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Photo: David Lee from Redmond, WA, USA / CC BY 2.0 · source

Lakes & rivers

Palouse Falls

LaCrosse, WA · Palouse River Canyon, southeast Washington$Discover Pass: $10 for a day, $45 for the year

About

Palouse Falls is Washington's official state waterfall, named in 2014 after a group of local schoolkids lobbied the legislature for it. The Palouse River drops about 200 feet in a single plunge into a punchbowl basin, then threads a 377-foot basalt canyon that the Ice Age floods tore open more than 13,000 years ago. When glacial Lake Missoula burst its ice dam again and again, the water rerouted the river and left this amphitheater of columnar rock behind. It flows year-round, but spring snowmelt (roughly March into May) is when it turns loud and full. Three viewpoints look onto the falls, including the higher Fryxell Overlook reached by a short paved path off the day-use area. The trails down into the canyon are permanently closed, parking is small and fills up on weekends and holidays, and a Discover Pass is required to park.

Highlights

200 ft single plungeWashington's state waterfall (2014)Carved by Ice Age Missoula floods (13,000+ yrs)377 ft basalt canyonBest flow: spring snowmelt (Mar to May)Discover Pass required; canyon trails closed

Getting there

Palouse Falls Road, LaCrosse, WA 99143

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