Explore the best rated trails in Yakima, WA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail and Powerhouse Canal Pathway. With more than 7 trails covering 4015 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Yakima's Powerhouse Canal Pathway begins in Chesterley Park, where you'll find soccer fields, a skate park and picnic shelters with grills. From there, the paved trail heads southeast along the canal...
The Coal Mines Trail is built on an old railroad spur of the Northern Pacific Railway that once served several mines. Look for interpretive signs along the way that identify historical sites. The...
The Lower Yakima Valley Pathway offers trail users the opportunity to experience great wines (produced from grapes grown in the area's rich volcanic-ash soil), interesting shops, and local hospitality...
The Great American Rail-Trail highlights some of the country’s most iconic landmarks, well-known geography and storied history across a 3,700-miles-plus route between Washington and Washington....
Central Washington's Yakima Greenway is a gem of a trail, connecting residents with the outdoors by providing access to the Yakima River, lakes, parks, nature trails, protected conservation areas and...
Notice: The trestle across Lower Crab Creek was destroyed by a fire. This section is closed indefinitely but a detour is available (see trail map). For updates, please check the Palouse to Cascades...
The well-maintained Cowiche Canyon Trail crosses nine bridges over Cowiche Creek on a mostly flat pathway flanked by walls of Columbia River Basalt and other rock forms. The trail is managed by the...
The Coal Mines Trail is built on an old railroad spur of the Northern Pacific Railway that once served several mines. Look for interpretive signs along the way that identify historical sites. The...
The Lower Yakima Valley Pathway offers trail users the opportunity to experience great wines (produced from grapes grown in the area's rich volcanic-ash soil), interesting shops, and local hospitality...
Yakima's Powerhouse Canal Pathway begins in Chesterley Park, where you'll find soccer fields, a skate park and picnic shelters with grills. From there, the paved trail heads southeast along the canal...
Central Washington's Yakima Greenway is a gem of a trail, connecting residents with the outdoors by providing access to the Yakima River, lakes, parks, nature trails, protected conservation areas and...
The Great American Rail-Trail highlights some of the country’s most iconic landmarks, well-known geography and storied history across a 3,700-miles-plus route between Washington and Washington....
Yakima's Powerhouse Canal Pathway begins in Chesterley Park, where you'll find soccer fields, a skate park and picnic shelters with grills. From there, the paved trail heads southeast along the canal...
The Coal Mines Trail is built on an old railroad spur of the Northern Pacific Railway that once served several mines. Look for interpretive signs along the way that identify historical sites. The...
Central Washington's Yakima Greenway is a gem of a trail, connecting residents with the outdoors by providing access to the Yakima River, lakes, parks, nature trails, protected conservation areas and...
The well-maintained Cowiche Canyon Trail crosses nine bridges over Cowiche Creek on a mostly flat pathway flanked by walls of Columbia River Basalt and other rock forms. The trail is managed by the...
The Great American Rail-Trail highlights some of the country’s most iconic landmarks, well-known geography and storied history across a 3,700-miles-plus route between Washington and Washington....
The Lower Yakima Valley Pathway offers trail users the opportunity to experience great wines (produced from grapes grown in the area's rich volcanic-ash soil), interesting shops, and local hospitality...
Notice: The trestle across Lower Crab Creek was destroyed by a fire. This section is closed indefinitely but a detour is available (see trail map). For updates, please check the Palouse to Cascades...
What a beautiful section of trail I started at Rattlesnake lake road up and through the pass tunnel and back nice hard packed gravel.
Road this from Ellensburg west for 26 miles with 38mm tires. nice smooth trail going through history. met some gravel riders riding from North Bend to Cle Elum 50 miles and back for a gravel century in a day.
Rode the John Wayne trail from Beverly to east of Smyrna April 25, 2019 about 15.5 miles. Trail is in good condition. The ride was a tad over 5 hours. Started about noon and reached our destination a little after 5 PM. Saw two rattlesnakes and heard several others. One place sounded like it could have been a den of them. The horses shied and side stepped a bit but no rodeo. Lots of water birds. And we saw asparagus growing along the tracks in several places. Plan to continue on east as the weather permits.
Just outside the city of Yakima is a beautiful canyon with a well maintained trail. Several off shoots (including a climb to a winery and tasting room) make this a unique little jaunt!
This trail is wide and widely used. From serious athletes to large families with strollers - but everyone fits well and seem to enjoy the company. I took a side trip up Selah Hill (steep but short) and got a nice view of the valley. Don’t miss the iron rail bridges!
I loved my hike, spent 3 weeks going from Seattle to Ellensburg.
I returned last night from my two-day bike packing trip over the John Wayne Pioneer Trail (The part we rode is also known as Iron Horse State Park) in Washington State. Our ride went from North Bend at the Cedar Falls Trailhead to the Thorp Trailhead. We stopped at Lake Easton State Park to camp. My 31 year old son rode with me and my wife dropped us off at the first trailhead and picked us up at our final trailhead. She also served as support, meeting us at the campground when our first day was done.
First day was a 40 mile ride approx. My GPS app did not function properly either day because of the four tunnels we passed through. The second day, after we cleared the tunnel MapMyRide told me I had just gone 1650 miles per hour!
The first 22 miles of the ride was a constant but not terrible climb. We stopped to walk a few times because my son, who is an experienced and well conditioned hiker, but not a cyclist, just got wore out from the constant uphill. I think I could have made the climb if I had been with a rider who could also make it and who would have encouraged me to keep on. I am certain I would not have made it without walking if I had been alone.
Once clearing the tunnel at the summit we camp quickly to Hyak rest stop. This is the only place on the trail where there is fresh water. non potable water is available almost constantly along the trail if you have a water filter with you. Upgraded pit toilets are situated frequently along the trail.
The trail between Hyak (the summit) and Lake Easton State Park feels mostly flat but was challenging - especially for my son) after making the climb. We arrived at Lake Easton State park 8 hrs and 30 minutes after beginning our day. The signs on the trail for the State park will lead you four miles off the trail onto the opposite end of the park from Bicycle camping sites (I think there are only two designated for bicycle camping) but it is mostly downhill. Sort of nice after the long day. The bicycle camping sites are not on the lake. We wished they had been. I chose to stay at Lake Easton State Park because I have experience camping at state parks. There are, however, back country camping sites all along the John Wayne Pioneer Trail. Almost every site has a pit toilet and non potable water in the form of a pond or stream nearby. My wife met us at the park with ice cold drinks and lots of water. We determined that we would have her return the next morning at carry our camping gear with her. It would have been a good idea to have had her deliver them to us at the campsite. That way we would not have had to pack them up the mountain! On the other hand, we would not have had them had we chosen to stay in one of the back country sites. At the very least she could have given them to us at Hyak and saved us packing them during the steps part of the trip. Live and learn.
Tent camping is hard on this old body. It was so hot I could not sleep well and began having leg cramps. I had to get up at 1:30 AM and do about an hour of stretching to get them to settle down!
Second day we rode out of the State Park, at 7:30 AM, to the small town of Easton, just one mile from the bicycle camping area. We got a coffee at the Hitching Post - a small convenience store, service station, restaurant, motel. The trail runs alongside Easton and we were on our way. Thirteen miles to Cle Elum, it was hot. My wife met us there and refilled our water. Just eighteen miles left to Thorp.
The ride from Cle Elum to Thorp is beautiful as it follows along the Yakima River. We watched a guided fly fishing group float alongside us from a few moments. It was cooler than I expected and with many more trees than I imagined.
Thorp TrailHead was a bit confusing to find for my wife tp pick us up. But it is only a mile or so from the Fruit stand/Antique Store at the Thorp exit.
Great scenery. Encountered snow east of Hyak. Knobby tires recommended
Trail is a nice surprise. A safe way to bike in the area with pretty views of the Yakima River and access to towns along the way.
We started in Cedar Falls and made it to Lake Easton State Park the first day, where we camped. Our bicycles were fully loaded, and by the time we got to the Snoqualmie Tunnel we were very tired of the uphill grind. The grade is never difficult, and you barely notice it, but after 20 miles your body is feeling it. There was a shortish patch between the tunnel and Lake Easton where the gravel was loose, which made the biking a bit difficult, but all in all it was pretty great. It was a 40-mile day, and there were lots of wilderness camping spots along the way. If we had known how long it would take us to do those 40 miles (about 8-9 hours), we might have chosen to camp at one of the wilderness spots.
At Lake Easton, we took one of the hiker-biker sites for $12.00. There are
two: #36 and #37. We were assigned #36, which is quite small. The other site (#37) is roomier.
The next day we biked 15 miles to Cle Elum, where we ended our ride. The first five miles out of the campground at Lake Easton were excruciating. It appeared that new gravel had been dumped on the trail for those five miles, and it was slow going and a bit scary for one of our friends who was clipped in. But once we got past that point, it was back to being a very pleasant ride.
My recommendation: Switch to flat pedals for this ride. You don't need to be clipped in!
We rode the whole trail from the Idaho border to Cedar Falls in 2016. It is not true that "145 miles" of the trail are closed. There are some detours due to missing trestles, a section of live rail, and short sections of private land. There are no plans to close the trail through the Yakima Training Center. The JWPT is a great way to explore Washington's geography and history through areas not seen from a car. We passed through without any disruption or trespass, and with barely any notice, although we did meet some very friendly people along the trail. We only left behind money we spent in small towns along the way, including those on the detours. For more accurate information go to www.johnwaynepioneertrail.org.
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