Umtanum Campground

Four of us went on a Camping trip to Central Washington on a Class C motorhome and a camper van. We stayed at Wanapum Campground on Wednesday and Umtanum Recreation Site on Thursday.

When we arrived at Umtanum Recreation Site at 9 am Thursday the campground was empty. We secured two campsites and paid $7.50 each (50% discount with our senior pass) using our credit card at the kiosk. We started hiking crossing the foot bridge. From the suspension foot bridge, we saw a fisher in Yakima River fishing for trout. We hiked Umtanum Ridge from 10 am till 2:30 pm.All six campsites were occupied by 5 pm Thursday. A few RVs came by and left after that. At night freight trains passed the railroad track at 4:20 am, 6:20 am, and 7:40 am. This is a small campground good for many recreational activities.

Arrived 6pm on a Sunday and snagged a back in spot for our 32ft motorhome. We were in spot 5 of only 6 spots. There’s is a large parking lot for day use, a boat launch into the Yakima river, a cool suspension foot bridge, and some trails to explore. Modern solar powered pay station with a touch screen takes credit. $15/nt. No hookups. Nice scenery. Train goes by on the other side of the river every 4 hours. My kid loved it. Our spot had a fire grate and picnic table and a gravel parking pad.

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.

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.