Thinking of taking a tour of the amazing Yakima?
Here are some fun and best things to try.
1. Visit AntoLin Cellars
AntoLin Cellars is a small Yakima winery that first opened its doors in 2007. Linda and Tony Haralson, who has been passionate about winemaking for more than a decade, own and operate it.
The winery’s name is a combination of the names of its owners, and it features a tasting room open to the public from Wednesday to Sunday.
It’s located in the city’s historic North Front Street neighborhood, and you serve red and white wines made from the winery’s estate vineyard.
The winery hosts a public special event on the first Friday of each month. Art and live music performances are featured at this event.
2. Don’t Miss Downtown Yakima’s First Friday
The First Friday Festival takes place in downtown Yakima. Every first Friday of the month, this event features art walks, wine tastings, live music, and more.
It runs from 1st Street to 3rd Street on Yakima Avenue. Many Downtown tasting rooms and businesses feature live music around this time.
Taking seven blocks of Yakima Avenue and a few blocks on either side, you’ll have your selection of arts, food, wine, beer, music, and entertainment.
It is one of the top things to do in Yakima in any season and provides a wonderful fun evening with friends.
3. Enjoy Great Wines At Gilbert Cellars
Gilbert Cellars, a family-owned Yakima winery known for award-winning handcrafted white and red wines, adds to the list of things to do in Yakima.
On the city’s historic Front Street, they have a tasting room. It is open to the public by appointment every day of the week.
Gourmet cheese plates and Creamery are now available for purchase to accompany the sample plates.
Between April and September, winery excursions are also available by appointment. These tours provide information about the winery’s history and activities.
4. Play Games At The Nob Hill Casino
The Nob Hill Casino, which opened in 2001 and is operated by Yakima Hotels, is one of Yakima’s most thrilling attractions.
It serves as Yakima’s finest entertainment and nightlife facility. It also has 7 gaming tables for poker and table games like pai gow, Spanish 21, and blackjack for those over the age of 18.
With a Crazy 4 card room giving the sole possibility to play the game in Washington, progressive tables provide opportunities for competition.
You’ll also appreciate the racebook and pull tabs, as well as the whole bowling alley.
Remember to try any of the typical American culinary options available at the casino’s Last Frontier Steakhouse, which is also home to a casual cocktail lounge.
5. Visit Berchmans Brewing Company
It is housed in the historic North Yakima Brewing and Malting Company building, which was built in 1889.
Natural production processes are combined with environmentally friendly business strategies at this brewery. Its taproom offers a variety of seasonal and year-round brews.
Little Scot Scottish Ale, Dark Pony Chocolate Coffee Stout, Hoppy Harwood IPA, Wide Hollow Pale Ale, and Summer Graze Golden Ale are a few of its offerings.
The brewery also conducts special events for the general public, such as festivals and Downtown Summer Nights events like the Fresh Hop Ale Festival.
6. Exercise at the Yakima Tennis Club
Through tennis, summer aquatics, pickleball, and social events, the Yakima Tennis Club strives to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle.
There is a wading pool, a children’s playground, two outdoor pools, and nine outdoor courts in the outdoor complex.
You can stop by the Courtside Cafe for a snack, lunch, or perhaps dinner in addition to swimming and playing.
Eight courts with LED lighting, as well as refreshments and snacks, are available in their indoor facility. There are also six pickleball courts with lots of possibilities to play seven days a week for visitors.
Remember to take a short stroll down the canal to get to their four higher courts!
7. Check out Portteus Vineyards
At the age of nineteen, Portteus began making his own beers and wines. At the time of its planting, this winery was one of the first twelve in the state.
The winery is currently located on 74 acres in the Yakima Valley.
In addition to the tastings, bottle sales are available at the winery, and you may choose from a variety of red and white wines.
You don’t need to bother about buying tickets because all free public special events include complimentary bring-your-own-glass pours.
8. Picnic at Fort Simcoe State Park
Fort Simcoe State Park, located on the Yakama Indian Reservation lands, is one of the surviving pre-Civil War forts in the American West.
This historical park covers 196 acres and features an interpretive center with rangers who can discuss the area’s history.
The land was a Yakama Nation camping ground and subsequently a contentious indigenous boarding school before it was used as a United States Army fort (1856–1859).
Fort Simcoe State Park is a well-known historical landmark in the Pacific Northwest, with entries on the National Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Sites.
9. Johnson’s Orchards
Johnson’s Orchards, founded by Swedish immigrant Alfred Johnson in 1904, is a seasonal orchard and fruit packing warehouse.
Johnson’s fourth-generation family members now run the orchard, which grows seasonal fruit such as trademark cherries, apricots, apples, pears, nectarines, and peaches.
They’re also processed at the facility’s historic 1916 fruit-packing warehouse.
In 2011, a professional kitchen was added to the building, which bakes various Little Bake Shop pastries and pies throughout the year. They also have a range of Copper Pot Caramels.
10. Float Down The Yakima River
Floating along the Yakima River Canyon is a traditional and popular summertime recreation.
It’s one of the best things to do in Yakima since it’s a fun and refreshing way to stay cool when the weather gets hot.
You can bring your own raft or rent one if you’re an experienced rafter. There are, however, a variety of tour choices for you to travel with a guide.
You would have an extremely wonderful picturesque river float with a guide.
Whether you’re looking for a family-friendly activity or something more adventurous, tackling some of the Yakima River’s greatest rapids is a terrific way to go.
11. Get Fine Wines At Kana Winery
Palmer Wright, a trained plastic surgeon, and otolaryngologist manages and owns Kana Winery. It has been added to the list of the greatest things to do in Yakima.
Wright turned his winemaking interest into a business enterprise at Yakima’s Art Deco-style 1931 Larson Building.
Several vineyards are owned and operated by this winery in the Yakima and Columbia Valleys.
Coyote Canyon, Champoux, Elephant Mountain, Boushey, and Stone Tree Vineyards are among them.
With the winery’s Sampling Room and Hospitality Center, which features a bistro-style seating area, they provide superb table wines and numerous white and red wines for sale and tasting.
Additionally, throughout the year, a number of unique public events are held, such as live music performances and open mic nights.
12. Watch performances: The Capitol Theater
Yakima’s major performing arts facility is the Capitol Theater (which first opened in 1920 as the Mercy Theater). If you’re looking for something to do in Yakima that involves some theater, Capitol Theater is a good choice.
The Capitol Theater, designed by architect Marcus Pritecaiteca, was the largest of its kind in the Pacific Northwest at the time of its opening.
The Allied Arts Council and the City of Yakima completed a full repair in the 1970s, and it reopened to the public in 1978 with a gala ceremony.
This 1,500-seat auditorium currently presents performances by event series and a number of local organizations, including the Yakima Symphony Orchestra.
Over 176 performances are presented each year, including community concerts and touring Broadway musicals.
If you want to see some live performances while you’re in Yakima, put The Capitol Theater on your list of things to do.
13. Visit Bonair Winery
Bonair Winery has been developing exceptional wines in the Yakima Valley’s Rattlesnake Hills region since 1985, and is owned and run by Gail and Shirley Puryear.
The Château Puryear Vineyard, which was planted in 1980, is where the company’s distinctive wines, which include a wide range of red and white wine varieties, are made.
The Morrison Vineyard, which was planted in 1968 and purchased by the winery in 2001, produces more wines.
Bonair Winery is open every day and provides free tastings to those who purchase wine; otherwise, a token is required.
14. Check Out Central Washington Agricultural Museum
Union Gap City, just south of Yakima, is home to the Central Washington Agricultural Museum.
It’s a 15-acre property that pays homage to the region’s agricultural past, as well as the individuals who worked there and their equipment.
The museum’s collection includes various pieces of equipment as well as different display buildings.
An operating sawmill from the 1930s, a Northern Pacific Railroad boxcar, and a 1908 farmstead are among them.
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15. Bale Breaker Brewing Company
Bale Breaker Brewing Company first opened its doors in 2013 and is now the state’s fifth-largest independent microbrewery.
It features a range of homemade beers brewed by Kevin and Patrick Smith, as well as Meghann Quinn, and is one of the most interesting things to do in Yakima.
The brewery is a 27,000-square-foot production facility and taproom with a 30-barrel brewhouse and outdoor terraces on occasion.
Bottomcutter Imperial IPA, Topcutter and Leota Mae IPAs, and Field 41 Pale Ale are among the brewery’s most popular beers.
16. Explore Yakima Toppenish Murals
The Toppenish Murals began in 1989, with its first mural, “Clearing the Land,” part of the state’s centennial celebration.
The MURAL-IN-A-DAY is an annual event that attracts dozens of artists each year to paint a wall-sized, historically accurate mural.
Even now, some well-drawn 75 paintings can be found. If you want to see them, you should take a narrated horse-drawn wagon tour.
This tour is only offered from May to September, but with the help of a map from the tourist center, a walking tour may be completed in about an hour.
17. Walk the Cowiche Canyon Trails
The Cowiche Canyon Trails, which are managed and run by the Cowiche Canyon Conservatory, are one of the top things to do in Yakima.
Cowiche Canyon Conservatory is a land trust that manages about 5,000 acres in the Yakima area, including 30 miles of nature paths.
The region has grassland and sage areas, basalt cliffs, oak-lined woodland parts, and meadows bursting with native wildflowers, among other natural ecosystems.
Great blue herons and beavers are among the available species, while the rivers are teeming with crayfish and salmon.
18. Relax At Mount Rainier National Park
Mount Rainier National Park, located in west-central Washington, is close to the communities of Yakima and Ashford and is one of the top fun things to do in Yakima.
Mount Rainier is one of Washington’s three national parks and is easily accessible from Yakima, whether for a camping trip or a day trip.
It is 70 miles from Yakima to the park’s gorgeous Stevens Canyon Entrance.
The Ohanapecosh Campground, one of Mount Rainier’s nicest, is located in a primary forest only a few miles away.
A two-hour trip from Yakima will get you to the park’s Sunrise Visitor Center.
19. Yakima Must-Visit: Yakima Sportsman State Park
Yakima Sportsman State Park is one of the most popular places to visit in Yakima.
It is a 247-acre public leisure site located in Yakima County along the Yakima River’s floodplain path.
The Yakima Sportsman’s Association administered the park when it first opened in 1940 as a private facility before it was transformed into a state park site in 1956.
There are locations for fishing, hunting, and camping, as well as other seasonal outdoor activities. The park’s 266-acre campground site is available for camping.
20. Yakama Nation Museum And Cultural Center
The Yakama Nation Museum and Cultural Center, located in the city’s south end, offers an excellent introduction to the Yakama people and their history.
It’s a 12,000-square-foot museum with a fantastic collection of art, relics, and photography.
The Yakama Nation Library and Heritage Theater are also located in the Cultural Center.
The museum has a variety of dioramas and displays, including life-size reproductions of homes and enormous exhibits with exceptional sound effects.
21. Visit State Fair Park and Yakima Valley SunDome
The State Fair Park and the Yakima Valley SunDome have a significant stake in serving as community gatherings and special event venues.
Its historical significance began in 1892 when it was used for the first Central Washington State Fair.
The 85,500-square-foot venue currently hosts a variety of public special events throughout the year, including concerts, circuses, boxing matches, athletic activities, and significant congresses and symposiums.
The Yakima Valley SunDome multi-purpose stadium, which seats 6,195 people, was built in 1990 as the world’s second dome arena with a concrete sectional ceiling design.
22. Purchase Fresh Produce At Yakima Farmers’ Market
The Yakima Farmers’ Market, now in its 21st season, is held every Sunday between May and October in a Valley Mall king lot.
On your weekly visit to the farmer’s market, you’ll see handcrafted confections, locally grown fruit, and artisan masterpieces.
In the morning, between 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., you may be served a hot breakfast.
In the communal space, you can also listen to live music and see performances by local artists.
At the farmer’s market, you may buy seasonal food such as apples, cherries, cheese, peppers, and eggs from over twenty different sellers.
23. Snowboard At White Pass Ski Area
The White Pass Ski Resort is located fifty miles west of Yakima, near the southeast entrance to Mount Rainier National Park.
It’s a locals’ and residents’ favorite, and it’s on the list of exciting things to do in Yakima.
During the winter, White Pass is a popular destination for snowboarders and skiers of all abilities.
Expert-only terrain with chutes and cliffs is accessible, as well as beginner-friendly ski lessons.
White Pass Ski Area has about 1,500 acres of skiable terrain, and the White Pass Nordic Center has 18 kilometers of groomed routes.
There is more than enough to satisfy the throngs of people who swarm to the slopes every season.
24. Check Out The Yakima Valley Visitors Center
The Yakima Valley Visitors Center is the first stop for everyone visiting the Yakima Valley. Throughout the year, it is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays.
Outdoor adventure areas, nationally famous breweries, family-friendly attractions, and the state’s wine country region are all covered by this center.
On-site travel advisers are available to assist visitors in planning their itineraries as tourists in Washington.
You’ll find a variety of Yakima-made artisan goods and souvenirs, as well as rotating regional wine and beer selections, some of which are available for tasting.
There are also gift baskets with Yakima Valley themes that feature locally made food, gifts, and beverages.
25. Enjoy Good Wines At Hyatt Vineyards
Lynda and Leland Hyatt founded Hyatt Vineyards in 1983, and it is one of the best things to do in Yakima.
This Vineyard encompasses the different Cherry Hill, Three Rocks, Estate Vineyard, and Roza Ridge sectors, and has evolved to encompass over 180 acres of space throughout the Yakima Valley region.
Each vineyard has its own brand label and produces a range of white and red wines under that label.
They include merlot, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, riesling, and zinfandel varieties that have won awards.
During the summer, fall, and spring, you can visit their seasonal taproom, which is available to the public.
26. Yakima Area Arboretum And Botanical Garden
The Yakima Area Arboretum and Botanical Garden is one of the city’s most popular attractions. It’s another thing to add to our list of things to do in Yakima.
This location, which spans 46 acres throughout the city of Yakima and is located on the Yakima River’s riparian ecosystem, was originally created as a vegetable and chicken farm site in the twentieth century.
The Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs founded the arboretum in 1967, and it has been in continuous development since then.
Over a thousand native and exotic plant species are on display in the groomed gardens.
Joyful Japanese Garden, Xeric Garden Demonstration Site, and Carlson Butterfly Garden are among them.
27. Explore The Yakima Greenway
The Yakima Greenway is one of the most convenient ways to get around town.
Yakima Greenway connects many of the city’s finest natural attractions over a distance of more than 20 miles.
The Yakima Area Arboretum, as well as several additional water features such as Willow Lake, Lake Aspen, and Myron Lake, are all accessible along the greenway.
With much of its non-motorized pathway running under shaded trees and steering away from traffic, this is ideal for an all-day outing.
Through the greenway, you’ll pass Sherman Park, which has an off-leash dog area. It’s a must-do in Yakima because of the water and facilities that line much of the walk.
28. Visit Yakima Valley Museum
Yakima Valley Museum is one of the city’s most popular attractions. While in town, you won’t want to miss this 65,000-square-foot museum.
The museum houses a number of exhibits relating to the region’s natural and cultural history. It concentrates on pioneer life, early economic development, and indigenous peoples.
The Making a Mark Beyond the Valley exhibit and the Making a Home 1869 pioneer cabin display are two permanent exhibits at the museum.
The Children’s Underground, a 2,500-square-foot educational facility, offers a variety of events and exhibitions for children aged five to fifteen.
A digitized exhibit of almost 9,000 relevant cultural pictures is on display at the Yakima Memory collection.
