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For a change of scenery, Potholes Wildlife area is a natural
By KAREN SYKES ![[Bio]](../image/bio_bttn.gif){kind=small}
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Is it a mirage in the desert? This is Washington? Definitely, the Potholes Wildlife Recreation area is one of the more unusual places we've been with Scout Troop 70 in recent years. I know, potholes sounds like something you'd run into on a bad road, but the Potholes Wildlife Recreation area is anything but trouble. Other than the long drive, it is a small Eden in the middle of the desert.
The Potholes were the joint project of people and nature. Natural forces formed the sand dunes but humans created O'Sullivan Dam, and when the irrigation water was turned on in the 1940s, miles of dunes were flooded, resulting in the potholes. This recreation area is a land of stark contrasts -- dunes and marshes, birdsong and silence.
We felt like we were walking on the moon as our footsteps stirred up clouds of ash from Mount St. Helen's 1980 eruption. My husband, John, always wears black and by the time we reached camp he looked like he'd been rolled in flour.
From the top of the dunes, Potholes Reservoir looks like a Hollywood hallucination designed to drive grizzled prospectors mad, but it's real and it's wet, a wetland project on 35,100 acres of public land owned by the Department of Wildlife and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
That's a lot of acreage and sagebrush to get lost in if you like to get lost, and some people do. If you don't, this is map-and-compass country, unless you feel like wandering with no particular destination. Besides, you won't really die out there -- it's not the Sahara.
Even though it's lonesome country, look up and you'll see the outskirts of civilization. The lights of Moses Lake and Royal City lengthen the slow dusk, and true darkness takes its time in coming. We camped on a night without moonlight to view the comet Hale-Bopp -- and that was better than "Star Wars." We stayed out well past sunset to see the comet appear with its shimmering tail, flaring like a match struck in darkness.
Though temperatures got down to 20 degrees during the night, it was warm enough during the day that we sat around soaking up the sun. We arrived a bit too early in the season for flowers -- yellow bells are just starting to show -- they will be late this year. John got lucky and saw a white owl, but I missed it as I tried to free my pack from brambles. We also saw a huge anthill seething with life, in odd juxtaposition to a dead coyote a short distance away. Above this odd landscape, the music of meadowlarks floats like a flute and at dusk frogs sing ancient music.
Getting there
Drive east on Interstate 90 to the Vantage bridge, then turn right on Highway 26 and drive about 20 miles to Royal City. Turn left on Dodson Road and stay on that road while it makes a big curve (about 6 miles), then turn right on Frenchman Hill Road, then left on O'Sullivan Dam Road. Drive about 1 1/2 miles to "C" Street Southeast, turn left and drive to the end of the road past the Wildlife Access Area sign.
Trail detail
Several trips are possible, the shortest and simplest being a three-mile round-trip walk through the heart of this sanctuary. There's not enough elevation gain to even mention. This is a hike that everyone will enjoy, but make no mistake, this is not a trail in the usual sense of the word.
There are no signed trails -- only faint paths created by fishermen and enhanced by animals. From the parking area, walk to the concrete bridge over the Winchester Wasteway and follow faint tread heading northwest. In about a half mile, turn right to head due north -- this will take you over sand dunes, through swamps, sagebrush, more dunes and, in about 1-1/2 miles, land you on the shores of Potholes Reservoir.
The tread is almost non-existent -- you're basically hiking cross-country. Take care while hiking to turn around and look backwards so the view will be familiar when you return.
If you don't want to hike and you can explore the Potholes by boat or canoe.
The water is shallow in many places, so a canoe may be the best choice. Drive the O'Sullivan Dam Road to the boat-launch area of Potholes State Park (elevation 1,040 feet).
It's easy to get lost in the maze of islands and waterways, so keep track of where you are.
You'll find sandy beaches for swimming and sunbathing, and private retreats that can't be reached on foot. Fishing, camping and hunting in season are allowed. No open campfires May 15 through Oct. 31.
Trail data
Potholes walk is three miles round-trip, 60-foot elevation gain, high point 1,200 feet.
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