Fabulous sunny day. The trail began on left side of creek. We apparently took a left when we should have gone right which would have taken us to the other side of the creek - the better option.  The trip upstream led us over some scree slopes which weren't that difficult but the route we used on the way back was better.  Pay attention to rocks or branches blocking the trail that are indicating the "wrong" way.  The only flowers in bloom were two species of ranunculus.  One was R. glaberrimus (Sagebrush buttercup). The other might be R. triternatus (Dalles mountain buttercup), which is rare.  Further research will tell for sure.  

Note the trail closures on photo at trailhead sign.

It was great Monday March 2nd hike . 3 dogs and 3 humans . Warm and sunny , no wind , no bugs . Zero people on the trail . My lab absolutely loved it as he was getting in the creek every 5 minutes. Consider always to wear long pants even hot summer days as sage and other bushes are all over . Save your legs . Previous time we hiked it , lost the trail and end up turning around . So this time We had app to fallow the trail as you will  get off of it not knowing. We have Gaia GPS and love it . Yes $5 cash parking fee required. Clean bathrooms. Look for big horn sheep on your way out to main HWY ( after hike my friend saw them , around 4:30 pm ) , just outside the area after hike . They are there along the river . You will see them if driving slow and looking . Great easy hike for us and dogs . Flat .Yes will cross the creek couple times . 

Decided to go out on a beautiful sunny Sunday and see how far I get on the Umtanum creek trail.  The first three miles were beautiful and uneventful, occasional muddy spots on the trail so boots are recommended.  After three miles you will start to encounter some icy stretches of trail but nothing to worry much about, no traction needed.  The trail also deteriorates rapidly at this point, extremely overgrown and bushy.  At some point you lose the trail completely and this becomes a bush wack, sometimes you are on some type of trail but mostly just going straight through the bushes.  There were orange flags tied to trees showing the way someone else went, they were very helpful.  At times I followed them and other times I chose my own way.  The entire way you are in a pretty narrow canyon so it is obvious where to go, just not always obvious what is the best route from A to B.  The way going was very slow the last couple of miles, the brush is thick and there are all sorts of things to poke and scratch you.  Long sleeves and gloves are an absolute must if you attempt this!  I would not attempt this in the summer months, you add more foliage and leaves to this route and it would become darn near impenetrable.  Not to mention you would emerge with ticks all over you and most likely a few rattlesnake encounters.  At some point I was not having fun anymore and realized I did not want to come back the same way I went in so I pushed on.  Eventually I came out on the other side at Durr road, scratched and bruised from my adventure.  I hiked up and out of the canyon on Durr road and then went overland a few miles on the bluffs above the canyon, bypassing all of the thickest brushy parts and eventually dropping back in via a small canyon and regaining the trail at about the 2.5 mile mark.  Back to the parking lot in 5 hours logging just over 11.5 miles.  Glad I did it but wouldn't do it again and wouldn't recommend this to anyone, stick to the first 2 or 3 miles and turn back.  There is nothing better to see the further you go, in fact you lose all views as the brush closes in along you.  I have heard tell of an old lean to type shelter along the way that was once used by sheep herders but I saw nothing of it.  Of course it could have been 10 feet away from me and I still wouldn't have seen it due to the thick brush.  I know that the trail had been closed at some point and planned on turning back if I got to that spot but I never saw anything.  I also seem to remember seeing a sign at the trailhead somewhere saying that the trail is closed ahead but that seems to be gone as well so I don't think I did anything that wasn't allowed, I just wouldn't recommend anyone else doing it.  

This hike made me feel like a kid again, in the best way. Remember when you were a child, and you'd be in the woods-- or even just your backyard-- and suddenly it was a whole new world? This canyon is a wonderful experience especially for us west-siders who are starting to take for granted the lush forests and mountain peaks that surround us. Like others have said, this trail is hard to navigate. Thankfully we use Gaia which is an app I cannot recommend enough. We needed it too, with all the spur trails and random markers that lead us off our original trail. 

All in all I loved the sense of adventure this one brought me, we didn't actually finish the hike because the rains came in way harder than we anticipated and we decided to cut our camping trip early and head home.

PS----- The 5$ fee at the trailhead is waived if you have an AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL PASS. the Discover pass / NW forest pass DO NOT work here but the American the beautiful does.

We camped at the established campsites the night before our hike, as did two other groups. Great clean bathrooms, and everyone was respectful. Camping was $15 a night or 7.50$ with the america the beautiful

West of the Cascades was forecast to be overcast all weekend, so I cast my sights further, saw that the weather in Ellensburg was forecast to be fine, and decided to try Umtanum Creek Canyon. Driving east on I-90, the clouds indeed magically disappeared right as I passed over the pass. The trailhead parking lot is right next to the road so very easy.

The canyon is absolutely gorgeous. Even though the fall foliage is almost gone, and snow hasn't yet arrived, the shapes of the canyon walls, stands of trees, and scrub brush make for amazing views everywhere you look. The only reason why this hike isn't more highly rated, I think, is because the trail is in decidedly questionable condition. It's near-overgrown in some places, it splits into multiple parts in others, and the "bridges" over the creek are just logs (though fortunately many logs piled together). So the trail is not for those without a sense of adventure, but any hiking veteran will have seen all of these things many times before. I had absolutely no problem making my way up and down the canyon.

I read about rattlesnakes, but I didn't see or hear any; I expect they are all hibernating by now.

I went in the afternoon (hit the trail at 2PM) because I knew the almost-full moon would rise shortly before sunset. The sun dropped behind the walls of the canyon at about 3PM (an hour and a half before sunset), so if you want some sun with your canyon views, I recommend going a bit earlier. I actually watched the moonrise by walking back towards the trailhead to the junction with the Untanum Ridge trail, and hiking up the first part of the ridge -- including some off-trail class 3 scrambling when I realized that the trail wouldn't get me to a good viewpoint in time. Success: the top of the ridge had majestic views of the Yakima Canyon and the rising moon. It turns out there is an actual (though informal) trail to the top of the ridge, so I was able to walk down quite easily with the aid of my headlamp. A grand day all around.