Best Hikes in Washington: The Odessa Craters Trail

Basic Information

• Name: Odessa Craters Trail
• Where: Odessa, Washington
• Distance: 1.8 miles
• Elevation Gain: 253 feet
• Maximum Elevation: 1,770 feet
• Difficulty: Easy
• More Information: Day Hike! Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and Sandpoint

Google Earth Map of the Trail

Directions

The trailhead for this hike is located just outside the remote village of Odessa in Eastern Washington.  The town is accessed by taking Highway 21 north off of I-90 just outside of Ritzville.

After driving through Odessa follow Highway 21 about 5 miles north of the town on a lonely stretch of highway:

Look for a big brown sign pointing towards the trailhead.  It is hard to not see this large sign:

Parking

The parking lot at the Odessa Craters Trail is pretty small and can fit about 10 vehicles in it.  Considering how remote this trail is I doubt this lot ever fills up.

Narrative

When people think of volcanoes in Washington State they tend to think of the big Cascade Range volcanoes.  However, the east side of the state has had massive volcanic activity as well. Most of Eastern Washington is covered in a thick crust of basalt lava rock.  The lava flowed from cracks in the earth that occurred up to 16.7 million years ago.  So much lava flowed that it covers parts of fours states:

The volcanic hot spot that created all this basalt is believed to be located currently at Yellowstone National Park.  Today this basalt can be seen all over Eastern Washington, but in the Odessa region the basalt look like craters.  However, these craters were not caused by meteorite impacts or volcanic activity, but instead were carved out by the massive Ice Age Floods that struck the region about 13,000 years ago.  My kids and I made the drive out to this remote area to hike the short Odessa Craters Trail to see these natural features.  From the trailhead there is a sign designating the start of the loop trail:

Hikers can walk the trail in either direction, but we decided to follow the trail markers in a clockwise direction around the loop:

The terrain during the hike is nothing, but rolling hills, dust, and small bushes for as far as the eye can see.  Since we hiked this trail during the winter it was also a very cold 24 degrees out with a chilly breeze.  We decided to hike this trail during the winter because I had read about how bad the ticks can be on this trail during warmer months.  We definitely had no concerns about ticks in the cold weather we experienced:

About a half mile in, the trail comes to the first crater called Rock Rose Crater.  From the trail this crater is not as visible as the next two that can be seen on this hike:

When the Ice Age Floods happened it eroded the basalt in this area into dike walls in the shape of craters: :

Scientists are not really sure how the water eroded the basalt into these dike walls and this is the only region in the world where natural geologic features like this has ever been found:

In fact you would have to travel all the way to Mars to see a natural feature similar to this:

In a little under a mile, the trail came to a bench that has a beautiful view of the next crater known as the Wild Garden Crater:

Wild Garden Crater was very large and deep enough to where it was able to hold enough ground water to form a pond inside of it:

Here is a wider angle picture of the view from the bench:

From the bench the trail steeply descended down into the crater:

At the Wild Garden Crater sign the trail reaches a fork.  To the right the loop trail continues to next crater while going straight ahead descends down to the pond:

My kids and I decided to descend down to the bottom of the crater and check out the pond:

We found the pond completely frozen over in ice:

The ice was thick enough that my kids were able to run across it and slide on the ice with no worry of it cracking:

As I watched my kids play on the ice, I could see that during the spring and early summer that this pond likely doubles in size judging by the mud and reeds around it:

Besides checking out the pond, we also explored the nearby rock dikes:

This hike was a really nice adventure for my kids and despite the cold they were having a fun time.  Here is a picture looking back into the crater from the top of one of the rock dikes we hiked up:

On the top of the rock dike I decided to deploy my my DJI Mavic 2 Zoom – Drone. Here is a picture from my drone looking down into Wild Garden Crater:

The next couple of pictures looks directly down into Wild Garden Crater and gives a good idea how big the lake gets during the spring time:

This next picture is looking towards the west across the lake.  My kids and I are actually standing on top of the crater wall across the pond:

This next picture shows that on the adjacent ranch land they have some craters on their property as well:

I was a bit surprised to see from the air how this ranch was able to farm such a large piece of land in the middle of this basalt rock desert:

After we finished exploring the Wild Garden Crater, my kids and I had to retrace our steps about halfway up the crater’s wall to get back on to the loop trail:

In this photo from my drone you can see the trail on the right that leads down into the Wild Garden Crater and the trail running down the center-left is the loop trail:

At the intersection of these two trails is the Wild Garden Crater sign.  From that sign the loop trail proceeds to the next crater known as Amphitheater Crater:

This photo from my drone shows how the loop trail leads to the Amphitheater:

A short distance later we found ourselves at the Amphitheater Crater:

This crater also had a bench for people to sit-down and take in the views from:

At this point in our hike my kids were so cold that they did not want to sit down or further explore this crater.  So I just took a few photos before moving on further down the trail.  From the lookout it was easy to see why this is called the Amphitheater because the rocky rim did give the appearance of being a theater and the pond in the middle was the stage:

Here is a panorama photograph of the Amphitheater Crater:

Additionally here is a photo of the Amphitheater Crater from my drone:

As we followed the loop trail around the crater we spotted this rock dike inside of the crater:

The geology here is definitely fascinating on how water uncovered these basalt rock dikes.  As we hiked up out of the crater I noticed that for some reason a fence had been put up to keep people away from the crater’s rocky walls:

Here is a panorama photo from the trail as we exited the Amphitheater Crater:

Once we hiked out of the Amphitheater Crater it was just a short half mile hike back to the trailhead:

Once we got back to the trailhead we then made the short drive over to Cache Crater.  This crater is the fourth one that can be visited on the Bureau of Land Management Land that manages the trail.  The below map shows where Cache Crater is located in relation to the other three craters:

From the trailhead it is a short .15 mile walk to the crater:

At Cache Crater there is a bench to take in the views from:

The views of the surrounding scablands are extensive:

Unlike the first three craters, Cache Crater is much smaller with a steep drop off into the crater:

We spent a very short time at this crater before rushing back to my truck to get warm.  It was getting later in the afternoon and we could feel the temperature dropping further.  Here is one final wide angle photo I took of Cache Crater before we departed the Odessa area:

Conclusion

This is a great family friendly hike to explore an unusual part of Washington’s geology.  If you hike just the loop trail it is 1.5 miles long, but if you explore Wild Garden Crater like we did it will be a little longer hike.  If visiting during warmer months be prepared for the heat because there is no shade on this trail.  Additionally be ready to deal with ticks which can be very bad out in Washington’s scablands.  Don’t let this stop you from visiting this remote, but interesting geological feature.