Yakima Valley Attractions

Entering the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge
Toppenish City Murals

My wife and I grew up in the Yakima Valley, more precisely the Lower Valley in Wapato, Washington. So we have made dozens of trips home from Gresham since 1970. The drive is always a pleasure with the rare exception of a Gorge ice storm. The first leg is the Columbia River Gorge. Mountains, rivers, streams and waterfalls pass until merging with the desert around The Dalles. A left at Biggs Jct. and up to Goldendale and Satus Pass with beautiful pined forests.   The trees again succumb to drier hills (look for wild horses) before a steep drop into the Valley about 150 miles from Gresham/Troutdale.

There are many things to do and see in the Valley so I’ll focus this adventure on three.

As you drop into the Valley the first stop can be the Toppenish Wildlife Refuge. The refuge was created in 1964 as a place of resting and feeding for waterfowl passing along the Pacific Flyway. Short walking trails will lead one to see a variety of ducks, wading birds and geese. On our recent trip we took the paved road west from the refuge about six miles to Lateral C that crosses Toppenish Creek and with your best travel buddy a handy GPS brings you back to the Wapato/Toppenish area. My GPS even has a name, Lucy and she is a life saver on any trip.

Granger: “where dinosaurs roam”
The kids will love it!

The next stop is The City of Toppenish Murals. The mural project began in 1989 as part of the Washington Centennial Celebration. The first mural was titled “Clearing the Land”. There are now over 75 murals on buildings around the small city. A quick web search will provide you a PDF map showing the location of each mural along with a brief explanation. A self -guided tour can be walking or just cruising the city from the comfort of your car. The murals really are all works of art.

Stop three is the small City of Granger. The city motto is “where dinosaurs roam”. In 1994 the city thought it needed a theme so the idea of creating models of dinosaurs was born. Today there are a wide variety of near life sized dinos roaming the city. Hisey Park by the large pond has about two dozen roaming the grounds and is a great stop for a picnic. The T-Rex is especially realistic and maybe a bit scary for the little ones. Before the world stopped as we know it with Covid the City Public Works Department created a wire and cement dino and the school children would get the opportunity to paint it for display. Let’s hope life gets back to normal again so the dinosaurs can proliferate.

Miner’s burgers a “can’t miss”

I know a few people who say they “eat to live”. But for me I “live to eat”. Therefore absolutely no trip to the Valley would be totally complete without a stop at Miner’s in Yakima. A Big Miner burger is for me the best. No tomatoes and extra onions please. Good burgers, even great burgers can be found anywhere but this one is special. Miner’s opened in 1948 as a tiny drive-thru and has now expanded with a large dining area. As a kid I remember my parents stopping at Miner’s for a burger that, as I recall was 50 cents. So Miner’s is must stop and for me and for many like me it’s a special place of memories.

This trip can be made in one long day or several days with many things to do in the Valley. Enjoy your trip!

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