Day Hike - Colockum Wildlife Area

Trip

Day Hike - Colockum Wildlife Area

Starting on the Columbia River we will enter the wildlife preserve, travel off-trail for 1.5 miles, and rise up into a partially forested area. There will be a large variety of vistas and flowers, and perhaps wildlife (including bighorn sheep). This is the 9th of 15 consecutive wildflower day hikes around Wenatchee.

  • Strenuous
  • Challenging
  • Mileage: 12.5 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 2,400 ft
  • High Point Elevation: 2,000 ft
  • Pace: 1.5-1.75 MPH average moving speed

9:00 at https://goo.gl/maps/RqTeQYxnxwUL1Zfx5  31 minutes from downtown Wenatchee

Our route https://caltopo.com/m/PV40G the yellow portion is the only area where we will be off-trail. Rob Erickson traveled on this route downhill (we will be going uphill); it is reasonable terrain. 

I have never hiked on these trails. The trails shown on caltopo. Gaia, etc. (open street map) are not always open and existing trails; I may have to improvise. If we see that there are great flowers in an area that is not along the route, we may adjust the route in-flight (but not to something longer or harder than what was advertised, the routes are tough enough already).   

There will be daily hikes posted between April 28th and May 12th. They will all be close to Wenatchee. They are being selected and (hopefully) timed for wildflowers. 

These hikes will be at a relaxed pace with time for observation, photography, etc. We will be spending most of the day on the trail.

All of the trailheads can be easily reached by a sedan. 

Ticks, rattlesnakes, and hot weather are possibilities. 

I might have to switch hikes around based on conditions. Some trails can be closed if it is too muddy, I may switch from an exposed to a somewhat forested hike on a very hot day, etc.  

It looks like it will be a very good year for Wenatchee flowers. As of this posting, precipitation is about 20% higher than average. :-) https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/climate/yeardisp.php?stn=KEAT&wfo=otx&year=2022&span=Water+Year

Route/Place

Colockum Wildlife Area


Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

The Ten Essentials

  • Navigation
  • Headlamp
  • Sun protection
  • First aid
  • Knife
  • Fire
  • Shelter
  • Extra food
  • Extra water
  • Extra clothes
Trip Reports