Chamna Natural Preserve

Map of Chamna Trails
Red: Trails
Yellow: Gravel utility roads

The Chamna Natural Preserve is another one of my favorite trails because I absolutely love running on dirt--and that's all there is! It's a wilderness in the middle of a city, and if you're not careful, you can definitely get lost. Trust me, I've done it. But there are signs and maps all over all of the paths so you can always find your way again, and you're closed in by the Yakima River, the water treatment facility and Carrier Rd, so if you keep walking, you'll eventually end up back at the trail head! It's a beautiful place to go for a hike, run or bike ride, and you will see plenty of wildlife along the way.

Trail through Chamna

Bench along the Yakima River

Location: The main trailhead is the green marker on the map above and you can get there by taking highway 240 towards Richland, which turns into George Washington Way. At the first stoplight, you turn left onto Aaron Drive. Or, if you're coming south on George Washington Way from downtown Richland, you will take a right onto Aaron Drive. Once you're on Aaron, you continue and take a left onto Jadwin Ave, and from there you'll hit a T and you take a right onto Carrier Rd. Stay on that road and you'll hit the Chamna Natural Preserve. You can also click the location link at the bottom of this post to pull it up on Google Maps.

The road you take to the Main Trailhead
Source: Google Maps

There is also a midpoint trailhead and you get there the same way except instead of continuing on Carrier Rd, you take the gravel road just to the left of it:

Gravel road to the Midpoint Trailhead
Source: Google Maps

Parking: There is parking at both trailheads.

Pet friendly: Dogs are allowed, but they must be on a leash or at heel at all times. 

Maintenance: Tapteal Greenway, City of Richland

Level of Difficulty: Easy-medium. There are some areas with some hills, but you can always choose to hike the flat areas. 

Distance: Here's where it gets tricky. According to Tapteal Greenway, the Chamna Preserve is over 276 acres and has over 11 miles of trails. I can't tell you exactly how long each path is, but I will give you distances for these color-coded trails:

Light Blue: 1.2 miles
Purple: 1.2 miles
Bright Green/Yellow: 1.2 miles

And yes, they all magically came out to be 1.2 miles :) 

For more information on the preserve and for a more detailed map, you can visit the Tapteal Greenway Website. Go walk, run, or bike around Chamna, it's a beautiful place--especially in the warmer months!