Trip 4: Eastern Washington - Corner to Corner (9/1 - 9/4)

Let’s just call Trip 4 “The Big One.” Covering 1,750 miles, 28 parks and every county in eastern Washington made this a long Labor Day weekend. We ripped through the I-90 corridor on our way to Spokane and knocked off parks in Ellensburg and Vantage. Ginkgo, on the north side of I-90 at Vantage, was a tiny patch of meticulously maintained park on a cliff overlooking the Columbia and the bridge at Vantage. The view, rock paintings and good interpretive center make this a worthwhile stop right off the freeway. A few miles south, Wanapum is one of those state parks that follows a successful formula: green oasis in the heart of desert country, access to a major body of water and great vistas. Steamboat Rock, Sun Lakes, Bridgeport and Curlew Lake are just a few of the other parks in this mold.
After quick trips to Potholes and the Columbia Plateau Trail (outside of Sprague), we rolled into Spokane and headed to Riverside State Park. On the outskirts of Spokane, Riverside provides some great scenery as the Spokane River carves its way through the western edge of Spokane. One last side trip up Mount Spokane, which offered incredible views, and day 1 was in the books.
Day 2 I was on my own in the very pretty northeast corner of the state. I was the only person in Crawford State Park at 8:00 in the morning, but a deer was there to greet me. I’ll have to make it back one day to see the caves, which are only open for guided tours. I took highway 20 west and hit Curlew Lake and Osoyoos Lake, and then I visited Conconully, which was serving as a base for the Tripod firefighting effort. The smoke wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated, but there was a haze over the entire eastern half of the state the whole weekend. Driving south and then west, I stopped by my sentimental favorite – Bridgeport State Park, which is perched on a hill overlooking Chief Joseph Dam. With a golf course adjacent to the park and nice camping and beach access, it’s hard to believe people still haven’t discovered this place. At the other end of the spectrum is Steamboat Rock and Sun Lakes – my last two parks for the day. With great water access, these parks always seem to draw a crowd, and it was no different this weekend.
We started day 3 by leaving Spokane and heading south all the way to Field’s Spring in the extreme southeast corner of the state. Once again, we pretty much had the place to ourselves, so if you want to get away from it all and get your nature fix, Crawford and Field’s Spring are just the ticket. Palouse Falls was definitely the most impressive natural sight of the weekend – even at 104 degrees as we stepped out of the car. The drive to the falls from the south (via Starbuck) was particularly scenic. Heading home, a side trip to Fort Simcoe (worth the trip), Lake Easton and Olallie (nice hike to Twin Falls) rounded out the weekend.

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