Sun Lakes-Dry Falls: A wondrous camping trip into the history of Washingotn State

I’ll skip the ride over the mountains because that is just too boring and has been done too many times. I have however gone east over the mountains several times myself and once you reach the east side of Washington it is a whole new story. Wind turbines are everywhere and stare at you from their ominous propellers in the sky. The only thing that makes them cool is how they look like a frozen herd of ginormous animals in the field but also the feeling they give you because you know they are providing clean energy. That kind of pride for your country’s improvement makes you feel not fuzzy and warm but the goose bumps that develop make you feel good rather than cold.

As we became closer to our destination we came across a lake called “Soap Lake” and we made note to check it out on the way back. Off the highway the road down to our campsite wound down and goes by another camping area where all the water activity rentals are like paddle boats and more. The campground doesn’t provide much privacy between campsites there is just rows of grass and a campsite on either side. Tents aren’t allowed on the grass but the gravel is suitable and soft enough to stake it into the ground. When we arrived the lady at the front was very friendly and welcomed us to the campground, I gave her my name and showed them my reservation and there was no hitches in her confirming it. We had a new tent this year so setting it up was different but not at all difficult, which sometimes can be the best part of the trip; watching each other struggle with the poles. We were sure to bring all supplies because there aren’t any stores nearby.  Once we got setup we decided to take ourselves on a self-guide tour of the camp, the swimming hole of the lake is cornered off by a buoy line mainly because of you go off that far you run into slimly seaweed and slushy feeling at the bottom but when you have floating devices it provides for lots of fun.  The whole campground was full of sounds of children splashing, running and dogs barking. We also took a drive and found the dry falls look out; the dry falls is exactly that, a dry fall. They were once the largest waterfalls in the world, the shop and info center was closed so we planned to come back the next day as well as attend the laser light show at the Grand Coulee dam.

The next day we spent all morning on the lake and it was a refreshing escape from the sun when it got too hot. My friend however doesn’t get as warm as I do when the heat starts beading down so I ended up in the lake first with a little laugh from my friend. After we went back to our site for lunch we learned how the privacy barrier at a campground is sometimes necessary. As for the couple on the other side of our grassy line was having an argument and you could clearly hear every word they were saying but this didn’t have much effect on us unless we remained silent. We cooked hotdogs that night over a fire that I felt very proud of as I had a rock this time to help me split the wood on which the tip of it eventually broke. Poor rock, thanks for your service.

We went to the dry falls information center which was full of historic things representing the area and you learn a lot about how the area came to be as it is today. It is also a very good souvenir spot for the trip.

The drive to the Grand Coulee dam is about an hour but the scenery along the way makes up for the drive. There are some caves you drive through and they almost look natural but in reality they are carved out of the side of a hill. The rock is very cool looking and you feel like you are disappearing in out of a rocky planet as you pass through them. Along the way there are also bodies of water that you assume the Columbia River is being fed into. When you first turn the corner to first view the dam you almost think you are going to drive over it and you become aware how tall the walls of this dam really is, it felt like a monstrous troll in the valley but then the road winds down and you end up at a rounded information center with plenty of artifacts that make your head spin while waiting for the laser light show to begin.

You know when the show is about to start because they let open the dam so the river can show its force by rushing down the walls in white river chaos. Due to the construction of the dam and the valley your ears are at first tricked by where the sound is coming from, you may drown at any second and then you see the color of the dam changing to white and the first sounds and lasers hits you and your eyes are trained on the dam for the entire show. The length of the show is short enough that you can get back for a decent bed time but long enough that it burns out a new set of batteries in camera from the nineties along with making them very warm. You get a lot of information from the show narrated from the point of view of the river, and the designs and pictures they create are wondrous. As you drive away you can see the dam closing and the rush of water slowly returning to what would be a drip compared to the size of the river.

We went back to our campsite fully tired and unprepared to pack up the next morning which we eventually did. On our way back we did stop at Soap Lake which we had learned from are stay at Sun Lakes that it was named so because it feels like soap. People actually fully emerge themselves in it because it is said to benefit muscles and have so called “healing” powers. It was fun to feel the lake but the interest of camping there isn’t very intriguing because the camping that is right next to the lake had more of a trailer park like feeling.

All in all Sun lakes is a good spot to relax and take a break from the world while also touring areas like dry falls and the Grand Coulee dam. We did not rent any of the water activities or walk down the trail/road that is right next to the campground that I believe may lead you to the bottom of the dry falls. Probably a great trail for avid backpackers. I hope you’ve enjoyed the trip there through words just as much as I did by being there.

Pros:

Swimming Area

Close to dam

Friendly surroundings

Plenty of water activity rentals for the adventurous folks

Dogs allowed

Cons:

Little privacy

No tents on grass

Size of each site is not suitable for more than 4 people at one site.

For more information and reservations click here: Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park