GUIDED WALKING TOURS FAQ

The Kittitas County Historical Museum offers self-guided tours of the Museum itself at no upfront cost. We believe that everybody should be able to enjoy an educational tour experience and discover and learn about Kittitas County, regardless of your budget. Donations are greatly appreciated. For our walking tour program (an outdoor experience), there may be a cost involved depending on the tour you select. Please review each tour experience to find out what fees, if any, are associated with that specific tour. All walking tours, regardless of fee, require a minimum of 5 attendees to move forward; in the event of less than 5 attendees, the tour may be cancelled.

Reservations are required for guaranteed spots on all walking tours. Reservations help us determine the number of tour guides that we will need to ensure that our groups remain manageable and enjoyable. They also allow us to notify you of changes to the walking tour due to weather or anything that could disturb the walking tours. Walk-up guests for these walking tours will be permitted if space is available. However, we strongly suggest contacting us before walking up to one of our walking tours. Joining a walking tour already in progress is strictly prohibited. Please note our online registration service closes 24-hours prior to a tour so please call 509.925.3778 to find out if there are any spaces available.

Reservations are required for all persons, regardless of age.

We recommend arriving at the starting location at least 10 minutes before the tour starts. Many of our tours begin promptly on the time indicated (such as 10am or 6pm), so if you know you will be late, contact us as soon as possible! Our tour guides like to begin the experience as soon as possible, and many are not known to wait for long. Additionally, in the event that if space is limited and we have walk-up guests, and we have not heard from you prior to the beginning of the walking tour, your spot may be allocated to the walk-up guests. If you are unable to attend, or will be late, please contact us! Guests who repeatedly fail to contact us in advance of their scheduled appointment and do not show may be prevented from booking future reservations.

Yes! Please give us at least a 24-hour notice before your tour starts by calling the museum at 509.925.3778. The number of available spots on any tour are limited and we often have to send away interested guests, because there is no more space. By letting us know in time (at least 24 hours ahead) that you cannot make it, we can open up the extra spot to other interested guests. If you have prepaid for a tour, we require 48 hours’ notice for a refund or to reschedule.
We do work on the honor system, so please understand that if you make a reservation and don’t show up multiple times, it might affect your ability to book future reservations.

While we love having younger visitors join us, we require they attend the tour with an adult.

Our tours go out rain or shine, and are outside, so please dress appropriately for the conditions. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended. If weather is too bad and we have to cancel the tour, all reserved guests will be contacted via email. Please contact us or check our website for updates. If you paid for a tour and it gets cancelled, you will have the option to reschedule or be refunded.

While we love pets, not all guests do. For the safety and wellbeing of everyone on the walking tour, we ask that the only animals allowed on public walking tours are registered service animals. If you do not have a registered service animal but would like to bring your dog/cat/horse, we recommend scheduling a private tour with us.

Most of the walking tours will start at the Kittitas County Historical Museum (114 E. 3rd Ave, Ellensburg, WA 98926). You will check in there upon arrival. However, some of the walking tours may have other starting places; these locations will be clearly posted in the text. Most walking tours will end at the starting point, but depending on the time and needs of the group, they may conclude elsewhere. If you have any questions about where you will start and end your walking tour, please contact us at 509.925.3778.

Our walking tours are designed to be suitable for people of all ages.

All walking tours are approximately 60-90 mins. Most walking tours are less than 1-mile in walking distance.

Yes, but you must give us 48-hours advanced notice from when your walking tour starts. Please call the museum at 509.925.3778 to make your cancellation.

While we try to offer accessible walking tours, not every walking tour can accommodate wheelchairs or strollers. Each walking tour will state whether it has any limitations for attendees physically, such as uneven or unpaved ground, no sidewalks, no benches, etc. Walking tours may also differ depending on length of route, intended pace of group, etc. Please give us a call at 509.925.3778 before booking to ensure that the route is accessible.

We do offer private walking tours! Please call the museum at 509.925.3778 for pricing.