Menastash/Umtanum Ridge

Trail Difficulty: Easy/Varies

The roads in the Menastash/Umtanum ridge areas are under the "Green Dot" program. This program is a collective management program administered through an agreement between Plum Creek timber, Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, Dept. of Natural Resources and others to limit the impact of motorized vehicles on the wildlife and environment in certain areas. Roads that are open to motorized vehicles are marked by a white marker with a green circle at the top. Most of these roads are not really 4x4 trails but rather "high clearance" vehicle roads, drivable by most any SUV or truck. 4 wheel drive is not always needed but it depends on the season as some of the roads we found could have been quite nasty with a little mud.  All of the roads in this area are suitable to larger vehicles.

Most of the roads we found end up on top of the ridges around Ellensburg. These roads can go on for many many miles and the views are just beautiful, especially on a clear day around sun down.  A word of caution though, you may at times see "trails" that look like fun, if they are not marked with a green dot, STAY OFF them.  The penalty for getting caught off of a Green Dot road can be fairly stiff. TOPO! and other map sources show a lot of 4x4 trails in this area and most of them are not open to use!

 

 

Getting There:

From Ellensburg, take Umtanum Road (take the Canyon Rd. exit and turn right off the freeway, continue north to Umtanum Rd.) west into Shushuskin canyon. Watch for any roads on either side of Umtanum Rd. that are marked with the Green Dot marker. It helps to have a good map of this area as there are many crossing roads and trails on top of the ridges.