Manastash Ridge

We drove out south of Ellensburg to hike up to Manatash Ridge in the Wenas Wildlife Area. There are several trails going up to the Ridge. We hiked up the Westberg Trail, hiked out along the Observatory Road for a view miles, came back and hiked down the steep Prater Trail. Overall 8.4 miles with 2,200 ft of gain. We saw lots of wildflowers. great views and watched an eagle and a hawk soaring overhead.

Balsamroot and lupine in bloom near the beginning of the trail.

More lupine and phlox as we continue up this steep trail.

lots of phlox

Some beautiful balsamroot, this grew throughout the trail and we could see it scattered along the ridge.

Here the balsamroot lines the trail

Looking north from Manastash Ridge, Mt Stuart and the Enchantment Peaks in the far distance.

zoom of the peaks

Up on Manastash Ridge, we walked along Observatory Road for about 2-1/2 miles. The road went up and down about 4 hills along the ridge towards the west.

Some lovely lupine and in the far distance we could see the observatory (on the right).

More views to the north of Stuart and the Enchantment Peaks.

zoom of Mount Stuart

Along the Observatory Road, we saw lots of bitterroot in bloom.

Further along the road, we began to see Mt Rainer in the far distance to the southwest

Once we had a nice unobstructed view of Mt Rainer and American Ridge, we stopped for a lunch break before turning back. This was about 1/2 mile before reaching the Observatory.

zoom of Mt Rainer

We returned back along Observatory Road, view to the north before we descended down the very steep Prater Trail (it disappears down to the right of this photo).

A beautiful spot along this trail with red paintbrush mixed in with balsamroot.

some of the many wildflowers seen along the trail today: