Klickitat County, in Washington, sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a — a zone band wide enough that plant choice, not possibility, is the interesting question.
Reliable performers under these conditions include cabbage, pawpaw, california poppy, and collard greens; what your own ground favors still comes down to its soil, sun, and drainage.
Klickitat County lies within the Columbia Gorge — a regional growing area with its own character.
Grounded in USDA PHZM 2023 · Growable Ground suitability scoring · NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Klickitat County holds more than one microclimate.
Soils and elevations shift across Klickitat County, so your frost dates and drainage aren't the county average. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around Klickitat County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
Klickitat County — the short answer
Klickitat County, Washington: USDA zone 7a, about 168 days between hard freezes, across 1.2M acres.
- USDA zone
- 7a
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 30
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 15
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- Days between freezes
- ~168
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F
- County area
- 1.2M acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are county 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 7a is Klickitat County's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against Klickitat County's 168-day season, see what your own ground reads.
One county, several growing seasons
Klickitat County's hard-freeze record runs about 168 days between freezes — but that is the county-wide average, and several towns inside it carry a markedly different season in their own 30-year record: Dallesport at about 243 days and Maryhill at 243 (against the county's ~168).
Those are measured records, not estimates. If you garden in one of these pockets, plant against your own town's season rather than the county's ~168-day average.
NOAA Regional Climate Centers ACIS (1991–2020), 30-year daily minimum record. Only held-out towns carrying their own record are named — a town with no record of its own is absent rather than estimated, and a county with nothing qualifying shows no spread at all.
Heat in Klickitat County
Across a year, Klickitat County accumulates about 1,672 growing degree days above 50°F, about 41 fewer than the middle Washington county — ahead of 18 of Washington’s 39 counties. Degree days are the heat a crop actually gets to work with — more of them is more room to ripen a long-season crop before the freeze closes the window.
Grounded in PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University — 1991–2020 monthly normals
Soil in Klickitat County
Across Klickitat County, the ground is predominantly Mollisols, where Goldendale, Underwood, and Mikkalo are the most extensive named soil series. The soil is generally well drained with a silt loam surface. Topsoil pH runs about 6.1–7.0, slightly acidic. Rainfall drains through hydrologic group B soils.
Soil order
Mollisols
Drainage
Well drained
Prime farmland
10%
Hydric soils
2%
Soil still varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
How the ground varies across Klickitat County
The USDA soil survey maps 89% of Klickitat County as well drained — but another 6% drains differently: 2% moderately well drained, 2% poorly drained.
Goldendale is the most extensive named soil at 5% of mapped acres, then Underwood (4%) and Mikkalo (4%).
Which of them your own lot sits on is a parcel question, not a county one. Check your address for the survey at your boundary.
What this means for growing in Klickitat County
Each reading below is measured for Klickitat County itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Drainage
MeasuredThe dominant soils across Klickitat County are well drained, in hydrologic group B — ground that drains quickly.
The upside is soil you can work early in spring and roots that never drown; the cost is that fast-draining ground dries out fast and leaches nutrients away before plants can use them.
Work in compost and mulch to hold moisture and feed, and water more often in short doses than deep and rarely.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Surface pH
MeasuredTopsoil across Klickitat County runs about pH 6.1–7.0, close to neutral.
This is the range most vegetables prefer — one correction you probably do not have to make, which is genuinely good news for a new bed.
Keep it there with compost rather than lime or sulfur, and only amend if your own soil test says otherwise.
USDA NRCS SSURGO
Season length
MeasuredKlickitat County runs about 168 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredKlickitat County sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a.
The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.
Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.
USDA PHZM 2023
The kind of country Klickitat County is in
Klickitat County spans 2 EPA Level III ecoregions — Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills (56%) and Columbia Plateau (45%). Which one your land falls in changes what grows wild there and how the ground behaves, and a county-wide answer cannot tell you which.
What Grows in Klickitat County
We scored all 1,086 plants against Klickitat County's own USDA zone 7a and its own 168-day season between hard freezes, using the same matching engine that runs a full parcel report. These cleared both. Sun, soil pH and drainage vary lot by lot — those are the parcel questions below. Each card opens that plant's Washington profile.
Is it too late to plant in Klickitat County?
For most of the year, no — what changes is which crops still fit the days remaining. Cool-season crops can go in from around Apr 2; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 30 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 15 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. As the window narrows, the plantings just get faster — fall brassicas, then greens, then garlic to finish.
Documented around Klickitat County
Survey cells within 31 miles of Klickitat County checked for spotted lanternfly, none carrying a detection — a surveyed negative, not an absence of looking. Nearest documented record 566 miles off. What to watch for.
- monarch butterfly23 documented records
Sighting records, so they follow observers as much as insects.
What gets applied to farmland in Klickitat County
USGS estimates 37,538 lb of Glyphosate on Klickitat County farmland in 2019, its largest by weight, ahead of 2,4-d (27,463 lb) and Triclopyr (12,830 lb).
Farmland across the whole county, not any one lot. Check your address for the site-by-site record.
Safe to Grow Here?
What the federal record shows across Klickitat County — and how to grow with it.
We checked the federal record across Klickitat County — 160 documented sites across 6 of the 9 source types we track.
The most significant on record: 3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed). Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
There's a meaningful federal record across Klickitat County — worth a look before you plant food, not a reason to hold back from growing. Proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. A soil test before new food beds is the sensible precaution here, and the map shows exactly which sites sit where, so you can see what's actually near you.
Sources: EPA, USGS — 1.8M documented sites tracked nationwide across 9 federal source types.
What's on the federal record near Klickitat County
Closest first, across Klickitat County. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- GOLDENDALE CITY OFPFAS · 25 ft
- 04N/16E-03L03Nitrate · 1.0 mi
- GOLDENDALE HEADQUARTERS 44001DUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.1 mi
- THE MARKET PLACEUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.6 mi
- SHARON OIL INC - WASHINGTONUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.6 mi
- MARYHILL STATE PARKUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.7 mi
- CHEVRON 93143Underground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- TELFORD PROPERTYUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- GENERAL STOREUnderground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- KLICKITAT SCHOOL DISTRICT 402Underground Storage Tanks · 3.9 mi
- 04N/16E-20A01Nitrate · 4.0 mi
- GLENWOOD SHOPUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from Klickitat County's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near Klickitat County.
Total Sites
160
across Klickitat County
Risk Level
Elevated
Highest-severity
3 Superfund sites (none NPL-listed)
Sources Checked
across Klickitat County
Severity Distribution
across Klickitat County
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around Klickitat County, two things run higher than the national average across Klickitat County — Superfund (3 sites) and Underground Storage Tanks (101 sites). Knowing it is half the work — and it's nothing a thoughtful grower can't plan for.
Superfund: Superfund sites represent the most severe contamination in the federal system.
Underground Storage Tanks: Underground storage tanks are the single most common source of soil contamination near homes and gardens.
Commission professional soil testing before any food production (test for heavy metals, VOCs, and SVOCs).
Use raised beds with imported soil — this eliminates the primary soil-contact pathway.
Check your specific parcel in Klickitat County
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Klickitat County average
Your land is one point inside Klickitat County
Everything above resolves to Klickitat County as a whole — one PHZM band and one county frost record, read across 1.2M acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at county scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better county average.
Your Lot vs the Klickitat County Average
Klickitat County Average
- ●USDA Zones 7a, averaged across Klickitat County
- ●One soil character for all of Klickitat County
- ●Frost dates read at Klickitat County's scale: Apr 30 to Oct 15
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not Klickitat County's 7a
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your parcel in Klickitat County
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in Klickitat County, Washington — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that Klickitat County averages can't show:
We read public map data around Klickitat County — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the Klickitat County average
How we know this about Klickitat County
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at county grain; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at this county’s own record where one resolves, and the labelled statewide window where none does; soils from the USDA NRCS SSURGO survey, area-weighted across the county’s own map units; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination and pesticide records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Where Klickitat County carries no record of its own, the figure is inherited and labelled — the resolution ledger below names each.
Common questions about Klickitat County
When does frost risk typically end in Klickitat County?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in Klickitat County typically lands around Apr 30, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about May 21.
How long is the growing season in Klickitat County?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, Klickitat County sees about 168 frost-free days — roughly Apr 30 through Oct 15, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 21 to Oct 1, about 133 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in Klickitat County?
The federal record around Klickitat County is a meaningful one — 160 documented sites, mostly Underground Storage Tanks entries (101), the nearest PFAS record under a tenth of a mile out — so a soil test before new food beds is a sensible precaution here, not a reason to hold back from growing. Remember that proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard; the contamination map shows exactly what sits where.
Everything above is measured at Klickitat County's scale — its 7a band and its 168-day season. Your yard writes its own version of Klickitat County's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
Will It Grow Here?
Zone fit is the first question — each answer below reads Washington's frost window, season length, and soil profile against the plant's real requirements.
What this page reads at Klickitat County’s own scale
9 of the readings below were taken at Klickitat County's own scale — its own ~168-day span between 28°F freezes, the 3 most extensive soil series mapped here and 160 documented sites inside its boundary; one is borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- Klickitat County's own USDA hardiness band, zones 7aUSDA PHZM 2023
- Klickitat County's own 28°F hard-freeze dates and its ~168-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- The soil order, drainage, surface pH, and the 3 most extensive named soil series mapped in Klickitat CountyUSDA NRCS SSURGO
- 160 documented contamination sites inside the county boundary, distance-sorted from its center — the closest PFAS record under a tenth of a mile outFederal environmental registers
- Klickitat County's boundary and the 1,197,846 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 7a and a ~168-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The 2 ecoregions Klickitat County spans, Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills the largestUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
- Open occurrence records documented in Klickitat County for a tracked speciesGBIF derived datasets (CC0 / CC BY 4.0)
- Which agricultural compounds go onto Klickitat County farmland, and roughly how muchUSGS NAWQA EPest county estimates
Inherited from a wider read
- The growing challenges every Washington grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Washington
What this page can’t tell you
- How the season shifts across Klickitat County — the ~168 days above is one reading at its centre; the 12 towns below each carry their owntowns in this county →
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among Klickitat County's 1,197,846 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which of those 160 documented sites actually reaches your soil — that needs your address, the wind, and the groundwater directionhow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — none of it survives being averaged over Klickitat Countyread your own land →