Length: 2.9 miles (5.8 mi out-and-back roundtrip, though there is parking and trailheads at both ends); additional 1 mile RT side hike to winery and canyon views makes for an almost 7 mi day-hike.

Elevation gain: Barely any on Cowiche Canyon Trail (flat gravel trail on canyon floor); short steep climb (200-300 ft in 0.5 mi) to vineyard.

Exposure: Completely exposed for the first 2/3 (dogster was not happy about this when the sun was directly overhead); final 1/3 shaded by creekside vegetation.

Scenery: What a difference the rain-shadow makes. Dogster has only hiked in cascadia, so the temperature, lack of shade, and desert landscape / vegetation were all new to us. The gravel trail is an abandoned 19th century railway along the floor of a canyon full of spectacular basalt cliffs to the north and rolling sagebrush-covered hills to the south, with wildflowers in bloom and all kinds of birds overhead. A double digit number of trestle bridges kriss-kross Cowiche Creek (Jump! Jump! RIP, Kris-Kross' Mac Daddy. I digress...) on this hike--this is Rails-to-Trails done beautifully (strong work, Bureau of Land Management). 2/3's of the way in (coming from the Weikel Rd Trailhead) a steep side trail takes you up the canyon to Naches Heights, and empties in the back yard of Wilridge Vineyards. This is a worthy sidetrip even if you have no interest in winetasting, as heading back down the ridge gives you stunning views of the canyon from above, and Mount Adams to the south on a good day. Plus, the nice folks at the winery made sure dogster had plenty of shade and cold water.

Trail Traffic: Light. Just a handful of cars at the Weikel Road trailhead today. Day hikers and small groups happily clutching wine bottles. A few friendly, dehydrated-looking offleash dogs. Cowiche Canyon also has equestrian and mountain biking trails, though we didn't encounter either.

Travel Time from Seattle: 2 to 2.5 hours, depending on how fast you're willing to drive on the open interstate. Mountain pass conditions shouldn't cause any delays the rest of this season; there is rock blasting scheduled through mid May on I-90 E near Snoqualmie Pass, but I think it's mainly at night. Expect one lane traffic due to bridge repairs between the Pass and Ellensburg, I-90 both directions this spring.

Watch out for: Horse droppings. If your dog's into that kinda thing. And rattlesnakes. And lost wine tasters tumbling down from the vineyard.

With all the publicity about Cowiche Canyon, our Tuesday hiking group headed over the mountains to check it out. At the trailhead we were very fortunate to encounter a docent from the Cowiche Canyon Conservancy who shared extensive information about the flowers, geology, history and critters of the canyon. We hiked the 6 mi. RT and enjoyed the wonderful rock formations and vegetation. We encountered one rattlesnake and spotted a Great Horned Owl in a pine tree! The CCC docent said that while we were in the area we ABSOLUTELY had to go to Snow Mountain, a couple thousand acre ranch acquired and preserved by the Conservancy and only a couple mile further down the road. We did, and what a fabulous display of wildflowers we found as we roamed a 4 mile loop trail through the rolling hills of Snow Mountain Ranch! It was truly the crowning glory of the day. We highly recommend a vist.... NOW! The many wildflowers are at their peak. This very unknown treasure made the long drive over to the Yakima are well worth it. If you go, the Cowiche Canyon map/brochure at the trailhead has a map of the Snow Mountain Ranch trails on the back side.

After sitting in traffic on Friday listening to the Boston manhunt unfold, I decided a day out would be some good medicine. Traveled over to Eastern Washington to visit Cowiche Canyon and Selah Butte, both which I've never done before. This is the advantage of the WTA Trip Reports- people like mythoman and Bob and Barb post these tantalizing descriptions of trails that stick in the back of your head, and one day, you get inspired to visit these places.

Cowiche Canyon is easy access, easy travel, and really pleasant. The trail rambles along a flat grade where I saw lots of smiling people walking, bird-watching, hiking, biking, walking dogs and running. Lots of happy polite dogs. The most close in cool rocks are in the beginning, but the rock formations are a fascinating array of volcanic stuff throughout. It's a great place to have kids of all ages look at the rock formations and see what jumps out at them as a visual- no man-in-the-moon, but lots of other faces and forms struck me.

The Conservancy has done a really great job labeling plants- even noxious weeds (although they don't note they're weeds) for plant i.d. And the plants are beautiful: red osier dogwood, just beginning to unfold leaves, has coloreful twigs that glow red and orange in the sun. The snow-white flowers of serviceberry explode like the stars of the Milky Way on an inky night against a backdrop of dark basalt. Fern-leaf desert parsley flowers spray out chocolatey maroon tips that complement the lacy blue-green foliage. Even last year's seed heads are pretty.

I walked the upland trail as well- worth doing this to see the flower species change from the canyon, as well as to get views into the canyon. Phlox, violet, and larkspur were blooming, along with a blue flower I couldn't identify. Buckwheat flower tips are just starting to show color.

All in all, a lovely trip, and thank you, Trip Report posters, for the inspiration!

I took a walk in Cowiche Canyon from the east end this afternoon. I walked as far a bridge #8. The Balsamroot, Phlox, & other wildflowers are in bloom. The trees and shrubs are beginning to leaf out and the hillsides are green. Now is one of the best times to be in the canyon.