What a beautiful area for a spring hike! I made this into a loop hike, crossing the bridge and going went up the vista trail, at the top following the road west to the intersection with Old Durr Road, headed down the abandoned road to the Umtanum Creek, and followed the creek back to the trailhead.

Vista Trail and Ridge: The Vista Trail ascends steadily, when I started I wasn't sure about taking the trail that ascends to follow the bluff above the Yakima River, but others on the trail recommended the Vista Trail as nicer. So glad I took this route! The trail is in good shape, rocky and uneven in parts, but just climbs pretty steadily. At the top today there were great views of the Stuart Range, Rainier, and Adams. Really beautiful. The road along the ridge is nice, too. Windy and chilly, but the wildflowers were in bloom and views were good. I saw no one after the Vista Trail until I got to the established trail along the creek, definitely less hiked. I hiked town the abandoned road starting at the intersection of Old Durr Road and Umtanum Ridge Road, and that was nicer than taking Durr Road since it has mostly reverted to trail conditions. Some signs of the past fire, but everything grassy is growing back.

Umtanum Creek: I picked up the Durr Road from the abandoned road just as it descends to Umtanum Creek, then headed east along the creek. Gaia shows the trail starting after about 1/2 mile and I thought I would pick it up there. Well, it was bushwhacking for about 1.5 or 2 miles before I picked up what could be called a trail. Routefinding wasn't a problem since you just follow the creek and it's in a canyon, but it's a mix of brushy, mucky, and rocky to get through. Not horrible this time of year, typical bushwhacking, but definitely not a trail. Later in the season it would be tough, and I wouldn't do it in a storm because there are enough burned trees to be concerned about deadfall. Yesterday I was crossing rock fields where I could for a while, but then I came across a rattlesnake and thought I would stick to the brush closer to the stream instead. Once the trail started it was easy going, so starting at the trailhead and heading immediately along the stream the trail is good and you'll know where the trail ends. As I reached the trailhead for the creek I realized why the western part of the trail hasn't been maintained -- it's closed after 3.25 miles "to protect sensitive wildlife" along that section. No sign approaching from the west so I didn't realize that. I'd be curious what they're protecting. Because of that the route I took shouldn't be one to follow, I guess.

All in all a great spring hike!

Walked some of the Umtanum Creek and Ridge trails Wednesday morning.  Parking at the Recreation Site lot is plentiful and the larger lot has been completely paved since I’ve been here last.  There is a $5 use fee, (Discover Pass does not work here,) but there is a functional automated ticket purchase machine that worked easy, (no cash option like that had been available previously.)  The two vault toilets were open and in good condition.  We walked the Creek trail up until it gets brushy and branches off in multiple directions, but the trail to that point is in good shape.  We also walked the Ridge trail up to see some of the wildflowers along the hillsides - no issues there either.  Didn’t see a single rattlesnake.

The area is just gorgeous and I was surprised how quickly it’s come back from being burned over.  Everything is green and there is quite a bunch of lupine, flox, plus several other flowers I don’t know already out and blooming.  Lots of bird life out as well - hawks, raven, bluebird of some sort, etc.  The work done to the cool suspension bridge is really nice as well.  A super nice walk just 20 minutes south of Ellensburg in the beautiful Yakima River canyon.  

Link to additional info on the Yakima River canyon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqdSqbgPlIc

Arrived at lot at 9:30am, lot about 1/2 way full. Trail is beautiful, lots of splits in this trail that will bring you back to the same trail eventually. This was my first time in this area and I was underwhelmed by the colors everyone talks about. Wildflowers are blooming, but they are generally sparse throughout the trail. I found all the sapling aspens to be the most striking, brilliant green in the sun with tall white barren aspens scattered throughout these little green oasis areas. We did see 1 rattlesnake and the remnants of a big horn sheep leg across the trail. At 3 miles in the trail pretty much disappears. There are lots of random foot paths, but all seem to lead no where, so we ended up circling around a bit then turning back, so round trip we did just over 6 miles. 

A wonderful canyon country hike through a place that feels vast, austere, and remote.  I drove here from Yakima via the river canyon, which seems especially verdant this year. The new bridge across the river to the trail is fun!

Much of the Umtanum canyon was scorched in the Evans creek fire in 2020, and the landscape bears the scars from this blaze, but also signs of renewal.  The white skeletons of poplar and aspen groves along the trail are a contrast to the abundant new green growth.  I enjoyed how this trail meandered among the trees but also traversed the drier hillsides of the canyon. 

Mixed report as to the wildflowers.  There are a few sparse blooms of balsamroot, some appear to have already blossomed, others not yet.  Many lupines are popping up and have yet to flower.  I observed some death camas and desert parsley in bloom along the trail.  The wild cherries scattered among the nooks and crannies of the basalt walls of the canyon are blooming, their white flowers make a nice contrast to the dark rocks. There are little patches of color from various white and purple flowers on the slopes of the canyon - nothing dramatic, but nonetheless beautiful. 

I really enjoyed this hike through a vast landscape undergoing renewal after a fire, a great place to be on a cooler, cloudy day. Didn't see any wildlife on the trail but saw some bighorn sheep trying to cross the road just north of the trailhead. 

We arrived at the parking lot around 10 to just 4 other cars. It was a lovely quiet morning - beautiful open hills, big blue skies, and nice and cool with just a sprinkling of snow in the distance. We started on the ridge trail and went a couple of miles until we could see the Stuart Range, but didn’t continue to the end as we heard from other hikers who had turned around that the trail ahead was very muddy. That gave us time to go down to the canyon trail where we went 1.5 miles in to see open fields and dramatic basalt cliffs with the green hills. The lot was close to full when we came back around 2pm. The flowers are just starting to bloom, so maybe full blooms will hit in 2-3 weeks. Deer tracks and snake sighting. A very pleasant spring walk!