Cle elum sector

CLE ELUM SECTOR
The Cle Elum Sector includes the town of Cle Elum, and everything north of SR-970 east to Teanaway Rd., including Masterson Rd. and Red Bridge Rd.  Make sure you stop at the Teanaway river crossing to look for American Dipper.  There has been a feeder at a house at 7060 Red Bridge Rd. (south side of the road).
Note that you also cover the Hanson Ponds south of I-90, accessible by taking Oaks Rd. across I-90 and turning left just past the entrance ramp to I-90 Eastbound.
This sector also covers all of I-90, especially the rest areas in each direction.
I don't know if any of those roads above (north of) Cle Elum itself are at all passable.  You might do best to leave those until last and venture gingerly.

CLE ELUM SECTOR MAP 1

CLE ELUM SECTOR MAP 2

CLE ELUM SECTOR MAP 3

TEANAWAY SECTOR
This sector covers SR-970 from Cle Elum to Teanaway Rd, and all of Teanaway Rd. and it’s branches. Included are roads to the south of SR-970, including the fishing area just south of where Airport Rd. intersects the highway; SR-10 as far southeast as Taylor Rd. including the Teanaway River crossing; Lambert Rd., covering all you can reach from SR-970 (including a stop at the home of Diane DeLyon (sp), and her husband Mark, at 970 Lambert Rd., where the Scrub-Jay was seen in 2005), and all of Hart Rd., including the section running up and east from the intersection of Hart and Taylor. Up the Teanaway, the main roads should be plowed quite extensively. Most of the small roads off of the main roads are private and off-limits. Forest Service roads may or may not be passable.

TEANAWAY SECTOR MAP 1

TEANAWAY SECTOR MAP 2

TEANAWAY SECTOR MAP 3

LIBERTY SECTOR
This sector starts at West Ballard Drive off Teanaway Rd. Travel east to Ley Rd.  Bird the Swauk Cemetary area by foot.  Head north to the end of Ley, then backtrack to Swauk Prairie Rd., and take that all the way down to US-970 if you can make it.  You've got everything accessible off SR-970 and US-97 from east of Teanaway Rd.

Bird the rest of SR-970 to US-97. Turn east/south and immediately take your first right. Burke Rd. can be quite good. There are feeders at the house at the stream crossing, and a feeder at 661 Burke Rd. You can also try birding the other roads off Burke. Return to US-97 and continue towards Ellensburg. Bird Bettas Rd. and the first mile of Hayward Rd. if it is passable. The circle covers 0.5 miles of Bettas Rd. past Hayward.

Rather than backtrack, continue on Bettas (not counting birds) to US-97 and turn left. You count again after 0.9 miles on US-97. Take US-97 north past SR-970.
There are a variety of conceivably accessible forest service roads off US-97. Investigate them as you may.
One place that you can enter is Liberty. You can bird all the way up Liberty Rd. to Boulder Creek Rd. (not in the circle), and maybe the first 1.3 miles of NF-9712.
Return back to US-97 and continue towards Blewett Pass, birding anywhere you see fit. The circle ends 4.1 miles north of the Liberty turnoff.
Backtrack US-97 to SR-970, and turn left onto the Hidden Valley turnoff. Bird the first mile of Lambert Rd., Emerick Rd. as far as you can, and Hidden Valley Rd. all the way to the ranch. There at least used to be feeders at the ranch that could be very good.

LIBERTY SECTOR MAP 1

LIBERTY SECTOR MAP 2

LIBERTY SECTOR MAP 3

SOUTH CLE ELUM SECTOR
Head south from Cle Elum on Reed St., which becomes 4^th St. and then S. Cle Elum Way in South Cle Elum. As you pass under I-90, turn right onto the one-lane road. You can bird about the first mile of this road (I don’t have an exact distance), as it passes the NP ponds on your right. Return to Reed/4^th and turn right.
The river crossing can turn up Common Mergansers.
After the river, bird the entire S. Cle Elum “downtown” area. Feeders at 403 South Cle Elum Way (at the corner with Grant Ave., and best visible from Grant) can be great. Check all surrounding tree tops for Evening Grosbeak.
I haven’t investigated the east end of Madison Ave., which becomes Mountain River Trails Rd., and Cleveland St.
South of South Cle Elum proper, there are some main roads and some private roads that we probably can’t bird. You can bird the first 0.5 miles of Mohar Rd., off Upper Peoh Point Rd., and we found several houses with bird feeders along that road. Continue east on Upper Peoh Point Rd., birding any accessible side streets. Turn left on Watson Cutoff Rd., to Lower Peoh Point Rd. Turn right, passing under the freeway, then left onto McDonald Rd. There is a pond there. You can also bird any more of Lower Peoh Point Rd. that is open east of McDonald Rd. It appears to go to the Elk Heights rest stop, but doesn’t quite get there.
Also, cover the development known as Sky Meadows off Cassasa Rd. Walking the upper parts of Thornton View Rd. can be very productive.
Backtrack on Lower Peoh Point Rd., birding any accessible side roads, back to South Cle Elum.

SOUTH CLE ELUM SECTOR MAP 1

SOUTHEAST SECTOR
Basically everything southeast of the intersection of Upper Peoh Point Rd. and Cassasa Rd., including the sections of Thorp Prairie Rd and Elk Heights that are within the circle, and the Sunlight Waters development.  Then, crossing over the SR-10, we have access into Swauk Ranch (formerly known as Tang Ranch, which is partially owned/controlled by the Nature Conservancy).  This sector includes all of SR-10 to Taylor Rd.

SOUTHEAST SECTOR MAP

IRON HORSE TRAIL ROUTE
The Iron Horse Trail accesses areas otherwise inaccessible, including the lower reaches of the Yakima River. It could be walked or traversed using cross-country skis. There are about 12 miles of the trail in the circle, but unfortunately there does not appear to be a trail access point near the east edge of the circle. Possibly the best that could be done would be to park at McDonald Rd, where Lower Peoh Point Rd. passes under I-90, and proceed as far as manageable to the east, and then backtrack. While snowmobiles are not supposed to be used on the trail, there are often snowmobile tracks that should make walking easier.

IRON HORSE TRAIL ROUTE MAP 1

IRON HORSE TRAIL ROUTE MAP 2