Umtanum Creek Canyon — Saturday, Apr. 23, 2016

Central Washington > Yakima

Hiked this for the first time, with six 12-15 year olds and three other adults. Great hike, and figured out the trail such that we went in 3 miles to the last open area with room for 7 tents! Saw a couple snakes and sheep up on the ridge on south side. Did get one tick on the leg. The trail going in was not obvious in the first 100 yards... Trail tips: From the parking lot, cross the suspension bridge, go under the tracks and when you come up, you'll see the big sign saying the trail's closed 3.25 miles ahead. Walk to the right side of that sign through the clumps of grass and the well worn path appears, with the creek just to your right. About 1 mile in, it crosses the creek to its north side. Easy crossing on a couple of different logs. Follow the well worn trail for another ~1.5 miles, with the creek now on your left. It'll then cross the creek again on logs with a small camping area on the other side. Continue on the south side of the creek for another mile+ until it gets to another crossing which at this point would be passable if you want to wade; no logs here and the rocks which could be used later in the season are all under water. In that last mile+ stretch there are quite a few areas to camp, a couple large enough for this weekend's two scout troops with ~15-20 people each, and a few more almost at the end which would fit 1-2 tents max. Practice LNT with smaller groups, please! :-)