Go Guide: Flaming Geyser State Park

Activities: Catch-and-release trout fishing, rafting, wildlife viewing.
 
Age Levels: 10-adult.
 
Hours from Seattle: About 1.

Getting There: From Auburn, drive 11 miles east on the Auburn-Black Diamond Road to the town of Black Diamond. Turn south onto Highway 169 in Black Diamond and continue 1.4 miles south to Green Valley Road SE. Turn right (west) onto Green Valley Road SE and drive 2.5 miles, then turn south (left) onto Flaming Geyser Road. Cross the Green River and enter the park.
 
Reference: Washington Fishing: The Complete Guide to More than 1,000 Fishing Spots on Streams, Rivers, Lakes and the Coast by Terry Rudnick, (Foghorn Press, 1-800-FOGHORN).
 
Contact: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mill Creek Office, 16018 Mill Creek Blvd., Mill Creek, WA 98012-1296; (425)775-1311.
 
Extra Treats: Watch the riverbanks for deer and elk, and watch the trees and skies for bald eagles, which also like to fish here. If you tire of fishing, you can float the gentle river on rafts, inner tubes, or any small boat.

 

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From Flaming Geyser State Park, fish downstream for steelhead in the autumn. Few steelies can make it up through the Green River Gorge above the park, but upstream there are big resident rainbows.

From Kent to Flaming Geyser, winter steelhead are heavily fished by gear casters (especially the stretch from Kent to Auburn), but fish the more remote stretches just below the park that require some skillful wading and you can almost guarantee yourself a bit of solitude on the Green.

If the area near the park is crowded, drop downstream to the Green Valley Road-found just east of Auburn, off Highway 18-and head upstream toward the town of Palmer. This stretch isn't fished as heavily as other areas, but does offer some remarkably good steelhead fishing for both winter and summer runs (July through August is the best time for summer steelies). This stretch also holds some big rainbows, with at least one strong enough to straighten a Number 12 hook tied with a Caddis Pattern (I saw him slip off my hook just 10 feet off the end of my rod).