Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

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110
Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park
110

Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park

west of Coulee City, Washington
visited 19 March and 17 July 2022
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Back in the Ice Age, floods carved dramatic canyons out of the bedrock and left waterfalls much larger than Niagara Falls behind. Today, those falls have dried up but the scenery remains.

I first visited this park at the end of winter and was taken by its other-worldly landscape.

A small pond ringed by silvery-green sagebrush and reddish brush sits at the base of dark basalt cliffs and coulee walls under a heavily overcast gray sky at Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park.
A gravel trail winds through a sagebrush-covered slope beneath layered basalt cliffs rising against an overcast gray sky at Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park in Washington.
A calm channel of water winds between tall stands of golden dry reeds toward a lake, with dark layered basalt cliffs rising in the background under an overcast gray sky.

Much of the park was closed for the winter season, so I knew I had to plan another visit. That happened this summer and I found a very much busier and vibrant park this time.

A high overlook across a desert coulee at Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park, with sagebrush and dry grass in the foreground giving way to a green golf course, tree-lined lakes, and dark basalt cliffs under a clear blue morning sky with a faint moon overhead.
Overlook from Highway 17 just outside the park
A calm lakeside campground in the morning with a grassy shore, a beach area, and two picnic tables beside the water; a line of green trees rims the far shore, arid brown hills rise to the right, and a nearly full moon hangs in a clear blue sky.
Park Lake
A willow tree backlit by the low morning sun casts a long shadow across a bare dirt clearing beside Park Lake, with reeds, greenery, and basalt cliffs rising beyond the calm water under a clear blue sky.
Park Lake
A calm lake in the early morning with a swimming area marked by a rope of yellow floats and a small dock with a ladder near a sandy beach. Beyond the water, a line of green trees and a marina sit at the base of tall brown basalt cliffs under a clear blue sky.
Park Lake
A large green tree stands on a grassy lawn beneath towering layered basalt cliffs, with two Canada geese grazing in the foreground and a half moon visible in the clear blue morning sky.
Park Lake

I walked a fair amount of the old Park Lake Road, which is now closed to vehicular traffic, but open for hiking.

A cracked, empty two-lane road with a faded yellow center line runs into an arid coulee lined with sagebrush and dry grass, flanked by weathered wooden power poles under a deep blue morning sky with the moon visible at upper left. Steep brown basalt hills rise on either side, and a stretch of Park Lake appears at the lower right.
Park Lake

I then turned east and explored the Deep Lake Trail. A few people were out then, and I found myself a bit envious of the person who had thought to bring their kayak.

A paved road stretches toward a flat-topped basalt mesa silhouetted against a bright blue morning sky, with sagebrush lining both sides of the road and the sun shining high on the right.
A lone person paddles a blue kayak across calm green water at Deep Lake, dwarfed by towering columnar basalt cliffs and dry, sagebrush-covered coulee slopes rising behind the shoreline. Green trees and shrubs line the water’s edge in the morning light.
Deep Lake
A calm green lake ringed by silvery sagebrush, reeds, and leafy shrubs, with a sandy shoreline path in the foreground and layered basalt cliffs rising beneath a clear blue sky.
Deep Lake
Rugged basalt cliffs and columnar rock formations rise above green shrubs and grasses lining the shore of Deep Lake, whose calm blue water reflects the sky under a clear morning sky.
Deep Lake
Emerald-green water of Deep Lake reflecting sunlit green shrubs and trees growing along a rocky shoreline, backed by towering columnar basalt cliffs in warm morning light.
Deep Lake
A dirt hiking trail winds through dry grasses and sagebrush toward a rugged basalt outcrop under a clear violet-blue morning sky, with a rocky cliff formation visible to the right.
Deep Lake

And finally, I drove the desolate and dusty road to Dry Falls Lake.

A gravel road curves through arid sagebrush-covered terrain toward a lone green tree, with dark basalt cliffs and coulee walls rising in the distance under a clear deep-blue sky.
Golden, feathery grass seed heads catch the morning light in the foreground, set against the softly blurred silhouette of a rugged basalt cliff and a clear blue sky at Dry Falls Lake.
Dry Falls Lake
A vivid blue damselfly perched on a thin blade of grass amid a sunlit field of feathery foxtail barley, with soft green and golden grasses blurred in the background.
Dry Falls Lake

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