Field Notes From the Green River Gorge Mountains to Valley Greenway
Viewing entries tagged
Green River Gorge Greenway
The Grand Canyon National Park is an example of a conservation success that most people will be familiar with.
Closer to home, in our own backyard, is the Green River Gorge. While the Gorge isn’t on the scale of the Grand Canyon, it is, in its own right, a unique river-cut gorge.
If you are looking for something fun to do on a hot (very hot) summer day, a trip to Hanging Gardens in the Green River Gorge is one of those off-the-beaten Path adventures.
Through my passion to promote conservation of the Green River Gorge Greenway I developed a love of conservation photography. I bought my first digital camera in 2001 and began documenting the unique beauty and wildness of the Green River Gorge. It has been 18 years and I'm still surprised by something new or something that has changed along the river corridor. I've changed cameras over the years but not my mission to document and preserve the Gorge.
Hungry beaver along the Green River…
Where the trail meets the river a giant rock spirals out of the deep green water like a whale. White foam speckles the surface of the deep green color of the water. At low water in July and August a rocky beach frames a deep green pool beneath the Whale rock. A large flat rock sits in the middle of the pool. Great for soaking up the sun on a hot day.
The road winds down a long hill. As it turns it passes a couple of houses, a spring spilling out of the hillside and what looks like an overgrown R.V. park. The blinking light is a stop sign to either stop or go for cars on either side of a one lane bridge. Only one car from either direction can cross the bridge at a time. The Green River Gorge Road (or Lawson Road as it is known in Black Diamond) crosses over one of the most beautiful sections of the Green River Gorge…and one of the more accessible areas outside of Washington State Parks.
The trail starts at the northern side of the Green River Gorge Resort. For $5 you can park in a field on the western side of the road. From the trailhead you pass through a gate from private land to the undeveloped Washington State Parks land…
Join the 33rd Annual Green River Cleanup on May 5th, 2018. You can still join us as an experienced whitewater boater or you can go with a Whitewater Company or as part of the ground crews. Don't miss out on one of the most beautiful and fun river trips in Western Washington!
Flaming Geyser is a 503 acre day use park that is the downstream book end to the Green River Gorge. Flaming Geyser is where the Green River Gorge ends and the Green River Valley begins. The steep cliff walls of the gorge give way to open fields and farm land.
Across the river from the main part of Flaming Geyser State Park is an undeveloped section of the park that is at least as large as the main park...
Join the 33rd Annual Green River Cleanup on May 5th, 2018. You can still join us as an experienced whitewater boater or you can go with a Whitewater Company or as part of the ground crews. Don't miss out on one of the most beautiful and fun river trips in Western Washington!
Why is it called Hanging Gardens?
"Hanging Gardens is was so aptly named by Wolf Bauer because of the native vegetation perched along the edges of eroding sandstone. Small Cedars along with other smaller native plants cling to their narrow purchase".— Lisa Parsons, local river conservationist
Outdoor Project adds Icy Creek Spring in the Green River Gorge hike to their website
The Green River Cleanup on May 6th was a successful event with high flows through the Green River Gorge and lots of participants helping to cleanup the Green River Gorge! Check out our run through the legendary rapids Mercury, the Nozzle, and Lets Make a Deal at 3200 c.f.s.
Next weekend is the the 32nd Annual Green River Cleanup on May 6th, 2017. You can still join us as an experienced whitewater boater or you can go with a Whitewater Company or as part of the ground crews. Don't miss out on one of the most beautifuland fun river trips in Western Washington!
