Ancient Lakes trail near Quincy, WA
Looking for a quick escape from Seattle’s winter but don’t want to pay all that money for a plane ticket to go somewhere like California or Arizona? Well, we got you! We enjoy those beautiful PNW snowy hikes in the winter so much. But we were ready for a little getaway from evergreen land and wanted to explore something new and different than our typical Pacific Northwest hiking experience.
East of the Cascade Mountains, the terrain turns from moody winding highways surrounded by towering mountains and evergreen trees into the Wild West. Literally. There were tumbleweeds blowing across the highway (I was pretty amused by this since I’ve only seen this happen in cartoons)! We think this one is the perfect hike for late fall and early winter since it was a warm and comfortable 50 degrees Fahrenheit (while the summer can reach up to A scorching 100 degrees in these arid desert terrains). We didn’t even need a jacket for this trail!
Ancient Lakes Trail is an easy trail in Eastern Washington that leads you through a desert basin, surrounded by jagged horseshoe shaped mountains and lush, golden desert grasses. There was barely any elevation gain and is a perfect beginner hike or to go explore and hike around with family. About 3/4 of your way on the trail, you’ll come across a HUGE rock next to a beautiful waterfall cascading down the mountain next to you. As you continue, you’ll come across 2 large, beautiful blue lakes. I thought how amazing it would be to hike here in the summer and jump into the lake at the end. But then I read a review on how rattlesnakes are very common in the summer. Oh, and they can swim. Errrm, I’ll stick to jumping in the freezing alpine lakes in the summer, thank ya very much!
We were completely shocked to find this trail got only 4 stars on AllTrails because we seriously give it a 5/5. Ancient Lakes trail is truly such a unique gem in the Pacific Northwest, and you must go experience it for yourself! It was magic sauce.
