I stopped at Umtanum Canyon on my way home from my hike up Rattlesnake Dance Ridge to see if the bridge across the river was open yet.  It was, and so I hiked up the canyon about 1/2 mile just to see what it looked like.  Most of the shrubs were burned, but many of the trees appear to have survived.  Many of these had brown leaves, but the trunks did not appear to be burned much.  I suspect that the heat from the fire dried the leaves out.  And already the grasses & some of the shrubs are starting to regenerate.  Also of note were signs stating that the Umtanum Recreation Area (parking area & bridge) will be closed from 10/26/20 to 5/14/21 so that the area can be upgraded.  No public access will be allowed.  It looks like they are going to basically rebuild the bridge and pave the access road and parking area.

From reading the previous trail report, I knew the bridge had been closed due to fires, but a call to the BLM (509-536-1200) told us it was open again (but only till late October, when it'll be closed for construction). It was a beautiful, warm fall day, and my husband wanted to fly fish in the Yakima River canyon, so I set off on a hike, despite the fact that the area had burned just a few weeks ago. I hadn't done this trail before (and didn't have a map), but I knew I couldn't get lost because it's a narrow canyon and the trail simply follows the creek.

The burn wasn't complete -- there were areas of living shrubs and trees, but also long stretches of ash, soot, charred brush across the trail, fallen shrubs, etc. The trail was entirely invisible in many places and so I made my way the best I could. After a slow, dirty couple of miles I turned around and plodded back to the trailhead. My boots, socks, and pants were quite a sooty mess!

But there is hope -- many of the trees will recover, and there was already green blades of grass growing through the ashy meadows.

The trail is closed!! Be safe. 

Just wanted to post some pics of The very beginning of the trail after the very recent damage from the Evans Canyon fire. The Yakima river road apparently just opened today. The fire is pretty much out now. 

Looks like the fire burned only on the west side of the Yakima river. Most of the brush on the hills is blackened. Fortunately almost all of the trees and vegetation along the Yakima river is completely unscathed. The beautiful Ponderosa pine look great!

The valley bottom along Umtanum creek is a mixed bag, but it looks like a lot of the trees here will make it. I did not explore further up the creek however. It will be interesting to see how it regenerates in the coming years.

Update 9/11/20:. The trail is closed!. No access to the suspension bridge

Recommend taking a hiking pole. Some growth in trails in some areas. I should brought my Machete. Some areas water and mud. Saw a pair of does. Water fall looks like it’s a hang out for locals. Shoe left at the bottoms of fall in the water. We took it out of the water. Camp fires at the bottom looks like it was fresh. So that tells me it’s a hang out after dark. Locals drive reckless on the dirt road. Very bumpy and rough basalt dirt road.