Soap Lake, WA Road Trips
Plan drives from Soap Lake, WA with practical route pages for distance, drive time, fuel cost, road character, and places to stop along the way.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Trip Routes
1
Longest Drive
290.1 mi
Vancouver, WA
Quickest Drive
5h 44m
Vancouver, WA
Plan Around Soap Lake, WA
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Good next legs if this city is only one stop in a longer road trip.
Trips from Soap Lake, WA
Soap Lake, WA by the Numbers
Recent demographic snapshot from the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
Population
1,286
Median Home Value
$156,300
Median Age
41.8
Source: US Census Bureau ACS 5-year (public domain). See our methodology for details.
Traveler Guide to Soap Lake, WA
Soap Lake is a town of 1,600 people (2018) in Columbia River Plateau of Washington State. The lake's naturally occurring foam gives its water a soapy appearance, and the lake's mineral-rich waters have a slick, soapy feel.
Soap Lake is a meromictic soda lake formed by the Missoula Floods at the foot of the Grand Coulee. The name came from the word Smokiam, an Indian term which translates to “Healing Waters.” The tribes used the lake for healing purposes for themselves and their animals for many years before the area was settled by pioneers. By 1908, Soap Lake was a busy resort and health spa, with four hotels and many rooming houses and businesses catering to sojourners seeking a cure. The residents were very proud of the two-room schoolhouse built in 1907. Even though Soap Lake’s main industry was derived from the medicinal lake, it became a social center. In its heyday celebrations, socials, and gatherings where held continuously. Especially well known were the open-air dances, which would draw participants from miles around.
Soap Lake is at the intersection of State Route 17 (WA-17) and State Route 28 (WA-28). Grant Transit Authority, ☏ +1 509-765-0898. Operates bus routes in and connecting Ephrata, George, Quincy, Moses Lake, Soap Lake, and Warden (updated Oct 2024)
Travel tips adapted from Soap Lake on Wikivoyage, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Content summarized; visit the source for the full article. See our methodology for how we use it.
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