Potholes State Park — Attraction in Moses Lake

Very nice state park, only a few issues we encountered during our stay there. The fact that they close the main bathrooms(multiple stalls/shower)from Sunday night thru Thursday night. The only flushable toilets/showers available Sunday night thru Thursday night are the single use ones (also handi capped accessible,) which there are ONLY two showers and two flushable toilets for the whole park. Which are located at the boat launch and in the R.V. area's of the park. There are three "pit" type toilets in the tent/primitive camping area's, one being a handi-capped toilet. There is NO DEFINED SWIMMING AREA. However, alot of the campers(us included) chose to swim close to the boat dock area, at our own risk. That is also where people fish from the shore too, so beware of hooks and discarded fishing line ect. It is very rocky at that area, so I would recommend wearing old shoes or water shoes for safety. There are signs posted stating " NO SWIMMING FROM DOCK" & "NO FISHING FROM DOCK." The rangers do monitor the dock area and inform anyone doing those things to stop and move to another area. However, it does happen often & most make way for the boats. There is a very nice toy area for small kids and a really nice volleyball area available for use, you must bring your own ball. The day use area has several permanent bbq & picnic tables available, as well as a covered handi-capped/group bbq/table area over looking the water available (next to the boat launch). However keep in mind that this is a "PACK IT IN PACK IT OUT " PARK, which means there are NO TRASH CANS/GARBAGE CANS AVAILABLE IN THE PARK! There IS ONE TRASH COMPACTOR located in the upper boat launch parking lot. So bring your own trash bags and pack it to the compactor. We rented the 6 person cabin with air conditioning, 4 bunk beds and a queen bed. As stated we brought our own bedding,( including foam toppers for on top of the mattresses) The mattresses were adequate but a bit flat, better than the ground thou! Included with the cabin was a fire ring and picnic table. Plus parking large enough for either two vehicles or boat and truck. If two seperate vehicle's be aware you will have to pay for the extra vehicle fee, $10.00 a day. Also, your discovery pass will Not cover that fee as it is simply a "day pass", Not anything else. (We were told otherwise, a clerk told us to buy the pass to cover our extra vehicle parking while there.) We did Not do our research before buying the pass, so when we got there and told that we needed to pay an extra $100. For parking we were surprised the pass didn't cover it as the clerk had stated. Our fault for Not doing our own research on what it did/did not cover, life lesson learned. Lol! Overall, we had a very nice family vacation at this state park. Do your own research before booking & leaving on your own adventures. I highly recommend this area for a family vacation, there is plenty to do here. Hiking, fishing, swimming, exploring the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, learning how the dam was made, the dunes it formed, the small lakes and wildlife that thrive there. Great place to bring family. P.S. don't forget Moses lake is only 20 miles away and there is plenty to do there also, they have a FANTASTIC water park. Plenty of fun for all ages!! Hope this helps for planning your...

Their website says there is a swimming beach. This may be true in May, but they don't bother to tell you the water lowers in the summer and it turns into essentially a swamp. No real access for swimming unless you have a boat. It was 103 degrees when we arrived, having reservations for three nights and no swimming access, we decided to cancel the remaining two nights and go somewhere else. I walked nearly a mile to the office at the entrance of the park to talk to the attendant about cancelling. He said he wasn't able to help us with that and I'd have to come back at 10am when the ranger arrived. I called at 10 that morning to make sure he was there before I walked back to the office. The woman that answered said she could take care of it, but only refunded us for one night. I explained to her that their cancellation policy clearly stated that any cancellation within seven days of the reservation is subject to a full refund, less a 20 percent cancellation fee. She told me this was all she could do for me because the system would only let her refund one night and she was not very familiar with how to use it. So I decided to stop by on our way out about an hour later. When I walked in the ranger was there. I explained to him nicely why I was there, but he was stern and not pleasant from the get go. He said they don't give refunds for weather reasons. I showed him their cancellation policy on my phone, but he ignored and continued to repeat that same line. I told him it doesn't matter, I don't need a reason, the policy is what it is and doesn't require a reason. He would not back down and was obstinate and rude. He finally said call the state headquarters if you have a problem with this. I walked out. About twenty minutes later the woman I had spoken to earlier that morning called and told me she had made a mistake with not knowing the system, pushed a wrong button, therefore both nights would be refunded after all. I have a feeling that after I left, the ranger looked up the policy, realized I was right and was hoping to avoid my calling headquarters and complaining, but he couldn't be bothered with calling himself and apologizing, he made her do it. Seemed to be ignorance, incompetence and poor customer relations across the board here. My girlfriend looked up previous reviews on Google and found many similar complaints, mainly about the rude ranger. I do not recommend staying here, unless you are a fan of being talked down to and...

Let me start with the food stuff! The park is well kept and beautiful! Although we are not currently boat owners, the access seems fair for the traffic with 2 access points on either side of the small dock to tie off. There are plenty of vault toilets and showers on site. I'd wear shower shoes in there though. Carl, the current volunteer is a delight and quite helpful! There's plenty of critters to watch, the raccoons like to join you by the fire after dark to see if they can get some scraps. They were more scared of us though, not rabid by any means. The deer were beautiful too watch as they would stroll through the park in the afternoon. There's a small general store less than a mile away if you forgot something minor or need more wood. Do bring your own wood! Before we get to the next part I'll tell you we were there Oct 16 thru 18. It's fishing season and just between duck hunting early open and open. We prepared well for the chilly weather and we don't camp in state parks often because when I camp, I prefer to not see people so much. For that reason I prefer to primitive disperse camp. But we were with a friend who wanted to visit, so we went! The not so great: My biggest pet peeve was quiet hours were NOT enforced. We were woke up each morning at 4:30 AM to large trucks pulling in and hollaring as they backed their load into the spot then running their generator while setting up and their dog is barking to beat the band. This happened both mornings. My peace and quiet is important to me so this REALLY got my ire up. The place sounded like a truck stop for a good hour, so there was no falling back to sleep. If this is a non issue for you, you'll love it. There's no privacy to speak of really. You're out in the open for all to see for the most part. So, I hope you like the campers next to you! Now the facilities aren't the worst I've seen. They are well stocked, heated and have motion sensor lighting which was nice with the cold mornings and evenings. It's not like they have literal crud spread everywhere but they could use a good scrubbing. Would I visit again? NO. But hopefully this gives you enough info to make an...