From Keechelus Lake near Snoqualmie Pass, the state’s longest river of origin descends from rugged mountains through a scenic basalt canyon to an agricultural valley floor that culminates in the near-desert steppe at its confluence with the Columbia River. Its upper reaches host large herds of elk and deer and exotic wildlife that includes wolverines, mountain lions, and one of Washington’s newest wolf packs. Downstream, wild trout are the main attraction, but steelhead and salmon are the real story.
For you beer drinkers, did you know premium hops used in most of the nation's craft beers are one of the major crops sprouting up from soil in the Yakima River Valley that was irrigated with water from the Yakima River? Its true and its not just hops either. Grapes used in local wineries are also being grown with water irrigated from the Yakima River.
From its picturesque headwaters spilling from the national forest in the Cascade Mountains, the 214-mile Yakima combines outstanding opportunities for hiking, skiing, horseback riding, mountain biking, and more with all levels of whitewater paddling and Washington’s only Blue Ribbon trout fishing.
Now that you have been wowed by the Yakima River, its time for you to take in the view of the river. This cache is near the banks of the river. Park at the gate and its a short walk to the cache.
In September 2002, a group of 19 concerned geocachers scheduled a meeting after hearing that the Washington State Parks was considering banning geocaches in the state park system. Out of this meeting, the Washington State Geocaching Association (WSGA) was "born" with its core values of promoting geocaching as a fun, family-oriented outdoor activity that increases awareness and appreciation of the environment and our parks and trails, provide opportunities for participants to enjoy geocaching and to socialize with other geocaches, educate park systems and land managers about geocaching and its benefits, increase awareness and support of the geocaching through interaction with other outdoor groups and the public, encourage low-impact geocaching and promote stewardship of our natural resources, and support "Cache In Trash Out" activities to help maintain parks and trail systems.
In 2022, the WSGA turns 20 years young. To celebrate this milestone, the WSGA is hosting a 20th-anniversary GeoTour. This GeoTour will give you the opportunity to travel to all corners of the Evergreen State while you search for 140 GeoTour caches. To make it easier to tackle such a large GeoTour, each of our 7 regional chapters will host a bite-sized GeoTour consisting of 20 GeoTour caches with the entire GeoTour consisting of 140 caches. To learn more about our GeoTour, please visit the GeoTour page on our website which you can find HERE. We hope that you enjoy getting back out on the road while touring around Washington State. If you have any questions about our GeoTour, you can reach out to us via the contact tab on our website.
