Ancient Lakes Lower Trailhead — Attraction in Quincy

22Mar2022 TUE, 11:30 -till- 15:00, sunny ~50s_F i was having some fun rambling .. did a "Lollipop Loop" (T) {to put in some extra miles} : (T) 1 B 2 (T) - to marvel at another one of Nature Artworks: Potholes Coulee .. its soooo beautiful 👍 And to actually have my first "touch" of the Columbia River - its soooo beautiful too 👍👍😄

Except for the section of Trail at (S) - which was somewhat "sketchy" (for me) cos of its mixed sandy, dusty, stoney, rocky, and steep (~45 deg) Grade, the others were in reasonably good walking condition, and passable.

There were 8 vehicles at the Trailhead parking when i arrived at 11:30. And 4 vehicles when i left at 15:00. I only encountered a total of cheery, friendly, courteous 6 people and 1 dog during my ~3.5 hrs on the Trail .. nice 😄

Happy Trails Everyone! And Be Safe 😊

below updated 17:45 23mar2022

Still puzzling about the "ripples" running across the Ancient Lakes Road, i did some "researching" ..

The ~3+ miles "Rough Road" of Ancient Lakes Road was comfortably wide (2 x Single Lane). And its my first experience encountering such "ripples" running across it - for such a long stretch of road.

When i first got on it at 15 mph .. my Tiguan rattled very badly .. To reduce the rattling, i tried driving at 5 mph which did minimize the rattling .. but it was an anguishing and terribly slow drive. After 1+ miles of driving at 5 mph, i saw a vehicle coming out from the Trailhead .. and with the road dust blooming/flying high behind his vehicle, i guessed that the vehicle was driving at speed much higher than the 5 mph that i was doing. After he passed-by me, i sped up .. and drove at 30 mph .. and surprisingly, there's no more rattling ..

Well, now (23mar2022 ~17:00) - after some "researching" on the internet, it seems that the "rippling" is also known to as "washboarding", "corrugations" .. 😅

**update 24mar2022 - "ideal speed" from HowStuffWorks : "If you travel dirt roads frequently, you know that you can find an ideal speed that will help smooth out the ride. That's the speed at which your car's suspension system is pushing the car down at the same time you experience a dip in the road. The problem is that the more the tires press...

I'm absolutely obsessed with this trail and this area. It's incredibly gorgeous and so unexpected when you're coming from above. As my friend said, it looks like the set for a Zane Grey novel.

The trail to the lakes themselves is a short 1.5-2 miles, but every inch is gorgeous. Sagebrush, blooming desert wildflowers (if you go at the right time), waterfalls that make it look like you stepped into the pleiocistene, giant glacial boulders that you're not expecting to see around the next corner, and then these gorgeous lakes at the bottom of a rugged canyon... Just incredible.

A few notes: it's a dry camp, so haul your water in, and be prepared to drink more water than usual because it's a dry hot area! I hear that there are rattlesnakes later in the season, but there were certainly plenty of tumbleweeds. No fire from June to September, but you have to haul your own wood in because there really isn't much there to clean, as you can see.

I wish I'd found this area earlier in my time in Washington but I'm so grateful to know it now... And very eager...

Had such a lovely hike with my friend! There is decent cell service throughout the trail with a few dead zones. I'd recommend downloading your maps from Google Maps or All Trails, etc just in case because some of the trail routes are a bit easy to miss. Lots of open space for running, hiking, mountain biking, and enjoying the outdoors. The lakes are beautiful- Dusty Lake and Ancient Lakes were both cool. I preferred Ancient Lakes because there are waterfalls and saw more animals (hawks, frogs, fish) in that area. Somewhat of a rough road the 2-ish miles from main road to trailhead when driving in but manageable even in a small car if you go slow. Requires a...