Washington’s Yakima River is one of the West’s premier trout streams. Named after the indigenous Yakama people, it flows for 214 miles from Keechelus Lake on the rugged eastern slopes of the Cascade Range to the Columbia River. It is Washington’s longest river that lies entirely within the state. Between the towns of Ellensburg and Selah, the river cuts a dramatic path through the Yakima River Canyon, which is flanked extensively by public lands and draws visitors from all over the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Anglers take to the Yakima year-round by foot and by boat, and, in the summer, droves of lazy river lovers float on inner tubes through the canyon. Bighorn sheep, elk and mule deer can often be spotted on the river’s banks, and the canyon’s sheer cliffs and crevices are home to the state’s densest concentration of nesting hawks, eagles and falcons.
Why It Matters
On its winding course through Washington, the Yakima is a lifeline for vast communities of fish, wildlife and people. The basin supports nearly 50 species of anadromous, resident native, and introduced species of fish, including salmon and steelhead, and hundreds of wildlife species. In addition to being informally designated a Blue Ribbon trout stream—a designation that, official or not, points to the health of the river and its fish—the Yakima is a recreation haven where people visit to hike, camp, horseback ride, view wildlife and more.
For the Yakama Nation, the Yakima River lies at the center of cultural, spiritual and economic life, flowing through the Tribe's ancestral homeland. The river and its salmon runs have sustained the Yakama people since time immemorial, supporting fishing, ceremony, trade and traditions that remain central to the Tribe today. The river is also a major driver of the state's agricultural economy, irrigating three quarters of the nation’s hops annually, along with cherries, apples, hay and more.
