Sun Lakes State Park {Washington}

We just spent four days, three nights at Sun Lakes State Park and we I can’t wait to tell you all about. The drive from Lake Wenatchee State park was only a few hours, but lots of elevation changes (read: big hills) which made me a little nervous towing the trailer. Our truck managed the hills fine but it was my nerves that needed a break by the time we rolled into Sun Lakes.

We had a back-in spot, spot 63, in campground E (see Sun Lakes campground map here). It’s the farthest from the lake and set up for larger RVs and trailers. We were really happy with our spot – it had a big patch of grass that was shared by all the campsites in the loop. Since we were there over the weekend, every campsite was full, and our kids had lots of fun playing with other kids at the park. As a mom, this always makes me a happy. Knowing that we moved away from “home” but that my kids are making friends all across the country – and get social interaction with other kids their ages.

Our campsite was surrounded by beautiful terrain and amazing skylines. But we heard there were rattlesnakes – new to us Western Washington folk – so we didn’t venture into the shrubs too much. There was a BIG rock across the road from our campground that we’d let the kids climb, with careful supervision. My son, especially, loved climbing the big rock.

Our camp site was in the official state park but it partners with neighboring Sun Lakes Park Resort and that’s where you’ll find a lot of the “extracurricular” lake activities.

Our first day at the camp, we rented a paddleboat from Sun Lakes Park Resort. It’s $15/hr plus a $2 deposit you get back when you return the boat. We went early in the day (around 11 a.m.) and after covering ourselves in sunblock paddled out to the middle of the lake. The kids brought their own life vests and jumped off the paddleboat to swim in the lake. Jeremy (dad) jumped into the lake, too. I stayed on board to keep the paddle boat nearby. 🙂 It was a beautiful day and I’d say renting the paddle boat was worth the funds. I had heard the lake has a propensity for Swimmer’s Itch (there are lots of geese in the lake!) so we made sure to rinse off well after our swim and haven’t had any issues. Other campers we talked to weren’t as good about rinsing off – and also had no problems with swimmer’s itch.

The paddle boats can hold up to 4 people with an average weight of 180 pounds each – information I think is useful if you’re planning to rent one. They also have hydrocycles (like water bikes) $20 an hour and boats you can rent, too.  I didn’t take any photos of this – didn’t want to get my phone or camera wet – but it was a magical time!

After swimming we hopped into the truck and drove just a couple miles up the hill to Dry Falls Visitors Center. FREE to tour, the center has breath-taking views and great exhibits on the history of the area.

Although the Dry Falls Visitors Center is small, it has so much to offer educationally.

And the views are AMAZING – even the kids were mesmerized by the landscape.

They even have a Junior Ranger program that my kids completed – it’s essentially an activity worksheet the kids complete based on exhibits within the center.  Once complete, you bring it back to the front desk and you’ll earn a ranger badge. (Bring your own pencils/pens, they didn’t have them). The kids were giddy to earn their first Junior Ranger badge of the trip – it’s the first of many more. . .

After completing the Junior Ranger program the kids found a geocache in the sign outside of the visitor’s center – more FREE fun! It was a micro cache, hidden in the sign, with a small log that you sign.

After the visitor center, we headed down to the Sun Lakes playground and let the kids get some more energy out before heading back to camp. It’s a FANTASTIC playground – the kids went a few times over the course of our stay.

We took it easy the rest of the day – hanging out around the trailer where we made dinner and just happened to see this. . .

. . . beautiful deer walk along the small hill near our campsite. What a sight!

Shortly after seeing the deer, around 9 p.m., we headed down to Sun Lakes State Park amphitheater, near the lake, for a FREE parks program about bats.

We had an awesome parks employee give us a detailed and information talk on bats. We learned especially about the Little Brown Myotis (little brown bat) that is common in Washington.

And after the talk – the sun had nearly dipped below the horizon and the park employee led us over to a small creek where the bats came out to hunt for the night! It was awesome. The kids, up way past their bedtimes, were in awe as the little brown bats flying around, swooping down to get a drink of water after a long day’s sleep, and eating the mosquitos flying over our heads. Truly a great experience – we learned a lot – and it was FREE (thank you state parks!).

That night the wind was WHIPPING through the campground like I’ve never heard before. I felt sorry for people in tents – the wind was howling and at times even rocking our trailer. I had heard the wind could be intense here – and we certainly experienced that! I’d definitely come prepared if you’re camping here, the wind can really get going. By morning it was calm again, thank goodness.

The next day (Father’s Day!) we toured Grand Coulee Dam – more on that later, I hope to do a whole dam post on that. . .stay tuned.

After the dam tour, the kids played mini golf at the Sun Lakes Park Resort. My daughter, under 5, was FREE and my son was $4. Cheap entertainment for an afternoon!

And that night, Sunday night, the campground cleared out! All the kids we played with the previous couple days had packed up and headed home. After everyone got hot showers, we pulled out the LEGOs and played independently for awhile.

It’s a bit surreal, calling these places home, and doing the things we’d be doing back at our “regular” house (like playing LEGOs), but in settings with breathtaking sunsets, chirping birds and fresh air. It really is something special and I’m grateful for it. The photo above is a view from our campsite in campground E. The building in the distance is a public restroom and shower area, showers are $0.50/3 minutes.

The next morning, our last day at the park, I was awakened at 6 a.m. by a woodpecker tapping on the roof of our trailer. I jumped out of bed and ran outside in my pjs to scare the bird off – as much as I love birds, we didn’t need a hole in the trailer! Much to my surprise I found three deer eating right outside our trailer, while we slept. 🙂

Well, hello there. Good morning to you. . .and you. . . and you.

This place really is worth a visit the next time you’re in the area. Between the educational programs, the visitors center, the lake fun, the wildlife and the breathtaking views – we really enjoyed the weekend.

Stay tuned for a future post on the Grand Coulee dam and on our next destination – Walla Walla, Washington!

Have you stayed at Sun Lakes state park before? Do you have any favorite activities or things to do here? We’d love to hear – leave a comment on this post!