This was my first trip up the relatively new Candy Mountain Trail. It's a great trail for a quick "get out of the house" hike. It's extremely well maintained, very family friendly and overall a pretty easy hike. The first 0.75 miles is mostly flat with a very slight incline and wanders through a small community of high end homes. Then the trail zig-zags up to the 1,400 ft. summit with a moderate grade. I know Badger Mountain by far has been the Tri-Cities most popular trail system for a long time, I imagine Candy Mountain Trail is now the 2nd most popular hike in the area. On the way up you see groups of people serpentine the entire mountain at a pretty steady rate. There was about 2 dozen cars in the parking lot when I arrived, and it has room for several dozen more. While it's not a very challenging hike, I enjoyed its 360 degree views of the Tri-City/Benton City/Hanford Reach area and plan to be back when I need a quick hike in a time crunch or want an easy scenic hike to take visiting friends and family on. Roundtrip from trailhead to summit and back was 3.6 miles.

We didn't find any candy but it was a leisurely hike!

In 2016 the Friends of Badger Mountain bought 195 acres of land on Candy Mountain overlooking the Tri Cities area.  Volunteers have since put a nicely graveled 1.7 mile trail up to the summit.  You can read all about it here: http://friendsofbadger.org/making-the-candy-mountain-trail/

The trail is pretty easy, starting out flat until it finally rises up to the summit.  During the flat bit, there's a portion of beautiful basalt boulders that are exposed right along the edge of the ridge.  Keep your eyes peeled for one that's a little different.

There was a fire here recently (Sept. 8) and generally I'm not a fan of hiking through burns, but since this is sage steppe, and I haven't been here yet... I gave it a shot.

The trail itself is nicely graded, I found it pretty easy, but it could probably be considered a moderate hike even if there is nothing strenuous about it.  It does, after all, go up.  The trail is open to hikers, bikers, and those crazy trail running folks.

Overall this is a nice easy day hike.  If you've got an extra hour or two I'd recommend it.  It would be good for kids, and provides a nice alternative to Badger Mountain while affording interesting views from a different perspective over the area.