Natural History Wanderings

Washington Trails Association had a wildflower report for Columbia Hills State Park, Catherine Creek – Natural Arch, and Horsethief Butte  dated  Mar 29, 2013

On the way down on Wed we stopped for lunch at the Horsethief Butte trailhead, then hiked the road up Eightmile Creek past the falls to where it switchbacks out of the canyon. It was a little cloudy as we started hiking, but became quite sunny as we walked. There were quite a few wildflowers in bloom, especially Gray’s Desert Parsley. The Balsamroot was just beginning. On Thurs we went over to Catherine Creek. We had a very leisurely walk on the Universal Access Trail and had lunch at the bench overlooking Catherine Creek Falls. It was cloudy bright as we began, but by lunchtime it was only partly cloudy. There were lots of wildflowers, especially Smooth Desert Parsley & a saxifrage (we weren’t sure if it was integrifolia or oregana). After lunch we walked up Catherine Creek as far as the arch. There were also quite a few grass widows, yellow bells, etc. On the way home on Fri we stopped at the Rowena Plateau. It was nice & sunny, but we were too early for the Balsamroot & Columbia Desert Parsley, but too late for the Grass Widows, so after about an hour we drove down to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in the Dalles and had lunch overlooking the river. After lunch we crossed over to the Washington side and hiked up Horsethief Butte. There was lots of nice Gray’s Desert Parsley here as well along with some Baslamroot in bloom

Read all of their reports at: Trip Reports — Washington Trails Association.