It is too bad about the burn, would have been a marvelous canyon.

However with that said, I would recommend this as fantastic Halloween hike! Very kid friendly 

The rock formations are still very neat!

Recently moved to the Yakima area so have been doing some exploring, scouting, etc.  Found this trailhead after driving by the nearby elk feeding station.  Trailhead parking is very easy and right off the highway; the trail starts out easy, gravel, fairly wide; lots of canyon walls, rock formations to look at etc.  Not too long in, the gravel pathway disappears, and the trail continues; remnants of a fire, so the area and trail are fairly rough; caveat, fyi, it is pretty much a consistent incline/uphill grade, very few level spots. 

June 2025 and the creek is not flowing; interestingly enough, there are spots where it does; am guessing there are some spring fed areas along the way; I planned for no water, packing heavy, but did bring my pump and filter and was glad I did. Towards the end, I did find a decent spot of flowing water and did a refill; dog and I drank, no issues.

Full disclosure; I did a scout hike on this trip a few days prior, arriving to the trailhead around 9:30; wasn't too long before the sun was up and moving directly overhead the canyon; mistake on my part; turned around after an hour or so.  

Hike #2, got there plenty early, 0730 or so, managed to get the hike to the end, where it meets the gravel road like others have mentioned; dog and I did have to hike out as sun was overhead the canyon.  Was making mental notes for a trail report, hope others find it useful.

It truly is a canyon, walls on both sides, remnants of a fire, not much shade, air flow may or may not be there; as per my experience, would recommend an early start if doing the entire trail.

Wildlife?  Did encounter some grouse along the way, which not only startled me but the dog as well !  :)

If you've read this far, then thank you; wanted to do a report so that readers would know what they are getting into; I did not find it to be a nice, leisurely hike; as mentioned, a constant, continual grade (felt like a treadmill on level 3 or so); took me 2 hours to get to the end, hiking with a few breath catchers along the way; nice part was only 1 hour out!  Please take note of the water situation; I had a hydration bag on my back, bottles on my pack; between the dog and I we were out about halfway on our return; as mentioned #2, did use the pump and filter to get water.  

We cooled down at the trailhead, then did some exploring along the river as we drove back to Yakima.

The landscape surrounding the trail is burned from the fire in 2024; however the wildflowers are pushing through. The creek was peaceful to walk by. The trail was a little hard to follow at the end, but manageable. No snakes.

Good conditions for hikers of all skill levels. A few trees have blown down across the second half of the trail, but are easily passable. Follow the pro-tip in the hiking guide description or this hike is a bit underwhelming: "Take a left onto NF-275 at the end of the trail and follow the road uphill for 0.6 miles to gain a better view of the canyon and surrounding hillsides".

I'd heard there might be some nice fall color up the Tieton, so I took a trip to see for myself.  I started at Bear Canyon.  I walked up the road/trail into the mouth of the canyon until it became mostly shade, then turned around and walked back to my truck.  There was a thin coating of snow in the shady spots and I suspect there is more farther up the canyon.  The oaks were much nicer than I expected.  I then drove down to the upper bridge for the Tieton River Nature Trail and walked down to the big meadow.  I got there about 12:15 and at least half the meadow was already in the shade, including the base of the big oak and the Ponderosa Pine I usually lean against for lunch.  I found another tree in sun to sit against and stayed for 45 min or so, but by 1:30 virtually the entire meadow was in the shade, so I headed back.  The aspens here were better than I expected and there was some very thick frost in the shady spots & ice along the river.  From what I saw from the highway, it looks like there could be some nice color along the trail between the suspension bridge and the meadow.  Finally, I drove down and took a walk around a frozen Tim's Pond.  The day was sunny & cold, especially in the shade.  The only wildlife I saw was a couple of dippers as I crossed the river. I didn't see any other hikers except for a few people at Tim's Pond.  Though not as nice as usual, the fall color was much better than I expected, especially after what I had been seeing an Snow Mtn Ranch the last week or so.