www.cowichecanyon.org has a good map including the various trailheads and other information.   Started at the West Trailhead off Weikel road (the driving directions in WTA).   Hiked from here to the winery trail turnoff.  Last time I was in the area, hiked down and back up from the winery, about a 15 minute climb.  Scenic canyon with lots of interesting geology and the peaceful sound of a swiftly running river.

parked at the weikel TH and hiked in. wildflowers are starting to bloom. love the violets. took the side trail up to the winery(0.8mile, some climbing)  and had a glass or two . wind not too bad . 

parked at the weikel TH and hiked in. wildflowers are starting to bloom. love the violets. took the side trail up to the winery(0.8mile, some climbing)  and had a glass or two . wind not too bad . 

I led my first Sagebrush Ramble of the season for the Cascadians today.  It was raining hard when I left the house and had only slacked off a little at the Chesterly Park parking lot.  Rudy was the only one to show up and with a forecast for 90% showers and windy, we decided just to walk Cowiche Canyon.  Of course there was no rain & little wind after we started walking and we even had quite a bit of sun.  We walked from the east end almost to the west end parking lot and back.  There were a few flowers in bloom, especially buttercups, with balsamroot and fern-leaf desert parsley coming on.  In a week or so it should be pretty nice.  There were quite a few other people in the canyon today.  Given the way the weather turned out, I was a little sorry we hadn't gone farther afield, but it was still a good walk.  

This is a lovely desert canyon hike. The geology behind this site hits you in the face as you look at the fascinating rock formations and the habitat of the canyon. It's amazing what you can see in vegetation and habitat that lacks trees. 

I thought there were 3 parking spots leading to the trailheads of this canyon but I learned after looking at the local map, there are 5 accessible trailheads. I'm familiar with Scenic, Weikel and Summitview parking areas. Today I parked at the Summitview lot. You can choose your hike and number of miles by picking what trails you want to take. None are hard. There are maps located along the way. 

As soon as I got on the Summitview trail, I saw a great variety of wildflowers. Sagebrush violets were prominent on this trail, on the "jeep trail" outside the recreation area and on the South Uplands trail. Lots of other flowers were seen such as yellow bells, salt and pepper, prairie star flowers, grass widows, various parsleys, small yellow flowers, phlox, woolypod locoweed and others. I saw more grass widows and butter cups on the Lone Pine loop. I saw one wild onion and one bloom of Larkspur which surprised me. The flowers were very sparse on the East Upland trail which is where I saw so many last year. In some areas today the ground was covered with violets. They are so pretty.

I heard and saw chukars. Cool birds. Once you hear their voice, you don't forget how they sound. I included a pic below showing one that is somewhat hard to see among the surroundings.

Mount Adams was in full view, Mount Rainier was a bit shy today. Of course it is always wonderful to see Mount Stuart range while driving along the highway.   Quite a bit of snow still up there. 

It was not crowded today making the hike very enjoyable. Horses and dogs are allowed although I don't know if the horses are allowed year around. I saw one group with 3 horses today and a few dogs. 

I really enjoy this canyon. If you don't mind the desert setting, you may like what this place has to offer.