Returning from a 2 week camping and hiking trip to SW Utah, we camped at Big Pines CG Saturday night so that we could hike Umtanum Canyon Sunday before heading home to Seattle. We have hiked this area many times in the spring but never in the fall, so we were hoping to see the aspen with their leaves of yellow and gold. The aspen grove at the beginning of the canyon still donned many of their golden leaves, but those after the first creek crossing had shed their leaves. We turned around at the second creek crossing. All the creek crossings were easily done. Several others were enjoying the beautiful fall color of the grasses, oregon grape, and other plant life. The sun was just beginning to come over the hills to light up the colors as we were returning to the TH at about noon.

Brenda, Ethan, & I took a hike up Umtanum Canyon today. The forecast was for cloudy skies & a 40% chance of precip, but we started under partly cloudy skies & by noon it was mostly sunny & warm. We hiked about 1/2 mile beyond the second creek crossing, then returned to the crossing & climbed a buttress on the north side of the canyon for lunch. The views up canyon from here were especially nice. We lazed around here for close to 2 hours soaking up the views & the sun before heading back to the car. There were lots of others out enjoying the beautiful day, but it never seemed crowded. There was still quite a bit of green in the trees in the lower part of the canyon, but after the first crossing the fall color just got better & better. What a wonderful hike!

The trail starts easily and enchanted us with flowering sage brush, numerous plants bearing exotic seed pods, glimpses of raptors, bluejays and ?flickers. We leisurely walked for about a mile, crossed the stream as we expected, and could not proceed much farther. Retracing our steps we found a makeshift trail continuing along the south side of the creek which seemed to detour around a washout, perhaps another crossing point. Nevertheless we could not find a way to proceed further, and turned back

We love this trail! In August, it was a great hot summer backpack along a beautiful creek. We got to the trailhead at 8pm, with the campground full of river floaters for the weekend. Just hiking in .5 mile we found adequate places to set up camp along the creek. Although we bedded down in some grass along the river edge, there is a large clearing on the left of the trail after .5 mile. There are also at least 3 other great river-side sites for camping, the best at about 2 miles at the crossing of the river on a bend. Best sitings were birds: Ravens, Golden eagle, and several other falcons. We also scared two different garter snakes when hanging out in the stream and crossed paths with a couple yellow-bellied racers. Did not come across a single rattle snake in two days- although we looked! Spent hours looking for (and finding) crayfish, stream insects, and fish. So far this is our favorite hike it the area.

Did the hike with our two small kids (6 and 2.5). Pretty wildflowers, lots of birdsong. Trail was dry and easy to hike. It was pretty busy (Memorial Day Weekend), but everyone was friendly. Unfortunately, there was a group of young guys shooting skeet at the start of the trail so the gunshots echoing off the canyon walls pretty much put paid to any wildlife sightings. It's hard to get under or climb over the railroad track with a kid in a backpack. The stream crossing wasn't bad- two wet feet but not dangerous. In all, worth the drive from Seattle to get some dry, sunny hiking on a kid-friendly trail.