Yakima Greenway

The Yakima Greenway is a 10-mile paved trail along the Yakima and Naches Rivers with a mix of developed parks, fishing lakes, boat landings, picnic areas, playgrounds and nature trails—perfect for anything from a short walk or a picnic with the kids to a run or an all-day hike.

The center of the greenway is Sarg Hubbard Park, with a playground and a lakeside amphitheater; a little more than 1 mile south is Sherman Park, with a picnic area and an off-leash dog park; 2 miles north, the Rotary Lake area provides access to the YWCA Human Spirit Nature Trail. At the south end of the greenway is the Poppoff Nature Trail, with interpretive brochures and wildlife viewing platforms.

Away from the parks, cottonwoods tower over the trail above a thick understory of wild rose, red-osier dogwood and willows, where gray squirrels dart here and there. With the rivers seldom out of sight, you’re likely to see a variety of songbirds and waterfowl, including geese, ducks, kingfishers, great blue herons and, in winter, bald eagles.

The pathway and associated developments are the result of efforts by the Yakima Greenway Foundation, a non-profit group of citizens which aims to "preserve, enhance, and maintain the Yakima Greenway from Selah Gap to Union Gap as a continuous living resource for future generations."

The Yakima Greenway Foundation was first officially organized in 1980. The first 1.6 mile section of the Noel Pathway between Sherman Park and the later-developed Sarge Hubbard Park was completed in 1985. The three mile extenstion north was finished in the fall of 1988.