Summer Falls

Waterfalls aren't exactly common in the desert of central washington, so anyplace you can find the sound of cascading water is special.  Finding Summer Falls may be tricky, but the surrounding country roads that cut through coulees and follow abandoned railroad routes are very picturesque, so I would plan to get a little lost and enjoy it. The park is like an oasis at the end of a rocky, dusty driveway: a well-irrigated grassy park with trees, picnic tables, restrooms and a pavilion, all nestled up against Billy Clap Lake and the waterfall.

Note: the only water recreation here is fishing: there is no beach and people have been seriously injured from falling on the slippery rocks of the falls.  The falls are, however, very accessible if you have two legs and don't mind the "KEEP OUT" signs.  If you are looking for desert hikes, there are plenty nearby (including Sun Lakes/Dry Falls state park), but not at Summer Falls.  This park is a pretty sedentary place unless you are throwing frisbee or football in the grassy park.

These falls and the depth of Billy Clap Lake they flow into were created when an irrigation canal was built to bring water from Banks Lake (itself a product of water diverted from the Grand Coulee Dam) to what was then dry, rocky, sagebrushy non-farmland further south.  There is also a tiny, discrete power plant just up the canal from the falls.  So the lake is a coulee that is full of water, and the water coming down the falls is what is leftover from the canal after the power plant takes it's share.  It sounds pretty industrial, but it's not: the irrigation and power generating functions of the water are invisible at Summer Falls.  Summer Falls is a good place--maybe the only place--to enjoy the relaxing sound of a waterfall amidst the area's desert landscape.