Bear Canyon

Follow a stream between steep sided basalt cliffs up a shady canyon in the transition zone between the Cascade Mountains and the dry shrub-steppe grasslands of eastern Washington. The area provides seasonal refuge within the Oak Creek Wildlife Area for a variety of large mammals including elk, deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, cougar, and black bear. Take care with dogs and small children as rattlesnakes are encountered frequently in the canyon during the warmer months.

From the parking area (no facilities), head up the gravel road following the creek for 0.5 miles. Cross the creek twice on rocks and logs and head into the canyon transitioning to trail at this point. 0.3 miles later the trail is washed out, but press onward, crossing back and forth across Bear Canyon Creek on rocks and logs five times over the course of the next 0.5 miles before the trail again becomes solid. Continue up the canyon another 1.9 miles along the course of an old roadbed with frequent unbridged stream crossings through microcosms of sagebrush, white oak, black cottonwood, aspen, and ponderosa pine to the end of the trail at a junction with road NF-275.

WTA Pro Tip: 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.