Start from 35 curated places around Yakima, WA, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Crafted
A James Beard-nominated farm-to-table counter at the heart of downtown Yakima where chef Dan Koommoo sources ingredients within roughly 100 miles and changes the menu with what's actually ready to eat. The format is small plates meant for sharing — think fermented black garlic flatbread alongside seared scallops with foraged mushrooms — and the wine list leans heavily on Washington and Oregon natural producers. Dinner only, Thursday through Monday, with a two-hour table limit that keeps the room moving.
Cowiche Canyon Kitchen & Icehouse Bar
A polished but casual American tavern in a restored downtown building, known for a menu that takes Pacific Northwest ingredients seriously without making you feel like you're in a tasting menu restaurant. The firecracker shrimp, double-smash burger, and rotating fresh fish specials have been reliable favorites for years. The bar program is deep on local ciders and Washington wines, and the space fills up fast on weekend evenings with a mix of regulars and wine-country visitors.
Trails & outdoors
Yakima Greenway
An 18-mile paved multi-use path that runs along the Yakima and Naches Rivers from Union Gap through Selah, threading through riparian forest, past fishing lakes, community parks, and the Yakima Area Arboretum. The core stretch near Sarg Hubbard Park is the most-used section and connects directly to the Arboretum trailhead. Flat, paved, and entirely accessible, it functions as the city's backbone for walking, running, and cycling without needing a car once you reach any of the multiple trailheads.
Cowiche Canyon Trail
A 5.3-mile out-and-back trail (2.9 miles one-way) following a decommissioned 1913 railroad grade through a dramatic basalt canyon west of Yakima, with creek crossings, columnar basalt walls, and wildflower meadows that make it one of the best spring hikes in the region. The Cowiche Canyon Conservancy maintains over 30 miles of trails on the connected uplands, so the canyon trail is really an entry point into a much larger system. Moderate canyon floor hiking with optional steep climbs into the upland terrain.
Things to do
Bale Breaker Brewing Company
Washington's most hop-forward taproom, built in the middle of a fourth-generation hop farm on Birchfield Road, so the raw materials for the beer are literally growing around the outdoor tables. The Top Cutter IPA is one of the defining beers of Pacific Northwest hop culture. During fresh hop harvest in late August and early September, some beers go from bine to kettle in under five minutes — the resulting fresh hop ales taste nothing like their year-round counterparts.
Single Hill Brewing
Downtown Yakima's neighborhood brewery and coffee shop hybrid — in the morning it operates as a full cafe with Catalyst Coffee espresso and breakfast sandwiches; by afternoon it transitions to a full taproom with fresh-hop IPAs, lagers, and guest ciders. A Great American Beer Festival gold medal anchors the beer credentials. The space is deliberately welcoming for families (kids' corner, board games) and dog-friendly outdoors, with a fire pit on the patio for cool evenings.
Landmarks & sights
Yakima Area Arboretum & Botanical Garden
A free 46-acre living tree museum wedged between the Yakima River and the freeway, with over 1,000 woody plant species, a Japanese garden, and a quiet xeriscape loop that feels nothing like the surrounding desert. The grounds open dawn to dusk year-round, so locals use it as a morning walk before the heat sets in. Spring brings the iris and rose gardens into full color; fall turns the Japanese maples a deep rust.
Capitol Theatre
A 1,500-seat Italian Renaissance-style jewel that opened in 1920 as the Pacific Northwest's largest theater, burned to near-ruin in 1975, and was painstakingly restored — including the original dome murals repainted by the same artist who first made them. Today it hosts the Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Broadway touring shows, and comedy acts that regularly draw audiences from Seattle. The lobby and ceiling alone are worth a walk-in during box office hours.