Kittitas Environmental Education Network

Great Desert Hikes in Washington
From Washington Trails Association

The desert steppe country of Eastern Washington is the place to hike in spring - especially this spring when the Cascades and Olympics are still deep in snow.

First time hikers in this region will be surprised and delighted about what this country has to offer: colorful and abundant wildflowers; lakes, ponds and marshes full of birdsong; sweeping vistas of mountains and rolling hills; intimate canyons with steep basalt cliffs; and through it all winds the mighty Columbia River. What's more, you can enjoy plenty of solitude.

We've selected six excellent hikes all across Central and Eastern Washington. There are many more to choose from, and we heartily recommend you purchase the guidebook Best Desert Hikes Washington by Dan Nelson and Alan Bauer (Mountaineers Books). It details 100 mostly little-known desert hikes and is the best resource for hiking here.

A few special considerations about hiking in desert country:

• Watch for ticks and snakes, both common to the region.
• Bring extra water - on a hot, sunny day you can get dehydrated quickly.
• Even on a sunny day, bring a jacket - it gets quite windy.
• Heed private property signs and close gates behind you.
• Be careful not to trample the plants.
• Make sure you have an annual Washington Fish & Wildlife vehicle permit for your car if you plan to hike on state-owned lands. They are available online and from most fishing & hunting retailers.
• Bring a map, compass and navigation skills.

Click here to read about the six great desert hikes.

1. Take a bike ride, a walk, or a drive.
In fall, flowering shrubs can be found throughout eastern Washington shrub-steppe lands. Yellow-blooming rabbitbrush and sagebrush are plentiful along the Yakima River Canyon Scenic Byway. The Umtanum Creek Recreation Area - about 1/2 way between Ellensburg and Yakima is a great place to hike, camp and fish with spectacular birding and wildflower viewing. In spring, the Hayward Hill off Highway 10 near Thorp is a great place to see balsamroot, lupine, and phlox in bloom. For good birding locations in our region see the Kittitas County Audubon Society.

2. Keep a shrub-steppe journal.
Pick a certain favorite area of the shrub-steppe, like the recently conserved 17,000 acre Skookumchuck Canyon, and observe it through the seasons. In a notebook, describe plant and animal life of the area. What is the climate like? the soil? How has the land been used? Note questions you may have about the area's topography, geology, or human habitation. Record your personal impressions of the place. What do you think about what you see? Return to the same place in May, August, November, and March. What changes have occurred?

Resources

1. Birds of the Tri-Cities and Vicinity, 1991. Howard R. Ennor, Lower Columbia Basin Audubon Society, Richland, Washington.
2. Bringing the World Alive: A Bibliography of Nature Stories for Children, 1995. The Orion Society, New York, New York.
3. Sagebrush Country, 1974. Ronald Taylor and Rolf Valum, Touchstone Press, Beaverton, Oregon.
4. Shrub-Steppe: Balance and Change in a Semi-Arid Terrestrial Ecosystem, 1988. W. H. Rickard, L.E. Rogers, B.E. Vaughan, and S.F. Liebetrau. Elsevier, New York, New York.
5. Shrub-Steppe Seasons: A Natural History of the Mid-Columbia Basin, 1995. Lee E. Rogers, Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Richland, Washington (Available at the Consolidated Information Libraries, WSU/Tri-Cities).
6. Vascular Plants of the Hanford Site, 1992. M.R. Sackschewsky, D.S. Landeen, J.L. Downs, W.H. Rickard, and G. I. Baird, Westinghouse Hanford Company, WHC-EP-0554, Richland, Washington (Available at the Consolidated Information Libraries, WSU/Tri-Cities).
7. Weeds of Eastern Washington & Adjacent Areas, 1972. Xerpha M. Gaines and D.G. Swan, Camp-Na-Bor-Lee Association, Davenport, Washington.

More Information

1. Celebrating Wildflowers Coloring Book -http://www.nps.gov/plants/color/
2. Columbia Basin Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Washington - http://www.wnps.org/cbasin/
3. Lewis and Clark in the Shrub-Steppe of Washington - http://www-ed.fnal.gov/ntep/f98/projects/pnnl/present.html
4. National Geographic - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/
   profiles/terrestrial/na/na1309.html
5. Shrub Steppe Conservation - http://www.kettlerange.org/steppeweb/
6. Hanford Reach National Monument - http://hanfordreach.fws.gov/grasslands.html
7. Southwestern Shrub-Steppe - http://spuds.agron.ksu.edu/SWShrubSteppe.htm
8. World Wildlife Great Basin Shrub-Steppe - http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildworld/profiles/
   terrestrial/na/na1305_full.html