If you've ever thought about visiting Kanaskat-Palmer or Flaming Geyser State Parks tomorrow is a FREE DAY at Washington State Parks. So take the opportunity to visit the Green River Gorge. Right now the river is running very high so stay safe but enjoy it's different mood.
Winter Gorge
Wild and powerful, the Green in winter is a different river then in the late summer months. It is a powerful beast of dark green currents that swirl and boil through narrow channels of steep cliff walls. The deep green broken by torrents of crowded whitewater that roar against the canyon walls.
The river claims it's space in a gorge that few have visited in the winter. Those who do must have anchored footsteps and tread cautiously on slick moss covered sandstone. The best vantages are from well worn river side trails above the torrents. Visitors discover another snapshot of the eternal cycle of ebb and flow that has carved through 150-300 foot sandstone cliffs over a millennia.
Kanaskat is the entrance to the twelve mile long Green River Gorge. Trails follow the meander of the river channel and connect the campgrounds and picnic areas. Rafters and kayakers enter the gorge from a put-in on the lower ledge of the park. They immediately dropdown ledge drop rapids before a passing a foreboding warning sign anchored to a cliff wall. Then they turn the corner and enter gorge.
Flaming Geyser lies at the far end as the gorge opens up into the Green River Valley. Here the river laps above it's banks at high water swirling between river bank trees into grassy meadows. Brown cattails with bent leaves line the winter ponds.At the far end of the park a forest trail crosses crisp creek and continues along a dirt path beneath towering Cedars and giant Maple. Rain dripping off the mossy branches onto the forest floor.