Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park Backcountry — Thursday, Apr. 25, 2013

Central Washington > Yakima

Now is the time to see wildflowers at their best. I am surprised at how low the hike is rated. Right now it is a 4 rating. Also, modify the route as I did. First let me try to explain my loop route. I believe many people mistakenly think that the gated road off of the Old Highway 10(Recreation Drive)is the trailhead described by Alan Bauer and Dan Nelson in Best Desert Hikes Washington. That is not the case. I hiked a loop and came out on the closed, gated road by all of the signs. Drive by this gated, closed four-wheel drive road and almost to the barrier signs. Hike the faint old jeep road bed up the hill. After the road ends it may be hard to find a trail but just head north parallel with the Columbia River and if you don't run into a trail in 15 minutes head towards the river. I believe there is more than one trail. Just before I headed to the river I found a large cairn, but that is not the trail I ultimately followed. Once on the trail it is easy to follow. After several miles the trail will drop down, head up a canyon(westerly), and intersect a faint jeep trail. Walk up the hill on the jeep trail, and intersect the main closed road that I mentioned earlier. If you have a WDFW Quilomene-Wiskey Dick Road Management Areas map you will see the road. Once I hit the road, which is some distance from the river I headed north. A short distance before this road starts losing elevation I kept left (west) on a faint jeep trail and hiked a short distance beyond the fence line that is the property boundary between State Parks and WDFW property at approximately the convergence of Sections 1, 2 11, and 12. Here I found the first hedgehog cactus. They are just starting to bloom. On the return trip I stayed on the drivable, but closed road that hits Old Highway 10 about 200 feet west of my starting point. This is a nice loop of about 5 miles. If you take the route I took and go beyond the previously mentioned fence you will see a sign saying that State Park land is closed to entry. That is confusing, because there are no such signs on the Vantage side of Ginkgo State Park where I entered and exited the area. Right from the start you can't look across the landscape and not see wildflowers, hundreds of them from almost ever vantage point. Buckwheat, Carey's balsamroot, cushion daisy, lineleaf daisy and upland larkspur dominate much of the landscape. Carey's balsamroot is well past it's prime. The yellow bells, and several species of desert parsley are forming seedpods. After reaching the road there are Gairdner's penstemon, Hooker's balsamroot, lupine, most of the species that I already mentioned, and past their prime narrowleaf goldenweed. There are a number of flowers that I didn't mention or can't identify. I saw a group of 8-9 bighorn sheep, but none of the elk that leave their sign all over the area. I didn't see any bluebirds, but hiked past what appeared to be a bluebird nest box. This box is visible from a great distance. I saw several crows and a lone turkey vulture. Jut before reaching Recreation Drive near the end of my hike I saw a rattlesnake. When I started the weather was fantastic, meaning sunny and no wind. About 2 hours into the hike the wind picked up, but it was warm and not unpleasant. Wildflower photography is difficult when the wind is blowign, but a rare day it is this time of year when there is no wind in the Vantage area. There were two vehicles parked at the gated road when I started hiking. A large group, including kids arrived just as I was leaving. They started up the route that I described. I saw no one while I was hiking. All in all it was a beautiful day for a hike. I will probably return in a few days to hike another part of the Quilomene-Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area while the wildflowers are at their prime and before the roads open to vehicles (May 1). I almost forgot to mention the great views up and down the Columbia River along the first leg of this hike. See my photos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlcummins_photography/sets/72157633360980088/