Walkabout: Yakima Sportsman State Park trails

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Location: Yakima.

Length: Several miles of trails.

Level of difficulty: Level-to-gentle dirt/gravel trails. If you take the cross-island trail, you may have to ford a shallow side channel of the river (less than one foot deep).

Setting: In a dry sunny land, this 246-acre park that straddles a floodplain island is a lush oasis, featuring 19,000 feet of waterfront on the Yakima River and its side channels. Trails cross the island, follow a road along the top of a dike, or encircle a small fishing pond. In addition to the hiking trails, the park features huge expanses of flat, groomed lawns in the day-use area, with large deciduous trees providing welcome shade.

Highlights: The park was created in 1940 by the Yakima Sportsman Association, a hunting, fishing and shooting club, to promote game management and the protection of natural resources. One hundred and forty species of birds can be seen at the park, and there are signs of beavers and river otters. Wild and formerly domestic waterfowl paddle around the shallow pond, which is topped with pretty, yellow pond lilies, and white and pink water lilies. You can hear bats squeak as they hunt for insects in the evening. Kids can fish in the pond (accessible from the corner of the day-use area), which holds bluegill, trout, catfish and some really big carp.

Facilities: Restrooms, water, phone, playground and campground. State Parks parking fee of $5/daily or $50/annual pass.

Restrictions: Leash and scoop laws in effect. Do not feed the waterfowl. Watch out for poison oak.

Directions: In Yakima, heading southeast on Interstate 82, take Exit 34, turn left at the end of the exit ramp and follow signs about two miles to the park. Get a map of the park trails at the entrance kiosk.

For more information: 509-575-2774 or www.parks.wa.gov.
 
— Cathy McDonald, special to The Seattle Times

Cathy McDonald is co-author with Stephen Whitney of "Nature Walks In and Around Seattle," with photographs by James Hendrickson (The Mountaineers, second edition, 1997).