Returned for a spring visit of this area to check on the flowers and try to spot some bighorn sheep. The sheep we did see were above the road near the trailhead and there were quite a few. Flowers are just sprouting and poison ivy hasn't begun yet. 

We spotted some fresh bear scat up the trail but didn't see any other wildlife.

A group of backpackers were exiting when we arrived but aside from four equestrians, we were the only people on the trail. 

We walked up about 5 miles before retracing our steps. A nice area for a stroll with some beautiful forest. 

after the hike we drove up Lick Ck (NF-41) to see conditions. Currently the road is snow-free to about 5000.' Hunters are out camped along the roadsides, I assume aiming for bighorns. 

My first time checking out the North Fork Asotin Ck Trail in the southeastern corner of our state and I must say I was pleasantly surprised how nice it is.

The trail goes 10 miles up the canyon to Pinkham Butte but we did a shorter hike by walking upslope from the canyon at about the 2.5 mile mark and crossed over Bracken Point on the west rim. From Bracken Point we descended the ridge to the parking area for a 6-mile loop with about 1500' of gain. There are no trails on the west rim but the terrain is not difficult for cross country hiking. 

The summit of Bracken Point is covered in native bunchgrass and views of the entire area are quite good. We came with hopes of spotting some bighorn sheep and saw two right above the parking area upon our return. 

First of all, follow the directions to the trailhead as listed here on WTA or in the Hiking Eastern Washington book. We attempted to use Google maps as we were coming from the West rather than going all the way to Clarkston and backtracking but Google tried to make us take what I would call ATV trails and not roads! Had we just gone to Clarkston and oriented from there, we would have saved a lot of time.

We hiked in to around the 3.5mile mark and turned around from there. The trail is really clean, free of debris (natural or man made) and wide enough to walk side by side nearly the whole way for those first 3+ miles. Wildflowers are starting to pop out and it is an area of lovely solitude. We were there on a Sunday afternoon and passed only one other party of 3. This trail is a really nice trail for families with younger children as there is basically no elevation change, a creek for dipping toes or exploring and a wide trail, however for those first few miles, there was little change in views. According to the map there was an incline a little further in that possibly would afford a different view but because of our Google maps fiasco, we had run out of time.

The road leading to the trailhead for North Fork Asotin Creek is currently closed and gated to vehicles, but the trailhead is only about a quarter mile beyond the gate. There's ample parking along the side of the road, and the trail is receiving lots of use: we met two mountain bikers, several day hikers with dogs, and two riders with a pack mule. Despite all the use, the trail becomes increasingly narrow and brushy the farther up-canyon one travels. The early miles are within the Asotin Creek Wildlife Area and on an old road bed, but we hiked beyond that into the Umatilla National Forest. There was a lot of downfall and encroaching vegetation past the five mile mark. Our goal was to explore the Pinkham Butte trail, which intersects the North Fork Asotin Creek trail approximately 6 miles from the TH. There was no easy access to water from the meadow near the junction, so we hiked another half mile or so until we found a campsite. There are established sites here, but they seem to receive very little use and are very overgrown/have downfall, etc. The site we chose had several large trees down across it, but still enough room to pitch a couple tents. It's not like we were hanging out in camp much anyhow! This was our afternoon backup plan after we had exhausted the trails in the Wenaha from the Troy TH, so we got a bit of a late stop after our hike out from the Wenaha River Trail, drive north, and stop at the yummy bakery in Asotin (where I got a sandwich so I could ditch my dehydrated dinner! the perk of switching plans mid-trip!). We hiked in, set up camp, located a bear-hang tree, and still had a couple hours for an evening hike near camp. We opted for the bushwack version of Pinkham Butte: we headed up the hillside above our camp. The creek bed is heavily treed: huge old growth ponderosa pines and douglas firs, plus lots of yew trees, just to name a few. However, get just a little distance from the water and the hillsides are nearly bare. The trees grow in pockets of seasonal moisture: mainly scattered pines and even a few junipers. Walking is easy except for the steepness of the terrain. The downside: I did find my first tick of the season on the way back to camp. Overnight it rained, but Sunday morning looked excellent: sunny and only patchy clouds. We headed for the proper trail to Pinkham Butte. Then it started to rain, then it started to snow. It was an excellent hike, but I ended up completely drenched. Pinkham Butte trail appears to get even less use than the upper reaches of North Fork Asotin Creek. It's not exactly marked at the lower intersection (there was some flagging marking the spot, plus the tell-tale sign of an old log-out. A tree has the remains of a trail sign, but there's no longer anything on it). At the upper intersection is a nice, clear sign, but it intersects an old logging road and 4-wheeler track and is hard to re-locate where it diverges again. I think that just means it needs more boots on the ground. The views from the top are fantastic, so hike this trail to keep it open!