Umtanum Campground

We did not camp here. We wanted to, and there were a plethora of open spaces but...

All of the BLM sites in Yakima Canyon allow reservations. This specific place had two campers already there and setup (I assume one was the host) and every other spot was reserved. I’m not a fan of reservations in general. Camping, in my book, is all about waking up early and making a mad dash for the forest, losing precious hair follicles as your family dilly dallies in the grocery store, banging your head against the dashboard while your kid needs to stop yet again for another pee break, and driving 47 mph over the limit in hopes that when you arrive, you’ll snag a first come first serve spot even if you burn up your engine to get there. You know, fun!

The worst part about he whole reservation system though is how many people don’t use it. $30 to guarantee yourself 2 weekend nights seems affordable enough for plenty of folks to just blow it off, leaving actual campers without a spot. When we drove by this place at 8am, almost none of those campsites with reservations were occupied. Even without this whole reservation consternation though, I still would have rated this a 3 at best, assuming I would have seen a cougar or learned first hand that Bruce Springsteen camps here or something...

We were passing through and just needed a place to stay for the evening/night. We currently require 4G LTE as we work a few hours daily on the road, which it did NOT end up having. It was an incredibly beautiful spot honestly. When we dont require service we will be coming here as it was SO pretty. Had a few camp spots and was on the river. It was through the canyon, which was pretty. The spots are back in only and there qere only about 4-5 spots, qith picnic tables. Had a pretty walking bridge, but looked to be shut off. $15/night to stay.

Umtanum is a BLM managed primitive campground on the Yakima River with 6 mostly gravel sites on a loop. Each site has a picnic table, fire ring, at least space for 1 tent, and easy access to vault toilets. Camp sites were $15/night or $7.50/night with an America the Beautiful, Senior, or Access pass. There is a 7-day limit due to it being a high use area. -- I didn't see this posted, but a friendly ranger knocked on my door and let me know about the limit on day 8, but still honored my payment for 10 days.

This appears to be a very popular location for fly fishing, and day hiking. Central Washington University seems to have a heavy presence here as well -- I saw 2-3 vans loaded with students a few times mid-week. Just a few hundred feet north of the campground there is a neat suspension bridge crossing over the river, leading up to the Umtanum Creek Canyon Trailhead, and Umtanum Ridge Trailhead. I did both hikes and preferred the views from up on top of the ridge.

This was the only one of the 4 BLM campgrounds in the Yakima River Canyon I was able to pull an unboosted Verizon signal.

Biggest downside: the train noise. Bring earplugs or you will be woken up at least once a night. They are infrequent, but loud.

The Ellensburg Canyon is a beautiful scenic route between Ellensburg, WA and Yakima, WA. The route follows the course of the Yakima River through dramatic hills and cliffs. It's popular with hikers, mountain bikers, river rafters and fishermen. The BLM maintains several primitive campgrounds in the canyon on the east side of the river. We think Umtanum is the best, not only because it is small and intimate (there are only 6 sites) but also because it's the only place in the canyon where you can cross over to the west side without having to swim. A suspension footbridge over the Yakima River leads to an extensive trail system. Watch out for rattle snakes though, especially in the summer!

This campground has fairly spacious sites suitable for small to medium sized RVs, camper vans, truck campers and tents. There are vault toilets and garbage receptacles, picnic tables and fire pits, but no water and no other amenities. When we camped here in March, 2016 our site was free because it was the off season, but as of May 15, 2016 the BLM is moving to a year round fee system. The price will now be $15 a night year round. Also, sites may now be reserved through recreation.gov.

One drawback to this campground is that trains run somewhat frequently on tracks just on the opposite side of the river. We didn't find it too objectionable. Also, during the summer especially, all of the campgrounds in the canyon can become very busy and noisy. If you like your camping to be on the quiet side, try to come in the spring or fall.