Chase Draw Falls

Chase Draw Falls can be seen from Highway 155 along Banks Lake in Grand Coulee about 4.3 miles north from the junction of Highways 2 and 155 in Coulee City. Watch for a large Oak tree next to the road, marking the falls - it's pretty obvious when it's flowing, but may be hard to spot if it's just a trickle.Chase Draw Falls is the southernmost of the significant waterfalls which can be found pouring into the east side of Grand Coulee along Banks Lake. The visible portion of the falls are composed of two distinct steps, dropping 115 feet and 42 feet respectively, with the upper tier partially impacting on a narrow ledge about halfway down its descent which makes it appear to be broken in half (when the stream is flowing at higher volumes, the water will fall almost clear of this ledge). Aerial imagery on Google Earth makes it appear likely that there are at least two more tiers to the falls hidden out of view upstream from what is visible from the highway, but accessing that part of the canyon on foot looks tenuous at best (and may not be possible at all). Like all of the streams flowing over the cliffs of Grand Coulee into Banks Lake, the Chase Draw creek is a highly ephemeral watercourse. Unless there has been extensive heavy precipitation in the area, this stream will almost certainly be dry. We surveyed in April 2017 a few weeks after a significant snow fall event, and found the volume of the creek to be rather insignificant, so it seems likely that there won't be much water present unless there is snow actively melting in the basin above the falls, or there is enough standing water left over from snow melt. Expect the falls to be dry by May in most years, if not sooner.