Day Hike - Wildflower, Walking, Wine Tasting- Cowiche Canyon

Meeting place and time 8:00 AM at Tibbits Park & Ride, exit 15, !-90

Leader's notes Cowiche Canyon is part of the rails to trails system. The trail follows a portion of an old 1880s railroad route. The Canyon is a conversancy and is a pristine walk through a natural canyon. It is an excellent site for springtime flower and bird watching. A fairly new addition to the trail is a side trail going out of the canyon and leading to a winery (!!) with picnic grounds and a tasting room.

Located near Yakima, Cowiche Canyon is a scenic trail with wildlife (including the occasional rattler sighting) and very cool rock formations...and excellent wildflowers in April and May.

Along the way, after crossing Bridge #8 of 9 (!) over Cowiche Creek, we will take a detour and hike the short Uplands Trail which takes us up to 360 degree views of Yakima and on a clear day, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams.

And then as a special bonus, on the way out we'll take another detour up the short Winery Trail that leads up a hill to a lovely winery, where participants can just enjoy the scenery or do a bit of wine tasting and have a late picnic lunch on the grounds, and maybe buy a bottle or two of wine to stash in their backpack and take home.

With the two side-detours, actually elevation gain will be about 500-600 feet.