PUBLIC LANDS -- A gate has been opened temporarily at Escure Ranch allowing motor vehicles to drive the rough road less than three miles into Towell Falls, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Spokane office says. 

The 14,000-acre BLM Rock Creek Recreation Area site south of Sprague is the realm of hikers and mountain bikers for most of the year, but the road is opened to the scenic falls in the window between the winter and spring mud season and the fire-danger season, which usually starts sometime in June.

Hikers and cyclists can still enjoy the route.

Steve Smith, BLM recreation planner, said the gate was unlocked on Thursday.

Vehicles could high-center on a 40-yard section of deep ruts, he said, but careful drivers can avoid the hazard. High-clearance vehicles are recommended. Off-road motorized travel is prohibited.

The road follows Rock Creek, which opens for fishing each year on the Saturday before Memorial Day.

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