Windust Park is a small U.S. Army Corps of Engineers park on the north bank of the Snake River in Franklin County, Washington. The Walla Walla District runs it from the Ice Harbor Lock and Dam project office, and the water in front of it is Lake Sacajawea, the reservoir that Ice Harbor Dam backs up from near Pasco all the way to the foot of Lower Monumental Dam. Windust sits near the upper end of that pool, roughly 3 miles below Lower Monumental. The park covers about 54 acres of mowed grass and mature shade trees in otherwise dry basalt canyon country.

It is remote. The mailing address is 5262 Burr Canyon Road, Pasco, but Pasco is close to 50 miles away by road and the nearest town is Kahlotus, about 7 miles north. From the Tri-Cities, follow the Pasco-Kahlotus Highway northeast for roughly 30 miles, then turn south on Burr Canyon Road (State Route 263) and drive about 6 miles down the canyon to the river. Coming from Kahlotus, take Devils Canyon Road (also SR 263) south. Parking is free in the paved lots by the boat ramp and along the park road. Expect no cell signal on most carriers once you drop into the canyon.

The Corps lists a swim beach here, and visitors describe it as a small beach over by the tent camping area, with a life jacket loaner station nearby. There is no lifeguard, so swim with someone and stay well away from the boat ramp and dock at the west end of the park. This is a dammed river channel, not a natural lake, and the shallows can give way to deep water quickly. The water stays cold well into June and is at its warmest in late July and August. Although the pool looks flat, the river still moves through it, and the outflow from Lower Monumental Dam upstream can push a noticeable current past the park.

Entry is free. The Corps does not collect day-use fees at Windust (the Corps Lakes Gateway marks fee sites on Lake Sacajawea with a dollar sign and Windust has none), and the 24 primitive campsites are also free, first come, first served, with no reservations. The developed season runs from mid-May into September. The Walla Walla District has closed Snake River recreation areas and ended the season early in some years because of staffing shortages, so call the project office at 509-547-2048 before a trip early or late in the year.

Watch for boat traffic. The shipping channel runs right past the park, marked by the Windust range lights on shore, and commercial tug and barge tows use it along with fishing boats heading out from the ramp. Spring runoff makes the river high, fast and very cold, so spring is not swimming season. There is no drinking water at the campsites, and the Union Pacific line across the river brings train noise day and night.

Beyond swimming, the park has a paved boat ramp, a courtesy dock, picnic tables, a group picnic shelter, flush toilets and an RV dump station. Anglers fish here for salmon, steelhead and channel catfish. The Columbia Plateau Trail, a state park rail trail on the old Spokane, Portland and Seattle grade, passes right by the park and is good for a walk or ride along the canyon wall. The Windust Caves, an archaeological site with evidence of people living here more than 10,000 years ago, sit in the basalt cliffs along this stretch of river and were partly flooded when the reservoir filled in 1962.