Hidden Crossings - Umtanum Creek Canyon

This hike has been particularly frustrating for me. It was one of the first hikes I attempted after moving to the Yakima area. My first attempt was in early spring and it was flooded out. My second attempt came a few months later, where about a mile in I found myself stuck, unable to find where the creek crossed.

This year, I met a fellow hiker who had gotten stuck at the same point. We set out together. It took a bit of hunting, but we finally found the creek crossing! We went until we hit another dead-end. If we were feeling bold, we could have attempted another creek crossing but her toddler was ready to turn around at that point. I believe you can go all the way up the canyon to Wenas Road if you are motivated enough, but that would be a significantly longer hike that would likely require overnight camping.

We were just excited to find the crossing! I'll try to explain where we found it as best as we could.

Umtanum Creek Canyon
FBLM/WA State DNR
Parking permit: $5 FBLM permit
Distance: 4 miles round-trip
Elevation gain: 500'

From Ellensberg, head south on Canyon Road until you reach Umtanum Creek Recreation Area. From Yakima, head north on I-82 and take the exit for Highway 821. Head north on 821 through the canyon until you reach Umtanum Creek Rec Area.

You'll cross a blue footbridge across the river and then go under the railroad tracks to reach the trail.

At the obvious noticeboard, there's an obvious trail that goes to the left and up. Ignore that and hang a right instead, heading up the canyon. There's a lot of open steppe interspersed with tree groves. Later in the year, you may be fighting your way through shoulder-high tall grass that obscures the trail, so spring is probably the best season for this hike.

The banks of the creek are often steep on one side, so you can't just cross wherever you please. It took some hunting, but we found the crossing a little bit after the beaver dam.

A bit after this, the trail begins to braid out in multiple directions, with several dispersed campsites dotting the area. Keep to the narrower path closer to the creek and look for where it levels out with a big rocky shore. Here, we found a few logs that seemed intentionally placed to allow crossing. With a bit of careful balancing, we were able to cross and pick up the trail on the other side.

If you don't cross, you'll come across some old fenceposts and markings of an old homestead. If you hit this, you've gone a little bit too far. If the trail dead-ends in a festering pool of green muck, you definitely went too far.

Remember, there aren't too many places you can cross due to the steepness of the creek banks. The crossing is about a mile up the trail, so keep exploring any accessible bank until you find the crossing point. It's there, but it's difficult to find!

We continued on for another mile until we hit a dead end.

At this point if we were ambitious enough we could have made it across...it's shallow enough and there are enough footholds it wouldn't be too challenging, however we didn't see an obvious continuation on the other side, so we decided to turn around here. There are some nice areas to sit and rest in the shade, so it's a decent picnic and turnaround spot.

There were some flowers, though we didn't hit it at peak flower season, and there were lots of birds, snakes, and other wildlife. One squirrel in particular I think we annoyed, as it didn't seem to appreciate sharing the trail and thought we were following it.

As frustrating as this hike was in the past, it felt great to finally find that crossing and push through the other side. Perseverance and determination finally paid off, especially when two hikers worked together.