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Monday 9am - 12pm Tuesday 9am - 12pm Wednesday 9am - 12pm Thursday 9am - 12pm

Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

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Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

Connecting people to nature, especially shrub-steppe, in Yakima Valley. Cowiche Canyon Conservancy is a land trust. Our parking lots are open from dawn to dusk.

We own and manage over 5,000 acres of land which include 30 miles of trails for non-motorized recreation.

04/21/2026

Cowiche Canyon Rocks, our annual garden party and auction, is on Sunday, May 3, 2p to 5p at the beautiful and blooming . There are still tickets available, and only a few more days to get them. Sales close this Friday, April 24!

More info and tickets here: https://www.cowichecanyon.org/cowiche-canyon-rocks-2026/

If you’re considering going, consider this:

🤩This is a fun and social event for a great cause – supporting local lands, trails, and educational opportunities.

🥂🎻🫜Tickets are $125 per person, a table of 8 is $1000. A ticket includes live music (by String Cosmology), drinks, and a delicious meal catered by .mercantile. You can also bid on amazing and hyper-local art and experiences that celebrate our place on earth. Here are a few highlights (pictured) from the Live Auction schedule:

🍏A Heritage Smudge Pot Lantern, donated by Roger Palmer
This lantern repurposes a smudge pot – historically used by growers to protect crops from spring frost – into an elegant and functional lantern.

🌎Cowiche Canyon Conservancy Peace Pole, donated by artists John Barany, Randal Leek, and Doug Lewis

Celebrate art, community, and a shared vision for the future. Crafted from reclaimed wood, this beautifully carved and painted peace pole is both a work of art and a statement of hope. Featuring the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in six languages reflective of our region, the pole honors the diverse voices and cultures that shape our community.

🎨Snow Mountain Ranch, Cowiche. Donated by Kimberly Trowbridge

Bring the beauty of the shrub-steppe into your home! In this 16” x 20” framed oil on paper mounted to panel, Trowbridge captures the essence of Snow Mountain Ranch and the landscape we cherish and work to protect.

And there’s much more from our generous community of donors and supporters. We hope to see you there to celebrate with us!

04/15/2026

You know you've made it big when you're in the funny papers! As seen in today's

Thanks for the shout out, ! And for the great cartoon, which impressively deals with aging, health, and camouflage in a few short panels.

04/14/2026

Join us for Earth Day in Cowiche Canyon on Saturday, April 25th, from 10am to 12:30pm at the West (Weikel) Entrance! Go at your own pace and learn from a great lineup of local educators stationed along the trail, including:

-Davey Lumley with the Yakama Nation Fisheries on the life cycle, ecological importance, and cultural significance of the amazing and ancient Pacific Lamprey
-Jerred Seveyka and students from Yakima Valley College with scopes and binoculars for spotting birds in the Cowiche Canyon
-David James from WSU Pullman on butterflies and insect life, likely with live butterflies for show and tell
-Sean Tate from Leaf on the Wind Arboriculture LLC on the intelligence and sentience of trees
-Dan Beck with students from Central Washington University on the reptile life of our shrub-steppe, with live reptiles
-Caleb Lankford from the Washington State Department of Agriculture on native bees of our state, with magnifying glasses to look up close at bees on display
-Keyna Bugner from the Washington Native Plant Society on native plants and why they’re beautiful and amazing
-Suki Smaglik from Heritage University on the volcanic episodes that shaped Cowiche Canyon and our valley

We hope to see you there!

04/13/2026

It's our favorite time of year ... Not just spring, but Field Trip season!

A big THANK YOU to all the volunteers who helped set up Snow Mountain Ranch to be ready to receive over a hundred excited elementary and middle school students at a time.

This year we set up a new (seasonal) outdoor classroom of log seats on the Ditch Bank Trail. A special shout out and Thank You to Sean Tait and for donating about 40 beautiful stumps to live second lives as part of beautiful outdoor classrooms.

We have a full schedule of field trips this spring, and we're ready! 😎🐞🦎🦋🌻

*Note: If you're not part of a school field trip and you'd like to rest in the outdoor classroom, you can use these seats to rest too. Just please leave them where they are.

04/10/2026

Hello trail visitors and nature lovers,

We want to hear what you think and feel about our lands, trails, and programs. Your feedback will help shape our organization’s long-term strategic plan to protect shrub-steppe habitat, manage multi-use trails, and engage our community with educational opportunities.

Please complete our community survey! It's available in English and Spanish. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes -- there's space to tell us what you think and make suggestions! The survey is open for five more days, closing Wednesday, April 15.

Survey is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfUMvwUGyJ4lwTwEPwR5ya20Sb3PFwC6bEeY4MNbk4ka4zvFQ/viewform

Thank you!

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Hola, visitantes de los senderos y amantes de la naturaleza,

Nos encantaría escuchar sus opiniones y sentimientos sobre nuestras tierras, senderos y programas. Sus comentarios ayudarán a dar forma al plan estratégico a largo plazo de nuestra organización para proteger la estepa arbustiva, gestionar los senderos de uso múltiple, e involucrar a nuestra comunidad con las oportunidades educacionales.

¡Por favor, completen nuestra encuesta comunitaria. (Enlace en la bio o código QR)! Está disponible en inglés y español. Tardarán entre 10 y 15 minutos en completarla; ¡hay espacio para que nos digan lo que piensan y hagan propuestas! La encuesta estará abierta durante cinco días más y se cerrará el miércoles 15 de abril.

La encuesta está aquí:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScgXKZTMdV8Q_itQYNemuimsnuPrVFQ0wI3gwhiCtu2tDBITQ/viewform

04/07/2026

TRAIL NOTE (4/6/26)!
All Cowiche Canyon Conservancy trails are open, including Rocky Top!

😎🌸🌻🌼It's beautiful out there! Meadowlarks are singing, balsamroot are in full force, and lupine are close behind.

If you want to avoid weekend crowds, we recommend checking out Konnowac Pass trails for both biking or walking.

Enjoy!

03/31/2026

Hey Educators,

🫵We want to hear from you!

What: Cowiche Canyon Conservancy Educators Focus Group
When: This Thursday, April 2, 5:30pm to 7:30pm
Where: Yakima Valley Community Foundation

More info and registration is here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/fdzpknz

Cowiche Canyon Conservancy is organizing a Focus Group to listen to your perspective and ideas about how we can better serve teachers, students, and school communities. If you are an educator, please join us for a focus group designed to listen to you.

These are the last two days to sign up!

Note:
*We're looking for educators with any level of experience with CCC lands, events, or programs — a little or a lot!

*This focus group is part of our strategic planning to improve youth outreach and deepen the impact of our educational programming.

*Snacks will be provided!

03/13/2026

TRAIL NOTE!: Today (Friday, 3/13) through the weekend (until Monday, 3/16), we are CLOSING Cowiche Canyon Uplands to BIKES.

We rarely close trails for one use type. But heavy rains and mud have made trails extremely exposed to rutting and erosion.

If you'd like to experience Cowiche Canyon Uplands trails, PLEASE go on foot. And please walk right through puddles or mud to avoid widening trails and trampling wildflowers (they're out and vulnerable!).🌸

With warmer weather and sun on the way, trails should dry quickly. We expect to be able to fully re-open the Uplands on Monday, 3/16.

Thank you for respecting trail closures, and for helping to keep our trails healthy for the long-term. 🙏

03/05/2026

TRAIL NOTE!! Today (March 5) we're excited to OPEN Cowiche Canyon Uplands and Snow Mountain Ranch trailheads. Trails are mostly dry and in good shape!

There ARE still patches of mud and some BIG puddles in the Uplands. Please do your best to walk or roll right through them (be brave!) to avoid widening trails and trampling plants. BTW, some early wildflowers are out!

Enjoy!😎🌱🌸

01/17/2026

TRAIL NOTE (1/17/26)! ! It's chilly and frosty out there!

Trailheads currently CLOSED (due to mud) are: Cowiche Canyon Uplands (Scenic and Summitview) and Rocky Top

OPEN are: Cowiche Canyon Trail (east and west), Snow Mountain Ranch, & Konnowac Pass

If you're looking for a long weekend adventure we highly recommend Konnowac Pass! Trails here are fairly dry. And the views, when the fog lifts (today, fingers crossed), will be awesome! 🐾🥾🌞

We're continuing to monitor conditions at Snow Mountain Ranch. Trails here have mud in places, especially during afternoons. We will opt to close trails here IF they are being eroded or widened by human use. As of yesterday, they looked okay. So just a friendly reminder to PLEASE walk right through mud if you find it. Or turn around.

Thank you for your trail respect🙏

Address

302 N. 3rd Street, Suite 201
Yakima, WA
98901

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 12pm
Tuesday	9am - 12pm
Wednesday	9am - 12pm
Thursday	9am - 12pm

Website

http://www.cowichecanyon.org/

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