Made an attempt at hiking up Umtanum Creek Canyon, but had trouble staying on the true trail. In many places the trail is heavily overgrown making it difficult to follow. I also didn't really love the idea of wandering around in high grass with the possibilities of rattlesnakes underfoot. We walked around for quite a while exploring the area and then decided our time might be better spent cooling off in the shade and the river. The trail was very hot on Sunday with little to no shade, but the area is beautiful - lots of desert plantlife, wildflowers, noisy insects, and birds. Plus there's a really cool suspension bridge that crosses the river to get to the start of the trailhead. I'd be interested to go back to this area on a cooler day (and maybe when I'm feeling a little less skittish about the snakes!). 

We were hoping for some "road less traveled", and that was exactly what we got.  We took the trail along the creek - clearly less used than the main trail from the busy parking lot.  Most of the cars in the lot were there for the river - plenty of people kayaking, floating, fishing, etc.  After the initial walk along the creek we tried to follow the directions to the old farmhouse, though we were unable to find the creek crossing mentioned in the guide.  We crossed the creek many times, but much had washed away during the rainy season, so we assume the trail was up on a high bank that we were not feeling up for climbing.  Still, we tromped through very narrow trails until we reached the end.  We took plenty of time to check out the views from the top of a nearby boulder before heading back.

On the way back to the lot we decided to check out a bit of the main trail, and were surprised to find a slumbering, juvenile rattlesnake.  We snapped a few photos from a safe distance and kept going to get a peek over the top of the ridge - the views from up there were spectacular.  We saw many small trails - maybe from/for people or maybe for animals.  We didn't want to venture off trail as there were signs posted letting us know that many areas were closed for wildlife protection, but the small trails along the ridge looked amazing.

Overall the hike was great - not a lot of cover, so bring plenty of water and sunblock. Definitely worth the trip for the beautiful scenery, animal and plant life, sounds, and smells.

Took the family on our first hike of the season, we had a late start and the temperature was already in the low 90s. After reading previous trip reports we had no difficulty finding the beginning of our trail. We did have to back track to find the first creek crossing (you will want to take the trail to the right/north towards the creek when you come to a Y in the trail). I used google map with GPS locator to get us back on the correct trail. The creek was easily passable using logs laying above the water. I suggest packing your bug spray because the mosquitoes have settled into the portions of the trail thick with vegetation. We ended up drinking all of the water we packed in, a bladder pack or two Nalgene bottles per person would have had made the hike a bit cooler. This was a great starter hike for the kids.

After setting up camp at Big Pines CG, we drove to the Umtanum Recreation Area and  hiked two miles to the second creek crossing. This crossing was doable across logs, but it was our turn around time. At the first creek crossing we had to wait for a rattlesnake to cross the logs! Something you don't see every day! :)! White and lavender lilacs and quince were seen at the old homestead. Lupine, balsamroot, popcorn flowers, fiddle neck, Iris, bitterbrush, larkspur, phacelia, and puccoon were some of the other flowers seen. We had read that Lazuli Bunting and Yellow-breasted chats were in the area, but we saw none. We saw only a harrier. 

This was a beautiful and so peaceful hike on a spring Friday.  There is no must-do destination, just explore and enjoy the canyon with its capriciously shaped basalt buttresses until the trail peters out.  It often felt as if we had the canyon to ourselves, and time seemed to stretch out until it no longer mattered.  It is fun to spot the remains of homesteading, such as apple trees, the remaining posts from a cattle fence, and the thought-provoking remains of a farmstead.   We got lost several times, which added to the sense of adventure, as did negotiating the log crossings of the creek, spotting the patch of poison ivy on the way down to the second creek crossing, and seeing the big rattlesnake that suddenly slid into the bushes when we inadvertently disturbed it sunning on the trail.  And all along, we marvelled at the improbable basalt formations, the colors of the lichen painting the rocks and the occasional huge tree that managed to thrive atop the rocks. 

The first time we got lost was at the beginning of the trail, where we took the main trail ahead, bearing left at the information board.  This trail started to climb up the hillside away from the creek so we soon noticed our error, but we were rewarded by the expansive views from that higher location.  We turned back and at the information board, found the correct trail following the creek.

The second time we got lost was because we failed to notice the trail to the left immediately after the first creek crossing.  We just followed our noses straight ahead to the brilliant white and purple lilac blossoms and the intriguing ruins of the farmstead, a basement with steps leading from nowhere to nowhere under a roof of tangled bushes.  After that the trail petered out on the hillside and we needed to retrace our steps to get back on the trail along the creek.

We went slightly beyond the point where the basalt cliffs on the left come close to the trail and the trail becomes a rock trail at the base of a scree slope. After that, the trail goes back into the forest.  After a short distance in the forest, the trail reached a vertical dropoff (maybe 6 ft deep) along the creek, and it seemed that the bluff was unstable and being undercut by the creek so that half the trail had already been eroded away.  This is where we turned back.

There were many wildflowers all along the hike.  The yellow balsamorhiza sunflowers were in full splendor, abundantly dotted on the green hillsides near and far.  The Western serviceberry bushes had finished blooming, bright yellow Oregon grape with green and red leaves was in full glory, and pale yellow bitterbrush and white choke cherry had just started with more to come.  We saw purple lupines, yellow fiddleneck, blue Brodiaea, pink geraniums, white prairie starflower, copper-colored fern-leaf desert parsley, yellow desert parsley, pink phlox, blue larkspur, and many other small white and yellow flowers in abundance.