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Fields Spring State Park

south of Anatone, Washington

visited 4 May 2024

Back to parks list

It’s been a while since I’ve done a park visit. The 20 or so parks that remain on my to-do list are mostly open seasonally, so the project necessarily took a bit of a hiatus this past winter.

Here we are in spring, and Fields Spring park called to me. This park is in a very remote corner of southeastern Washington. It’s shoulder season, which meant that neither skiiers nor campers were present. In my hour and a half hike through the park, I saw nobody on the trails. (This was a plus in my book.)

This park offers solace and an opportunity to hike through high alpine forest. Most of this park is around 1300m / 4300ft elevation. A good workout, in other words.

I corresponded briefly with this park’s ranger before making this trip. She informed me that had I been able to arrive a few weeks later, the park would have been much more lush and wildflowers in bloom. I couldn’t make that fit into my schedule, so I went ahead this weekend. A few wildflowers were getting an early start on blooming, but not yet noteworthy.

Ah well.

Looking up through a group of trees.

A fallen tree in a grassy field.

Puffer Butte Warming Hut

A tree trunk with moss growing on it.

For more information:

• State Parks web site