Day 2: Coulee City to Grand Coulee

July 17, 2021

Today I see the upper Grand Coulee. I will be near Banks Lake for most of the day.

Away from Banks Lake Lodge at 7:30. Then breakfast at the coffee shop. Finally away from Coulee City at 8:10 AM.

The first 3 miles are on US 2. It wasn't very busy. Not many trucks at that hour. Then I turned left onto WA 155 which I follow all the way to the town of Grand Coulee. All of today's roads have a good paved shoulder.

At the beginning of the day WA 155 climbs a couple of big hills that take the road away from the water. Later the road stays close to the lake most of the time. Nonstop good lake and coulee views today.

Traffic was moderate and the road always has a usable paved shoulder, even alongside the cliffs.

WA 155 high above Banks Lake. Looking "up" the upper Grand Coulee.

I passed a few developed recreation areas along the lake. But most people stop at the dozens of informal waterfront turnouts along the highway.

Much of today's ride has views of Steamboat rock. The river wraps around the formation in a big horseshoe bend. The Grand Coulee has been been a migration and trade route for thousands of years.

I could see Steamboat Rock for many miles.

Today I have two stops planned at Steamboat Rock State Park. First is the lakeside recreation area. I was unimpressed. Not much in the way of park facilities. Just a multi-lane boat ramp and a huge parking lot for boat trailers. From there I continued across the highway to the gravel road that leads into Northrup Canyon.

This recreation area at Steamboat Rock State Park is mostly boat ramps and a huge parking lot for boat trailers.

The first mile going into Northrup Canyon is a graded gravel road. I was able to pedal up with no problem. Then I pedaled another mile+ on a trail. Had to push the bike through the sandiest parts. I saw 2 hikers and 2 equestrians. It's not crowded.

Unpaved detour to Northrup Canyon, in Steamboat Rock State Park.

The big canyon has only a trickle of water in the creek. It's a desert canyon.

I continued pretty far into the canyon and turned around when I decided I had gone far enough. It turns out that most people go another 1/4 mile to an old homestead that I couldn't see.

I enjoyed the occasional groves of pine trees in the sheltered canyon.

The trail passes a few small groves of pine trees.

Altogether I pedaled about 5 miles round trip on the Northrup Canyon excursion. All unpaved, most of it steep. It was work, but a nice diversion from the lake and the traffic.

Today was sunny with a high of 90F. I should have, but I never jumped into the lake. I saw a faint band of smoke for a few miles, but it didn't really degrade visibility.

Today is Saturday. I saw a lot of boat traffic on the road today. I think most people visit this area for the water recreation, not to see the dam.

Lots of bare rock surrounding Banks Lake. Scoured by ice age floods.

Crossing a finger of Banks Lake on a causeway.

The first town I enter this afternoon is Electric City. It's on a bluff overlooking Banks Lake.

Just past Electric City is North Dam which forms Banks Lake in the otherwise dry coulee. This earthen dam is 145 feet tall. Dry Falls dam at the opposite end of Banks Lake is 123 feet tall. The long upper Grand Coulee is nearly level, but flooded 100 feet deep by dams at both ends.

North Dam is the "upper" dam forming Banks Lake in the upper Grand Coulee.

I pedaled across the dam to have a look at the canal on the other side. Upper Grand Coulee would be dry if not for this canal which gets water from Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind Grand Coulee Dam.

An interpretive sign explains that the canal is 280 feet higher than the source, Roosevelt Lake. The water is lifted by giant pumps adjacent to Grand Coulee Dam. The Columbia River falls 300 feet through turbines to generate a tremendous amount of electrical power. Some of that power is used to pump 1600 cubic feet per second of water up 280 feet (85 m) from the reservoir to the mouth of the Grand Coulee.

Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1941. The Columbia Basin Project pumping station and water distribution system were completed in 1951, creating more than a million acres of irrigated farmland in south central Washington.

A sign shows the pumping station and 12 pipes that lift water 280 feet to the canal with a flow of 1600 cubic feet per second!

I stopped for a while at a park near North dam and contemplated how much water flows through Banks lake to irrigate crops. And contemplated that this is the main pouroff of ice age floods into the Grand Coulee.

Final view of Banks Lake near the town of Grand Coulee. Town of Electric City on the left.

Grand Coulee is a spread out town with a population of 1067. It gets a few visitors who come to see the dam and recreate on the lakes. But it's not really a tourist town and it does not appear to be thriving.

The town was founded during the construction of Grand Coulee Dam in the 1930's. The area was unpopulated before the government brought in thousands of workers for 8 years to build the dam. The government is still surely the largest employer, operating the dam, power plants, and water distribution system.

Sleepy downtown Grand Coulee. Most businesses are on the highway now.

I arrived at the Grand Coulee Motel at 2:35 PM and was allowed to have my room right away. I will stay 2 nights.

I didn't eat lunch, so I pedaled 3/4 mile up a steep hill to have an early dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I beat the Saturday evening rush and was done by 5:30 PM.

A no-vacancy Saturday night in Grand Coulee, Washington. The motel has a few reserved truck+boat trailer parking spaces.

It was a good day. Tolerable heat. Minimal smoke. Good shoulders for cycling. Good scenery. Today's route is near Banks Lake almost all day, but Northrup canyon added scenic variety. My only regret is not going all the way to the homestead in Northrup canyon.

Distance: 37.1 miles (59.4 km)
Average Speed: 8.3 mph (13.3 km/h)
Ascent/Descent: +1296/-1271 feet (+395/-388 m)

Today's ride: 37 miles (60 km)
Total: 74 miles (119 km)

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Gregory GarceauHi Wayne,

I knew you had probably completed this trip already, so I've been anxious to read your report and view your pictures. (It's fun to compare notes.) I can safely say I've already learned more about that area from your journal than I did while actually riding it.
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3 years ago

Wayne EstesTo Gregory GarceauHi Greg. After the tour I have the luxury to find more information about things that caught my interest. Most of the details I posted were found on roadside interpretive signs. Some of the signs I didn't even read all the details until after the tour.

All of the visuals on the Introduction page are photos of roadside signs except for the map of the Columbia basin which was lifted from Wikipedia.

I looked up dam heights on Wikipedia but I don't think they are very useful because the height includes a lot of buried foundation. It's hard to find the actual height of the water between the pool level and the river level below the dam.

Before the tour I knew that California pumps vast quantities of water over a 600 foot hill to move the water from the Sacramento river valley to southern California. I didn't know that Washington does the same thing.
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3 years ago