butter and sewed their own quilts.

All Aboard! continue toward Yacolt after visiting the North

clark Historical Museum and check out this town’s own piece of history at the chelatchie Prairie rail-road. This volunteer-run, nonprofit railroad gives excursion train rides in Yacolt and hosts a full range of special events throughout the year. In October, visitors can ride the rails and view the excellent fo-liage in the Yacolt area on the railroad’s Steam Fall Leaves Special tour, at noon and 2:30 p.m. on Sat. and Sun., Oct. 17 and 18.

the next weekend, on Oct. 24 and 25, take the train at noon or 2:30 p.m. for the Headless Horseman Halloween train ride. In Novem-ber, the railroad offers a Patriot’s Weekend Run on Nov. 7 and 8 as well as a Patriot’s Weekend Wine Run, which stops at the nearby Moulton Falls Winery, on Sat., Nov. 7. For more in-formation about the histor-ic railroad or to see special events coming up in October, November and December, visit http://www.bycx.com/.

The 70-mile auto tour cuts a pretty path through Battle Ground, Ridgefield, La Center and Yacolt/Amboy

See tOuR on Page D5

Phot

o by

Kel

ly M

oyer

Phot

o by

Kel

ly M

oyer

Phot

o by

Mik

e Sc

hultz

Ed & Miguel Ferraro

CH54

8126

AS

Automotive service & repAirBmW • merceDes • porscHe • AuDi • vW • iNFiNiti • AcurA • LeXus • suBAru • voLvo

17 SE 4th Ave., Battle Ground 360.687.5253 • www.KABmotors.com

NoW serviciNg ALL mAkes AND moDeLsBrAkes • DiAgNostic • Air coNDitioNiNg

steeriNg • suspeNsioN • eLectricAL

Melissa Forstrom Agency1230 Lewis River Hwy Ste DWoodland, WA 98674(360) 841-8361

PROTECT YOUR DREAMS FOR LESS THAN YOU THINK.

American Family Mutual Insurance Company, American Family Insurance Company, American Standard Insurance Company of Ohio, American Standard Insurance Company of Wisconsin.

6000 American Parkway, Madison, WI 53783 ©2013 007366 – 6/13

Better service, better coverage and better value

with our great lineup of discounts. Call today for a

competitive quote.Your dream is out there.

Go get it. We’ll protect it.

CH54

8162

AS