Mud Mountain Dam and Recreation Area: Mud Mountain Lake and White River Trail

This one-of-a-kind trail follows the White River above Mud Mountain Dam, first on a high bluff and then right along the water, providing the unique opportunity to walk on a part-time lake bed. With year-round access, limited traffic, and a feel more like a riparian zone in eastern Washington than anything in the Cascades, this hike is unlike any other in the region. Among such Pacific Northwest engineering marvels as the Grand Coulee and Bonneville dams on the Columbia River, Mud Mountain Dam is something of an anomaly. Despite being the tallest dam in the world of its type when it was built in the 1940s, it was designed purely to prevent floods, generating no hydroelectric power and rarely even holding back any water. Instead, the dam acts like a regulator valve for the White River Valley, only allowing a certain volume to pass through and usually doing nothing to impede the river’s standard flow. However, during occasional periods of flooding, the river gets backed up behind the dam to form a temporary reservoir, protecting development downstream. This means that unless you happen to arrive during one of the infrequent periods of extreme high water, the Mud Mountain Dam will be essentially dormant, nothing more than a giant wall waiting to be put into service. Thankfully, it also means that the engaging lower section of the trail above the White River will be dry and accessible, rather than at the bottom of a temporary, man-made lake.