Trip Reports

75 minute hike (2.5 miles or less) from trailhead to the end of the main lakes and waterfall. We found only 2 other tents and a small group of fishermen. Never actually passed anyone on trial making this trip very peaceful. We set up camp on a small hill to the South of the lakes with a view of the waterfall to the East and the gorge and sunset to the West. The lakes and waterfalls are very nice however the towering coulees and rolling grasslands are the gems of the area as you are surrounded by basalt columns in a field of gentle hills with a new cranny to explore around every rock or ridge. The waterfall lake and the adjoining are currently connected by about at least a foot of water making accessing the waterfall more difficult.
The area is teaming with wildlife especially birds including large raptors, making me question the assertion the water of the lakes have a high content of pesticides or herbicides. Juneberry bushes had ripe abundant fruit. A pack of coyote could be heard but not seen. Sagebrush is everywhere and smelled intense, we ended up using a sprig as an air freshener for our tent. Very warm and dry near 80 midday and mid 50s nighttime, though it felt comfortably cool and more like lower 60s so don’t over-pack cold weather items. The ancient lakes area is larger than it seems in photo’s and you could easily spend 2 or 3 days exploring, which is what we will do on our return.
After setting up camp we hiked the coulee between Ancient Lakes and Dusty Lake. Finding the trails was fairly easy as was just going cross-country for short cuts but bring gators to keep the grass seed from falling into socks and boots – a mild annoyance at best. We then hiked the steeper grades of the middle coulee with stone scree (4-8” common) though hike-able with some scrambling. The middle and top of the coulee is accessible safely but prepare for some moderate scrambling with loose rock for about 20’ to the South side.
The evening brought a few mosquitoes though easily manageable with DEET. Wind picked up with some mild gusts. Assure you can view the sunset from your tent, it is amazing over the Columbia Gorge to the East. Leaving the following day was hard, this is an amazing place.

After finally finding the right turn off of U-road (White Trail Road) onto 9, (the directions say 7 miles; it should be .7 miles) we proceeded down the road to the staging area. We were only 30-45 minutes behind our projected start time, after driving from north of Seattle. We loaded up the gear, dog, 4 year old and 8 day old (!) and started down the trail. It was about 11am, and the day was already warm, around 70ish. The trail was dry and dusty, and in good condition. There were some wildflowers out, mostly yellows and purplish white flowers. After hiking roughly 55 minutes or so, we came upon Lake Susan. We saw the other 3 lakes just ahead, so we forged on to investigate, as this was our first time in the area. I let the dog off his leash, as I was a bit nervous to let him roam free in snake country, but as it turned out, he did just fine, and loved it:) It was noon on Friday, and we only came across 2 horse riders, and 4 day hikers. Since we were the first to overnight, we marched all the way up the trail to the campsite on the top of the hill, overlooking all three lakes. There is a nicely built fireplace and "kitchen" area. If you can grab that site, I'd highly recommend it. We then dropped pack and dayhiked for the rest of the afternoon, with some "swimming" and fishing in there as well. The evening was wonderful. Beautiful sunset, mild temperatures in the upper 40's to lower 50's, and a tolerable amount of bugs.
The next morning was very peaceful, and we got up early to go check out the falls that we had not been able to the day prior. We made it about halfway to the falls after rockhopping/hugging a HUGE boulder, but were stopped farther up the "trail" by the sheer volume and steepness of the rock shales. (Had we not had our 4 year old daughter and 8 day old son, my wife and I would have had no trouble scaling the rocks to access the falls). We took some pictures and headed back to our camp. Having planned ahead, we had packed up camp, so all we had to do was load up our packs and hike out. We lucked out on our timing, because we met one group of boyscouts camped up the trail (they must have come in later that first night) as well as another group just leaving the staging area on their way in! This is a very beautiful and easy hike, and VERY worthwhile!!

The flowers were out in force and will be for a few more weeks. Hedge Hog cactus, Sulphur and Alpine Lupine, Death Camas, Arrowhead Balsam Root, Desert Parsley and others. What we really found cool about this walk was the variations from side to side of the hills. One exposure would be rich enough to lay down on (watch for the cactus) and just over the top edge it would be almost a different eco-system form different exposure to sun, moisture and wind.

One note on leaving the Beezley Hills area. The map we used showed taking the road in and out of Ephrata. The road continuing north from the top of the hill (where the hiking and flowers are) is exceptional. It will take you through wide open plains, some under plow, others not that ramble on mile after mile. Take your gazeteer and just keep heading north to Highway 2. It is a gorgeous stretch of unchanged Americana.

We made a loop weekend out of our trip to Eastern Washington. Dusty Lakes trail was sweet at sunrise. A lone beaver and alpine glow-like colorations against the basalt cliffs were our high points there. There are also free camping spots directly on the water within walking distance of the DL trailhead. They are far from pristine or wilderness but they still were nice and at least on our night of stay, free from generators or other's music. Just one noisy Yellow Breasted Black Bird.

Ancient Lakes is best appreciated early or late as well. It is wide open and can be quite hot. There are a few waterfalls still doing their thing and many blooming wildflowers. We saw a few Black Legged Stilts wading along the shore and hundreds of Cliff Swallows and their mud nests tucked in up under the overhangs in the basalt. Camping was adequate but the water didn't look very appetizing. Considering the usage of pesticides in Eastern Washington I would bring my own.

A group of Everett and Seattle Mountaineers hiked the Ancient Lake and Dusty Lake trails in clear 71 degree weather. It was about an 11 mile round trip, first going into Ancient lake then back tracking a couple mile to round a canyon wall and then head into Dusty lake. Three people from the group broke off to go over the basalt canyon walls and met the trail group at Dusty Lake.
Seen on or near the trail and lakes: lizard, frogs, redwing blackbirds, several wildflowers, one rattlesnake and horseback riders at a distance.
If you go take plenty of fluids. Even at 71 degrees, dry and dusty you will need a lot of fluids. There are boulders for a bit of a scramble the last fifty yards to falls but easly manageable with care.

This hike was beautiful and slightly out of this world.

We started out a bit late from Seattle (about 10:00) and made it to the trail by about 1:00. The directions for driving there were slightly askew, but luckily we had an I-Phone to help guide us along. The sun was shining when we arrived and rain clouds loomed in the distance.

On the walk to the lakes we stopped to ask some scientists what they were measuring. The informative scientist asked us if we noticed the ripples in the landscape of the valley. They were measuring these ripples to learn more about the great Missoula Flood.

As we stopped to picnic by the waterfall, some rain passed over us and we decided to scramble up the rocks by the waterfall. (There is probably a better way to get to the top - scrambling up the rocks here was a bit sketchy). From the top we found another trail and kept moving along the tops of the cliffs. It was beautiful. Well worth the drive out there.

Next time we will bring tents and camp and explore some more!

Ancient Lakes 4-24-09
This was my 30th hike of the year, I’m half way to my goal and it’s only April. I choose this hike due to all the lakes and waterfall and easy elevation. My knees are still healing after Orcas weekend with the Barbies. I left my house at 7 and was at the TH just after 10. It was really out there in the middle of nowhere. I like these types of places because they are not as crowded. I saw two women with horses that were very friendly and a few guys looking like they packed enough gear for a month of camping. I chatted a second and then off I was. The ground was sandy and soft under my feet. I wore new shoes I was trying to break in and this did not turn out well in the end. Lesson learned, blisters recovering today. I took the fork left and headed to Ancient Lakes and soon saw a waterfall very small trickling down from the rock wall and thought that was “THE WATERFALL”. But I remembered from reading it went into a lake, so that couldn’t be it.. it was lovely and I kept walking and wild flowers were out and beautiful. I took tons of pictures and as I reached the crest of the trail where you could see 3 lakes at once and saw the actual WATERFALL into the lake, I felt like I was in prehistoric times. I could imagine the cave men & women and how they felt in those days. It was really breathtaking. This hike is now on my top 5 list! The colors jades, blues, butterflies, rocks it was truly fantastic. And I saw one tent, and only one person near a lake on my way out. Besides this two others were coming into trail when I got to my car. For only a 3 hour drive, the rewards were fantastic! And there were so many camp spots around the lakes, with fire pits already for someone. If I had gear, I would be backpacking here now! I’m sure it’s cold at night, but so worth it! I made my way around the lake with the waterfall along the edge is a trail, I saw what I thought was a marmot, but more round and flat tail..I couldn’t get a photo before he scattered off into the brush, but later I saw this tree and figured it was probably a beaver. I checked out each lake and the time flew by, I wished I had another 8 hours to explore this area. Next time I will take the right to Dusty lake and camp here. Truly an amazing day weather was perfect! My photos do not do this place justice, some are a bit washed out, must have been the light.
Stats 5 miles or so.

What a great hike! Hiked up on Saturday morning around 10:00 AM and got to the campsite within an hour. The lakes are beautiful and the waterfall is spectacular. The temperature was hanging around the low 70s F and there were a lot of people camping for the night.

At night the stars were spectacular, and it was around 40 F. Left around 10:00 AM on Sunday, and really enjoyed the hike!

Didn't get to the trail before noon (3 hour drive from Seattle)... There were maybe a dozen cars on the parking lot, but apart from a group of horse riders near the trailhead we didn't encounter anyone on the trail until we reached the lakes. There are several trails; keeping to the left (i.e. near the north wall of the coulee) got us to the lake at the back in about an hour, with lots of stops to watch the birds and look at the few flowers that were out. Temperature was pleasant, light breeze. Walked around the lake clockwise to the waterfall, which required scrambling over some loose rocks. Beautiful spot, unfortunately quite a few plastic bottles and other garbage has washed up there. Tried to climb up to the top of the waterfall, but gave up as the slope wasn't stable enough. Noticed maybe half a dozen tents total between the lakes on the way back.

We wanted to kick start our hiking season this year. We wanted to do a hike on a somewhat flat terrain, and we found out from WTA site that Eastern Washington desert would best fit our bill.

The driving directions are slightly confusing. From Seattle, take 1-90 E till Exit #149. Drive along SR 281 North till you reach Quincy [about 10 miles]. Then turn left[west] on Sr28 and go for 4 miles. Then turn left at White trail road. Till this point, the driving directions are same as given in this WTA site.

Once in White trail road, take a RIGHT at 9-NW. This road comes less than a mile on the White trail road. If you keep going along this road, you would reach gravel road after a while, and drive till its end.

This trail is a bit different in the sense that there are no direction markers or trail markers. There is no trailhead marker too. You would find a jeep road, and you just need to take that. Once in this trail, you would find lot of forks in the trail. My recommendation would be to not worry about these forks. Try to keep left whenever you can, and try to trek between the 2 tall canyons on view.

The eastern washington desert landscape is wonderfully different from that near the west side. The trek is flat and the canyons reminded us of Arizona and Utah regions. There are a bunch of lakes near the trek's end and a few good waterfalls. In bright sunshine, the lakes were brilliantly shining in crystal blue and green [each lake in that region shines with a different color]. The trek was really worth the distance [from Seattle]. The rewards are sunshine, great canyon views, and amazing lake views where one can just sit in solace for hours. The trek can be covered in just 1 hour each way because it is relatively flat.

The only problem we had was the wind. The wind was quite strong the day we went, and may be it had something to do with the current storm system. But just within a few minutes in the trek, the effect of the wind was less. This was because we were surrounded by canyons which were probably blocking the winds.

We were probably too early for wild flowers. We did not see much of it during the time we went. So if you want to go for the flowers, you would want to go a little later.

Overall a great desert hike, and i would highly recommend it.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sick of winter and with spring weather nowhere in sight, we resolved to make the long drive to eastern Washington to find some sun, flowers, and dry dirt trails. The long drive over snowbound Snoqualmie Pass was brutal, but Ancient Lakes delivered the goods. What a great place for sun-starved Seattleites to escape the weather!

Under partly cloudy skies, we set off for Ancient Lakes from the lower trailhead at the end of Road 9-NW (see"Best Desert Hikes" book for the rather complicated driving instructions). The air was breezy, mild, and almost springlike; new grass was beginning to green the hillsides. After 2 miles, we arrived at Ancient Lakes, three or so pothole ponds in a deep coulee. An impressive waterfall poured down from the lava cliff above.

After exploring the lake basin, we extended the hike by following a scenic trail that climbed the south side of the coulee to the top of the plateau. Eventually this path led to a trailhead on a main dirt road near Burke Lake. A short walk south on the road brought us to the somewhat official, broken glass-strewn Dusty Lake trailhead. From here, we followed the entertainingly rough path down another coulee to Dusty Lake. After rounding the lake's rugged north shore, we followed various paths back to the Road 9-NW trailhead.

All in all, we covered about 8 miles total on delightfully mud and snow-free trails. Along the way, we saw exactly 2 buttercups--perhaps it is a bit early for the spring flower show.