Eastern Washington Expeditions
Banks Lake/Douglas Creek Overland Trip
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
By Clay Graham / CegPics.com
At 10 AM on Monday May 16th 2022 Doc and I took Alice (2007 JKU) to meet up with the others at the Wild Horses Monument near Vantage on I-90. Around 11:15 AM we all met up there. On this trip we had three Jeeps (1 JKU, 1 TJ, & 1 XJ). We jumped on I-90 for a few miles and took Exit 151 towards Soap Lake. Right off the Freeway we stopped at the Shell Gas Station for Don. We then continue on State Route 283 and drove to Soap Lake.
In Soap Lake we stopped for lunch at Smokiam Park. We took a walk down to the lake and then checked out the “Calling the Healing Waters Sun Dial”.
Next we got back on the State Route 17 heading north. About 20 minutes later we stopped at Dry Falls Visitor Center. The view was awesome. We were there for awhile checking things out.
We got back on the heading toward Banks Lake. Around 30 minutes later we turned off at Steamboat Rock. First we drove some WDFW dirt roads out to Bank Lake and then hit the pavement to check out Steamboat Rock State Park. The park was nice, but to many people for me.
On up the road 20 minutes or so we were at Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center. The dam was very cool to see. Inside the visitor center there was a lot of history to see. They had a 45 minute movie but we did not stay for it.
We stopped to top off the fuel tanks in Grand Coulee and then headed up on the hill to Steamboat Rock State Park Crown Point. The view was great. It was getting late in the day so we headed toward Douglas Creek.
It took up about an hour and a half to get to Douglas Creek. Once at Douglas Creek we stopped at a few campsites until we found one away from the main road. This site was good to set up tents. We set up camp and then had dinner around the propane campfire.
Tuesday morning in was just a little chilly getting out of bed. Waking up in the back of the Jeep I started the engine and had the heater blowing as I look at those cold tents out there. We had breakfast and slowly packed up camp. This was a great campsite.
We drove on down the creek and stopped at Douglas Creek Falls. The hill was very steep walking down to the creek. There are many small waterfalls going through the rocks. We drove to two other spots to see the waterfalls and took a photo at the Douglas Creek sign before going down to the pavement.
We hit pavement in Palisades and headed toward the Columbia River. We turned south on State Route 28 then turned south on White Trail Road.
Our last stop on the trip was at Quincy Lakes for lunch. Shelby had fun in the water.
Then was a very fun overland trip thanks to all who came.
Here are some photos of Banks Lake/Douglas Creek Overland Trip:
