Zintel Canyon provides drainage for the watershed from the Horse Heaven Hills that covers an area of approximately 333 square miles which including portions of the south slope of Jump-Off-Joe. To build the 10th Avenue Bridge over Zintel Canyon the Arm Corp of Engineer had to build the Zintel Canyon Dam in 1992 just south of W. Hilderbrand Blvd. The fear was if a perfect storm came through again like the winter of 1964, without the dam, the runoff water would take out the bridge. In the past flood, waters down Zintel Canyon have sent waves crashing against first floor windows and forced people to swim their horses across Kennewick Avenue.
The Spirit of America trailhead begins at the north east end of Zintel Canyon Park and is located at southwest corner of West 7th Avenue & South Vancouver Street. The trail extends south down the canyon to South Anderson Street & on to West 15th Avenue.
The Canyon is a wonderful place to hike, jog, pick some blackberries, but the area has earned a bad rap from some transients, misbehaving teenagers and fires. So for now, don’t enter the Zintel Canyon greenway at night or alone. It is safe, but over grown and with news headlines like “Kennewick woman died in Zintel Canyon not far from home”, “Things aren't always what they seem at The Zintel Canyon Greenway” or “The Spirit of America Trail a Blaze” does earn a little caution and common sense.
Zintel Canyon in the late 1800’s was known as Central Canyon between Nine Canyon and Badger Canyon. Mike Sentle had a homestead in 1889 at the head of the canyon on Owen Road on the way to Jump-off-Joe just south of Kennewick. The canyon became to be known for him as Sentle Canyon but because of a cartographer’s error on an early map, the “S” was changed to a “Z” and a flip of “le” to “el”. The name Zentel eventual stuck even though the local residents protested for years. Micheal Sentle was born in 1839 in Bohemia, Austria and immigrated to the United States in 1886. He settled as a farmer in Kennewick, Washington by 1889. He passed away on March 18th, 1916 at St. Mary's Hospital, Walla Walla at the age of 77. Many of his great grandchildren still live in Washington. There are probably many Browns, English and Sentle that are unaware of their famous grandfather.
High cache mugging area so stealth is required.