Trip Report
Cowiche Canyon and Upland Trails
We headed east of the Cascades in search of sun, wildflowers, and birds.
Danielle Graham
- Sat, Mar 21, 2026
- Cowiche Canyon
- Day Hiking & Naturalist
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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All of the trails that we encountered were dry and well-marked. The Cowiche Canyon Conservancy, which manages the space, keeps an updated list of trail conditions. You can access their trail map and driving directions to their parking lots on their website, as well.
After a week of drenching rain in the Seattle area and a winter with a drawn-out recovery from an achilles tear, we were looking forward to some early wildflowers, as well as time in the sun, with a leisurely hike in the Cowiche Canyon area. The temperatures were in the 50s, which was lovely for hiking in the shadeless shrub steppe habitat. Cowiche Canyon, on the outskirts of Yakima, has around 20 miles of trails; some in the canyon itself on the Canyon Trail, and the rest in the uplands area. Besides hikers, the trails are also used by many runners, dog walkers, and mountain bikers. You can even hike to a winery!
We parked at the Scenic (Uplands) trailhead (Trailhead GPS: 46.61102334642316, -120.6254793292012), which has a portable toilet in the parking lot. No parking pass is needed. The parking lot is gated until 8am. Our 4 mile hike with about 500 feet of elevation gain followed the One Day Trail to the East Uplands Trail, down into the canyon and west along the Canyon Trail, returning to the parking lot via the Tieton Andesite and Historic Jeep Trails.
Early wildflowers were out, including sagebrush buttercup, grass widows, Columbia desert parsley, sagebrush violets, yellow fritillary, and wax currants.
On our way down to the canyon floor, we stopped for a snack and some time in the sun. We observed a marmot in a similar sun seeking position! (Look in the middle of the photo.)
Cowiche Creek was in full flow, and we stopped to enjoy lichen on basalt.
On our way back along the Historic Jeep Trail, we saw male and female meadowlarks singing their beautiful song. We didn't have a camera lens to capture the lovely sound of spring, but you can listen here. This is a great time to head out to Cowiche Canyon to enjoy the return of spring!
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy is a non-profit land trust, and they manage this area in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management. BLM lands near urban areas, like these, were threatened with the risk of being sold off last year. Many Mountaineers members spoke out passionately and successfully in favor of keeping these lands in public hands. You can read more about it in this blog post by Mountaineers Conservation and Advocacy staff.