Patterson Lake Dam - Washington #4 for DamTour 2012

~ Patterson Lake Dam ~ WA. ~ 385 mi from PDX - 212 mi Sea-Tac.

Patterson Lake Dam is not far from Winthrop Washington and gives you yet another excuse to ride the North Cascades Highway. As the crow flies, Patterson Lake Dam is a little over 3 miles from Winthrop, but by motorcycle, it is almost 8 miles. Just like the Cascades Highway, you are likely going to have to wait until the thaw before you can ride to this dam at over 2,400 feet elevation. Unless of course you are DamDan... and rumor has it he may have been spotted there waiting for the season to start(see photo at right). LOL

May be lots of sand on road for early riders, but the roads to and across the dam are paved, if you wait for the snow to melt. Patterson Lake Road crosses the dam, so you should not have trouble finding it if you can find the road. Easy to access to/from points west (North Cascades Hwy) east and south. You could combine this dam ride with Washington Dam #6 for a nice ride.

As long as you are in the area, why not drop in at Sun Mountain Lodge, just a couple miles up the road for a bite to eat. They have a web cam on their site so you can see what snow is there and a great directions page to get there.

**Thank you Jim Carroll ...for scouting, and photos on this dam.

GPS: 48.46733°N - 120.251070°W or 48° 28' 2.39" N - 120° 15' 3.85" W

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