Deep Lake Potholes Field Trip

Join Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park Rangers for an eye opening field trip to the Deep Lake Potholes in Sun Lakes State Park on Saturday, Sept 16. We will meet in the Deep Lake parking lot at 10:00 AM. Discover Pass is Required.

Years ago, Tom Foster blogged about his visits to these incredible potholes:

I must have stood at this spot for 15 minutes Saturday – Amazing Ice Age Flood features surrounded me. In this shot the pothole, massive butte and hanging coulee all help one visualize the awesome power of the Ice Age Floods. I’m impressed with the large basalt overhang near the skyline. In Bruce Bjornstad’s book “On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods” he describes this undercutting process that was key to the formation of vertical faces in recessional cataracts.

The Interpretive Master Plan for the Ice Age Floods in Washington State Parks describes this group of kolk carved depressions – “Another spectacular feature is a tight cluster of the deep potholes beyond Sun Lake just west of Deep Lake. These potholes lie along the valley bottom and require only a 5-10 minute walk from the road.”

I’d also like to mention that a fall into one of these potholes could be fatal!