Rattle snake on trail on way back to the road.

Rattle snake on trail on way back to the road.

We hiked along the top of the ridge separating Echo Basin and Frenchman Coulee, then hiked up Frenchman Coulee and finished by walking down the road for a mile back to our car. There were beautiful views of the Columbia and the canyons, and the waterfall is still flowing at the head of the coulee. At the top of the ridge, the trail fades away in places; it is easy to lose the trail, but very hard to get lost. There were also some steep sections with loose dirt descending from the ridge that were difficult. Wear long socks in the coulee so that your shoes do not fill with sand. Great hike!

We were passing through Vantage and wanted a quick leg-stretcher. The parking lot was full and cars were spilling out onto Vantage Road, but it seemed everyone was hanging out in a big group right next to the concrete barriers.

While on the trail, we could see a ton of people - but they were all busy climbing the cliffs above. They're obviously not a problem if you're looking to keep your distance, but their voices really echo off the cliffs so don't expect quiet on a busy beautiful day. At one point, someone shouted very loudly, "Are you lost??" and I still haven't decided if this was directed at us.

The hike was nice, but the falls are dry now (as you might expect). WTA lists the total distance at 4 miles, and I suppose it's possible we were in the wrong place, but it felt much shorter and Caltopo puts our total distance traveled at closer to 2. I included a screenshot below in case someone wants to point out where we should have gone. 

My two daughters (11 & 14) and I chose to do this hike with the idea that it would be much more sparsely populated than the local trails around Seattle.  Additionally, we wanted to combine a hike with a visit to Wanapum Dam state park.  We were indeed correct and only passed two other couples on the 4 mile round trip hike. It was easy to step off the trail and give them the necessary distance to pass safely.  The trail is mostly flat and somewhat dusty, but right now it is beautiful with all the spring wildflowers blooming. I don’t know my Eastern Washington flowers well, but I think I spotted cow parsnip, asters, and lupine.  The basalt cliffs are impressive and give you a sense of being somewhere secret. We loved staring up at the highway and imagining cars decades ago winding their way down the road. You get glimpses of the Columbia from the trail.  The small waterfall was flowing down the face of the cliff and was a good point to turn around.  Pay close attention to the directions to get to the trailhead. It is easy to miss but is well described. Look for a small turn out 2 1/2 miles after the turn onto Vantage Road. Watch your odometer and look for the concrete barriers.