Been thinking of this ridge loop around Echo Basin since the very first time I drove down Frenchman's Coulee. And indeed it was a lot of fun, especially the final descent down the dunes...
Approach:
- I-90 to Silica Road exit, then left down the ( now paved ) Vantage Road SW
- If you haven't done this before it's worth taking a side trip down to where the road ends at the river
- As we were doing the "full loop", we drove past the climber lots to the lower "car pen" at the base of the Frenchman / Echo ridge @870'
- We did the loop clockwise, which I'd recommend, and directions are listed as such...
Car Pen to "Climber Central":
- Cross the road and in 0.3mi pick up the left trail ( right is direct to basin/dunes ) that gains the top of the ridge/mesa @ 47.02384, -119.98749
- From there follow a myriad of climbers trails east along the ridge
- We chose to stay on top of the mesa, with views down into Frenchman, but there is also a lower climbers trail that skirts along the bottom of the Roza(?) lava flow's basalt columns, with cool names like Tomato, Corn and Hen House walls, et. al.
- Soon the trails converge before descending into the valley leading towards the camping area
- Once reaching the dirt road ( 47.02441, -119.96906 ), take the fork that ascends a scenic canyon, staying alert in case one is lucky enough to spot any of the pileated NW climbers that haven't migrated south for winter yet
From here on things start to get a bit "choose your own adventure", and definitely recommend a GPS as many of the gullies end in cliffs. Also be rattlesnake ( heard but did not see ) and tick aware.
Climber Central to Powerhouse Wall:
- Following the dirt track south, then eastward takes you to a spectacular viewpoint at the head of echo basin ( 47.02050, -119.96832 )
- To continue on, one has to get past the draw to the south. You may be able to do this direct, but we played it safe and backtracked to "the pond", crossing (47.02053, -119.96415), then returning back to the cliffs towards powerhouse wall ( 47.01848, -119.96974 ).
- From then on there are some on-again-off-again trails, but we just meandered westward, stopping to admire the view from the clifftops periodically
Descent:
- The main thing is that one needs to drop south into the next draw ( that leads to the dunes ) before things get too cliffy. We descended into down gentle slopes to about 47.01357, -119.97773.
- BTW: appears you could take a more direct root to this draw from the above pond. Looking at the satellite photos, might be simpler navigation/trail, but we wanted more of the Echo Basin views
- Descending down-valley, steering left of the greenery, takes you to the cliff band that sits above the sand dunes
- Appears like you can bypass the cliff by traversing descenders left on the south ( may offer better uphill travel ), but we walked north along the cliff to find a short gully, which ( at the time of writing at least ) was an easy drop to the apex of the sand dune
- Giggling like school children we ran the dunes to bottom of echo basin
- Sand track takes you back across the basin to the car
Neat area, with lots more exploring to be had.
Comments
Even tho your trip was a few years ago, I'm wondering if you remember this part, "...the cliff band that sits above the sand dunes..." How difficult was it to find a safe place to bypass the cliff? Did the northern location you chose involve scrambling down a steep area of loose rock? I appreciate your trip report. Thanks for the help.
Posted by:
Zipster on Feb 27, 2025 04:02 PM
The cliff is very obvious when on top of it :) However the immediate area above it is pretty flat/safe, so we just strolled a little ( 50'? ) north until we found the short gulley leading to the sand, probably 15' of class 2, minimal exposure once in the gully. While there is lose rock in there, I seem to remember it being pretty good where you needed it to be, and felt safe to us. Once descending the sand be prepared to smile big time :)
One caveat would be 1) if the sand moved lower ( which it can do ), and exposed something more difficult. If this happens you could look at the south side thin trail, or retreat, which would not be a big loss as it's all stunning terrain in there.
Of course, if there is still snow/ice, that will change things.
Posted by:
fadenz on Feb 27, 2025 06:39 PM