Mileage: 2.1 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 170/1300ft
Map: my GAIA
Favorite Eats After Hike: The Pearl Bar & Grill, Basecamp Books & Bites, or just Pack A Cooler. You can learn more about these places in my Must Hike Must Eat Eating Out Guide.
Hike Details:
The drive along SR 17 is a stunning example of glacial flooding alone, but a stop at the Lake Lenore Caves State Park to walk along the basalt cliffs is a must to truly take in the effects of the cataclysmic Missoula Floods period that carved out much of the geological formations in Eastern Washington. Peeking into its shallow caves created when those flood waters snatched basalt from the coulee walls will bring out the kid in anyone.
The trail leaves the parking lot on steep steps but soon levels out among sage brush and lichen covered rock as it runs about a mile to the south along the most obvious entrances, most but 10-20 feet deep. They are too shallow to have once been significant shelters for the local tribes of the Yakama, Moses and Columbia but most likely hold historical and cultural significance.
Most folks walk the lower section of trail to the main caves and stop at a deep impression in the earth that reveals the largest cave about .8 miles from the trailhead. But you can continue further on the basalt shelf, noticing the tracks of wildlife and the glacial carved walls of the coulee. The trail ends in another quarter mile or so as the shelf does and you can loop back on a higher trail to arrive back at the stairs. You can walk to the north (left) here for further exploration but an established trail will soon peter out.
My Hikes:
2/18/2021
Coming back from a stay at Fields Spring State Park, I stopped at the Lake Lenore Caves on my way home. It had been awhile since visiting and the light snow on the ground accented the already stunning basalt cliff walls. Just like last time, I had the trail to myself as the skies threatened to commence snowing again.
I kept to the lower trail and passed by the main caves, taking shelter at each one and peering out at the coulee walls across the partially frozen Lake Lenore.
There were tracks from other hikers before me but they all stopped at the last line-up of caves before the large one within the depression. I had missed this one on my first visit so it was a treat to find it this time! The most interesting thing about being inside the caves was how it messed with GPS. It did not know what to do at all when I was inside…
From here the trail continued along the shelf of the cliff wall with only the tracks of wildlife to mar the snow on the ground.
The shelf ran out close to the border with the Sun Lakes Wildlife Area and so I turned around, just in time to notice that the skies had grown darker and snow was surely coming. I took a higher trail back that ran above the caves but looped back down as I neared the stairs. Because there were no boot prints and the sage crowded the trail, it was a little harder to find where it exactly dropped down in areas where the trail runs over scree rather than sand.
8/2014
I had always wanted to check this hike out and figured it would be perfect on a short weekend trek to Eastern Washington. I also hit the Wild Horses Monument and Gingko Petrified Forest!
The hike is simple enough, you leave the parking lot up a short gravel path to some nice concrete stairs and on the trail on the wall of the coulee that overlooks Lake Lenore. You can go left or right but the trails to the right run longer and are more developed.
Don’t expect shade except within the seven caves along the way and take time to admire the colorful lichen that grows on the basalt rocks. I don’t think I found the cave that is featured in so many pictures because none of the ones I saw were deep enough to go back more than a few feet.
But it was fun to scramble up on some of the rock and imagine what life would have been like back when prehistoric humans may have used the caves for shelter. You will see signs that warn of snakes, so gaiters are a smart idea.
On the way back from the caves, I stopped along the SR 17 to scramble up an outcropping along the lake to take in the views of the Grand Coulee walls and look back at the Lenore Cave area.
Directions: From Seattle, head east on I-90 to exit 151 for Ephrata/Soap Lake. Drive through Ephrata and onto Soap Lake, taking 281 to Hwy 283 N for 14.8 miles. Continue on Hwy 28 for another 10 miles, then turn left onto Hwy 17 and proceed for another 9.6 miles along Lenore Lake to Lenore Lake Road on the right. Turn onto the graveled road and soon arrive at a small looped parking lot. There is a privy and a Discover Pass is required.
For more hikes near here, visit my Eastern Washington page. I, also, wrote about this hike in 4 Hikes and One Night in Eastern Washington.
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