Birds and wildlife abound in the Ancient Lakes' basin. The Quincy Wildlife Area is accessible year-round, but the best time to visit is April and May. Photo by Kim Brown.
Spring is the best time to hike Ancient Lakes - it is usually sunny, warm weather and the wildflowers are in bloom. Start your hike on an old jeep trail past the gate at the end of the road. Just short of a mile, you will curve off the trail to the left toward Ancient Lakes (going straight will take you to Dusty Lake, another wonderful destination). This trail will take you into the coulee and to the lakes. Make sure to save time to explore the entire lake basin. This wetland area provides habitat for many species of birds and mammals. And it's entertaining to watch the swallows flit in and out of the basalt cliffs. A map would provide some off-trail explorations as well. The lakes are in an area that receives runoff from local agricultural fields, and packing in your own water is strongly recommended.
Three of us left the parking lot/trailhead about 10:30 am. It was warm and sunny; a beautiful day. It actually...
Three of us left the parking lot/trailhead about 10:30 am. It was warm and sunny; a beautiful day. It actually became hot during the hike.
The trail was dry and dusty; no signage but if you had seen a map of the area you could tell which way to go(to the left when the main trail splits; the trail to Dusty Lake starts at the same trailhead and goes straight at the split).
Hiking was easy with not a lot of elevation gain; we chose to go up a to a ridge that was a bit steeper so as to get a different view. There were three or four lakes at trails end, as well as a waterfall. The (optional) trail going around the lake with the waterfall requires caution; lots of loose rocks. The trip to the lakes is short; it took us about 50 minutes of easy hiking. Lots of sagebrush. Basalt cliffs surround the little valley we hiked in.
A very family friendly hike, as long as you have enough water.
Although the Ancient Lakes area is a three-hour drive from Seattle, it's worth the gas in the spring. A Vehicle...
Although the Ancient Lakes area is a three-hour drive from Seattle, it's worth the gas in the spring. A Vehicle Use permit is required, but don't know if they enforce this. The trail begins on a dusty track and passes by a bird roosting area. The way then veers off on a single track through glorious flower fields surrounded by basalt cliffs. There are several large pothole/pond-sized waterholes at the destination, one of which is large enough to be a lake. We saw a tent by the waterfall at the end of the lake. Also saw a rattle-less snake, perhaps a gopher snake. This is a short hike, four to five miles, but you can combine it with a hike to Dusty Lake for a full day. More flowers should pop out over the next week.
April 6th, 2008: Ancient Lakes
A land of lakes ringed by sculpted shores, towering cliffs and slot canyons; cascading waterfalls studding...
April 6th, 2008: Ancient Lakes
A land of lakes ringed by sculpted shores, towering cliffs and slot canyons; cascading waterfalls studding noisy streams rushing from one lake to the next; beautiful blue skies made musical by birdsong – my long wait to visit this magical place is finally over.
My day started with a 4:45am start from the house, careful driving over slippery Snoqualmie Pass had me at the trailhead 2.5hrs later. There was an early morning chill in the air so I bundled up as I headed off.
Right off the bat my senses were assaulted by the perfume of sagebrush and music from numerous birds – everything seemed vibrant and so alive! While the Ancient Lakes basin was only 2-2.5mi away, the going was extremely slow: since this was my first time in the area, I felt like a kid in a candy store. The camera was out within 10min of starting the hike and progress ground down to a crawl: a photo here, a photo there; stick my nose in some sagebrush here, peer at some reeds there. As I took the fork towards the Ancient Lakes basin I was greeted by a beautiful waterfall dropping down from the coulee wall on my left, glowing as it was backlit by the morning sun.
Soon after, I was in the Ancient Lakes basin ringed by coulee walls. The entire area seemed akin to a particularly curvaceous lady: scalloped hills ringing deep blue/green lakes with smoothly rounded shores, each one more beautiful than the next, enticing me onward and inward. The tiara crowning the basin was a magnificent waterfall thundering into the farthest lake. As I climbed up the hillside beside the waterfall views of the entire basin laid out before me were stunning.
From the top of the Ancient Lakes basin I headed alongside a stream, lined by reeds and quaint little pools. Then, a short climb up beside another beautiful waterfall had me at Judith Pool. From Judith Pool I headed east over to H Lake. This being my first time in the area, I was dismayed a bit when I glimpsed a few cars parked close to H Lake (evidently another way to access Ancient Lakes). I quickly abandoned my initial plan to loop past Quincy and Burke Lakes towards Dusty Lake (my second objective of the day), which would have taken me past yet more civilization. Instead, I headed back west wrapping around H Lake towards some pools, nestled in canyons and separated from the main Ancient Lakes region by basalt cliffs.
Then it was back towards the Ancient Lakes basin, as I picked up a faint trail. Soon however, this trail intersected a more substantial one which I took since it seemed to be heading south towards Dusty Lake. Unfortunately, pretty soon this trail began to move away from the heading I wanted (I could see Quincy Lake in the distance), so I left it and cut cross-country until I finally reached the cliffs on the eastern end of Dusty Lake.
Dusty Lake was quite spectacular and I was tempted to head down to it, but was by now running a bit behind my turn-around time, so that pretty much was that. I returned to the Ancient Lakes basin and was at my car by 2:15pm. The drive back was a nightmare as I was stuck for more than an hour at Snoqualmie Pass due to a snow-slide.
It's not too late to enjoy spring at Ancient Lakes! There are still lots of flowers still blooming and yet...
It's not too late to enjoy spring at Ancient Lakes! There are still lots of flowers still blooming and yet to bloom. It was warm on this day, but a very nice cool breeze made it tolerable, even for this heat-wimp.
The falls are not impressive now, but the coulee floor is still green, the slopes are green, and the trail up the south wall and to the cliffs overlooking Dusty Lake are still lush with flowers.
With a forecast of rain for the West Side of the mountains, the decision was made to head east and...
With a forecast of rain for the West Side of the mountains, the decision was made to head east and hike in the desert, so to say, of Eastern Washington. We left Saturday morning in a heavy rain, and had some snow on the summit of Stevens Pass. But the further east we drove, the better the weather got. Cloudy but dry skies met us at the trailhead. The ground was damp from an earlier shower and the cloud cover kept it pleasantly cool for most of the day.
The trail, which follows an abandoned, gated jeep road for most of the way, winds its way up Potholes Coulee through sagebrush first before giving way to a grassy plain, before dropping down to the lakes. Along the way, shortly before arriving at the lakes, Dorothy started breaking out into hives. An allergic reaction to something. But the hives soon cleared up and she was able to enjoy the rest of the day. The lakes, a total of four, are the remnants of a much larger ancient lake. Between the upper two lakes are several nice campsites on the ridge. Down below, between the uppermost lake and the third lake lies another campsite. The upper lake also has a waterfall spilling down from above, almost into the lake itself. On the ridge, at one of the campsites, the five of us, Me Lady, The Trailmaster, Princess, The Little Lady, and I, The Ole Goat, settled down for lunch. From our spot on the ridge, all four of the lakes were visible. One of the most notable, things about the Ancient Lakes, are the birds, cliff swallows, magpies, and redwing blackbirds. The swallows would swoop right down at head level feeding on insects. The second most notable thing, was the sheer number of horses seen on the trails that wind through the coulee and the breaks in the cliffs above. I believe we saw close to a hundred while we were there. Balsam Root were in bloom as well as phlox. There were several other flowers in bloom; one was a bright yellow, similar to a Dandelion. The other was a small purple flower.
Being that I was unsure of the fishing regulations, I had left our gear at home, but several other anglers, most who had rode in on the back of horses, informed us that they were Standard Sate Regulations, except for Dusty Lake, which is Selective Gear Rules and one fish only. For the most part, the fish were uncooperative, except for a couple of anglers on the upper lake, which caught a nice stringer of nice sized trout. Even if the fish would prove to be a little to wise for us, we all agreed that a weekend trip here and a try at fishing all four lakes would make a worth while trip.
After lunch, we followed one of the hoof beaten paths, up through a break in the cliffs, hoping to arrive at Upper Dusty Lake, but we veered to the left, when we should have followed one branching to the right. For upon arriving at the top of the rim, we were greeted to views of far off farms, scab lands, sagebrush and no lake. So we turned back down the trail, stepping aside for a couple of horses and their riders, thankful that it was to cool and early for rattlesnakes. The trail, winding through the grassy flat and sagebrush, seemed longer on the way back, than it did on the way into the lakes, but still overall, we made good time hiking out.
Best Desert Hikes: Washington (Bauer & Nelson - Mountaineers Books)
USGS Babcock Ridge
Driving Directions
From Ellensburg, drive east on I-90 to George (Exit 149). Turn left and drive on SR 281 to Quincy. In Quincy, turn left (west) on SR 28 and drive 4 miles to White Trail Road. Turn left and drive about 1 mile or so until you reach Road 9-NW and drive 5.9 miles to the road's end. You will need an annual permit from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife permit to park here (this is different from the Northwest Forest Pass).
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