Birds. Birds! BIRDS! This park is for the bird . . . watcher! And little wonder. Yakima Sportsman State Park is located in the flood plains of the Yakima River and contains ponds and marshes and all the things that birds love - like plenty of food, nesting, flying, paddling. Although this park rests in the suburbs of Yakima, it still has a sense of the wilderness. It's an oasis in an area known for its dry climate.
The Sportsman's Association of Yakima created this park to promote game management and preserve natural resources. The Association gifted the park to the State of Washington in 1956 and is now maintained as a camping park with fishing ponds, picnic shelters and trails plus lots of areas to bird-watch.
So what is there to photograph here? Well there's the birds. No matter what time of year you come to the park, you will find birds. As a wetlands area, it is a stop over for migrating birds, a breeding area for local birds and the ponds keep the air more temperate which attracts insects and the birds that eat them.
The ponds also lend themselves to photography. Even though there are homes right over the fence, they are well hidden by the woods that fill the boundaries. In fact, the only time I really ever notice homes is when I'm at the marsh overlook watching the Red Winged Blackbirds flit around the cattails. In fact, cattails abound here. Walk the trail around the kids' fishing pond and you will find cattail on one side of the trail and sage on the other. Talk about a variety for photography!
To get here: Drive to Yakima on I-82 and take the exit to Terrace Heights Way and turn East on Terrace Heights Way. Turn South onto University Pkwy then turn West onto Gun Club Rd to the park.
Come here for the birds, come here for the landscapes or come here for a relaxing weekend away. Yakima Sportsman will not disappoint.
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