Monument Coulee exudes a stark beauty

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NWsource

April 29, 1999

Monument Coulee exudes a stark beauty

By KAREN SYKES
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

Our annual Boy Scout desert hike is the one everyone wants to go on -- even adults. We could hardly wait for this hike after the long winter.

Every time we drive over Snoqualmie Pass toward the Columbia Basin, I marvel anew at the dramatic transition between the western and eastern sides of the Cascades -- from rain forest to desert.

If you're new to the Northwest or have never hiked in the desert, it might take some getting used to. At first glance the hills are stony and scantily clad with sagebrush, rocks painted neon orange by lichen, and sprinklings of Ponderosa pine. Often there are long stretches with no trees at all.

Sagebrush dots the terrain and deep shadows race across the land, cast by restless clouds. Look again and you'll see the drab hills ablaze with spring flowers. By the time you reach the Columbia Basin you might as well be on a different planet.

We chose Monument Coulee, near Dry Falls, as our destination. Dry Falls was created by massive floods from ancient Lake Missoula at the end of the ice age. We stopped at the Dry Falls Interpretative Center on state Route 17 to look down on Umatilla Rock, once an island in the center of Dry Falls.

Floods roared out of Lower Grand Coulee and cut into underlying basalt from ancient lava flows to form another cataract, about 200 feet high. Over time, whirlpools ate away at the lip of the falls and it receded upstream.

By the end of the floods, the lip of the cataract had moved 25 miles upstream to become what we know today as Dry Falls, once upon a geologic time more than 400 feet high and four miles wide.

The best way to experience this country is to hike it. Walk around Umatilla Rock, explore several lakes along the way, and admire or scramble the leaning towers of Monument Coulee, a desert Stonehenge near the base of Umatilla Rock.

We originally had planned to backpack and camp at one of the lakes but were disappointed to find the backcountry area closed to camping.

So we had to settle for a day hike and ended up camping in Sun Lakes State Park, which begins to get crowded this time of year. We're used to solitude on backpacks, but resigned ourselves to sharing a small place with many others.

Getting there
From the Dry Falls Interpretive Center (three miles south of Coulee City on state Route 17), drive another mile south to Sun Lakes State Park. (The Dry Falls Interpretive Center can be approached from Coulee City or Soap Lake.)

Drive the Deep Lake-Dry Falls Lake road about a mile from the park entrance and look for a gated road signed Camp Delany, elevation 1,200 feet. From the campground, you can also hike to Umatilla Rock, Perch Lake and Dry Falls Lake.

Trail detail
From the now-gated road for Camp Delany, walk .4 mile and turn right at the signed junction for Camp Delany. Hike through the gate, walk another 150 feet or so and look for a dirt track on your left, which leads to Monument Coulee and the base of Umatilla Rock.

Even if you can't find the path, hiking cross-country is easy and you can't miss the towers of Monument Coulee.

You also can follow one of several paths leading around Umatilla Rock and descend to Dry Falls Lake. From the lake look up to the Dry Falls Interpretive Center.

Other options include a side trip to Red Alkali Lake or Green Lake. You also can begin your hike from the campground, which is what we did. From the campground, walk the road that heads straight for Umatilla Rock (the sign says "authorized vehicles only") and to the Perch Lake/Camp Delany junction at about a half-mile.

Stay left for Perch Lake and Dry Falls Lake, now closed to camping and public vehicles. This makes a good turnaround point for families with small children.

Experienced hikers can extend their hike by following a path from Dry Falls Lake, which crosses over the low end of Umatilla Rock and on to Red Alkali Lake, Green Lake and Camp Delany Environmental Learning Center.

This is all easier than it sounds. The country is wide-open and you can readily spot your destination.

Trail data
Monument Coulee from gated Camp Delany road, about 3 1/2 miles round trip, elevation gain 100 feet. If you are hiking around Umatilla Rock, it is about a 5-mile loop.

The map is USGS Coulee City. A good description of the hike can be found in the second edition of "55 Hikes in Central Washington" by Harvey Manning and Ira Spring (Mountaineer Books, 176 pages, $12.95).

Sun Lakes State Park offers 15 miles of hiking and biking trails, campgrounds and beaches, lakes with fishing and boating facilities, and private concessions. For more information about the park (or any state park), call 800-233-0321.