Palouse Falls - Lewis and Clark Trail Experience

Information

Summer: 6:30am-dusk Winter: 8am-dusk

A WA State Parks Discover Pass is required to visit and must be displayed in your car. They can be bought online or at the site for $10 for a day pass, or $30 for an annual pass.

lat: 46.6634793 long: -118.2235769

Designated as Washington State’s official waterfall in 2014, thanks to a petition made by local elementary school students, Palouse Falls is a 200 ft waterfall that drops into a churning bowl, before flowing along a massive columnar basalt gorge that was formed during the Missoula Floods of the last great Ice Age. The landscape of golden plains contrasts strongly with the mossy walls and river of the gorge, making it a prime location for landscape photography or painters. The unique geology and historic flood path, both of which are attributed to the last ice age, provide students, geology fans, and history buffs with an incredible chance to learn about how part of the state was formed, and the generational effects that the river and the gorge have had on people in the area.

Palouse Falls State Park, which contains the falls, provides an excellent spot for picnics, wildlife viewing, and interpretation of the area. It is the launching point of many hikes around and into the gorge, all of which vary in difficulty, making it an excellent place for families or more experienced hikers. It is definitely one of the top natural wonders of Washington, and worth a stop if you are traveling in the area.

Nearby Attractions

Distance Unit:

Patit Creek Campsite

Patit Creek Campsite

238 Ronan Hill Rd, Dayton, WA 99328, USA
Distance: 25.86 Away

LC Features Viewpoints Outdoor Experiences

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Boldman House Museum

Boldman House Museum

The Boldman House Museum, N 1st St, Dayton, WA, USA
Distance: 26.17 Away

Museums and Interpretive Centers

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Dayton’s Jolly Green Giant

Dayton’s Jolly Green Giant

36548 U.S. 12, Dayton, WA 99328, USA
Distance: 26.82 Away

Other General History

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Lewis and Clark Trail State Park

Lewis and Clark Trail State Park

Lewis & Clark Trail State Park, U.S. 12, Dayton, WA, USA
Distance: 26.89 Away

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Lower Snake River

Lower Snake River

Lower Snake River Wind Project, Pomeroy, WA, USA
Distance: 26.97 Away

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Garfield County Museum

Garfield County Museum

Garfield County Museum, Columbia Street, Pomeroy, WA, USA
Distance: 32.34 Away

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Rainbow Man and Uniroyal Gal

Rainbow Man and Uniroyal Gal

2425 Villard, Pomeroy, WA 99347, USA
Distance: 33.38 Away

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Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum

Eastern Washington Agricultural Museum

99 Fairgrounds Rd, Pomeroy, WA 99347, USA
Distance: 34.68 Away

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Pataha Flour Mills

Pataha Flour Mills

Pataha Flour Mills, Hutchens Hill Road, Pomeroy, WA, USA
Distance: 34.94 Away

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Fort Walla Walla Museum

Fort Walla Walla Museum

Fort Walla Walla Museum, Northeast Myra Road, Walla Walla, WA, USA
Distance: 43.01 Away

Museums and Interpretive Centers Guided Tours Forts LC Features

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McNary National Wildlife Refuge

McNary National Wildlife Refuge

McNary National Wildlife Refuge, Maple Street, Burbank, WA, USA
Distance: 48.63 Away

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Hood Park

Hood Park

Hood Park, Grain Terminal Road, Burbank, WA, USA
Distance: 48.74 Away

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Instagram Feed

Check out our YouTube Channel! We have some great

Check out our YouTube Channel!

We have some great content being posted there every Saturday - you’ll see videos related to personal stories and adventures on the trail, special reports on various trail locations, and much more!

Be sure to subscribe and share with friends as well!

https://www.youtube.com/@lewisandclarktrailalliance

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Here’s a summary of the latest video you can find there, ‘The Legend of Big Bone Lick’:

“What’s a lick, and what do big bones have to do with it? A “lick” is a term for a natural occurrence of salt. They usually appear around sulfur springs, which are places where water and minerals bubble out of the ground. It often smells like rotten eggs.

People call these places “licks” because animals like to lick the salty deposits. The “big bone” part of its name came from huge bones in this bog. Indigenous oral tradition states that the bones were from the white buffalo, who died when they drank the salty water. Western scientists theorized that animals—including mammoths and mastodons—who came for a salty treat got trapped in the marshy areas around the springs.

This site was influential in the American development of paleontology and theories of animal extinction. Thomas Jefferson knew about this place and asked Meriwether Lewis to stop and collect some fossils and send them back.”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLevOwbBZzs)

https://lewis-clark.org/the-trail/down-the-ohio/big-bone-lick/

The (Confluence Land Bridge in Vancouver, Washingt

The (Confluence Land Bridge in Vancouver, Washington) is a real link connecting back to the Klickitat Trail, Lewis and Clark, and the development of the Northwest. It completes a circle that’s been broken. -Johnpaul Jones

https://www.confluenceproject.org/

About Confluence:
Confluence connects you to the history, living cultures, and ecology of the Columbia River system through Indigenous voices. We are a community-supported nonprofit that works through six art landscapes, educational programs, and public gatherings in collaboration with northwest tribes, communities, and the celebrated artist Maya Lin.

Site Features:
European and Native American cultures once converged at this Columbia River site, where the Hudson’s Bay Company stood as the first European trading post in the Pacific Northwest. Lewis and Clark camped here, and Fort Vancouver was built here 20 years later. Today, the site features a 40-foot wide earth-covered pedestrian bridge that arcs over State Route 14, reconnecting historic Fort Vancouver with the Columbia River, which helped extend the fort’s influence from Mexico to Alaska and across the Pacific Ocean.

Directions to Vancouver Land Bridge
There are two entrances to the Land Bridge in Vancouver, WA. The south entrance is on Columbia Way Blvd. at Old Apple Tree Park. From I-5, take Highway 14 east and take Exit 1 for SE Columbia Way toward Vancouver National Historic Reserve. Keep right, follow signs for S/Southeast Columbia Way. Turn right and drive west to the sign for Old Apple Tree Park. Park and walk under the overpass to the welcome gate of the Land Bridge.

The north entrance to the Land Bridge is just west of Fort Vancouver. From I-5, take Mill Plain Blvd east. Turn right at Fort Vancouver Way. Stay on Fort Vancouver Way through the roundabout and turn left on East 5th Street. The path to the Land Bridge will be on your right.

Watch -- Virtual Tour of Vancouver Land Bridge on Confluence’s Digital Library (https://www.confluenceproject.org/library/).

Watch -- Tanna Engdahl: We Were Excellent Land Managers (http://xn--https-hw3b//www.confluenceproject.org/library-post/tanna-engdahl-we-were-excellent-land-managers/%22)

The Sunshine Mill has a long, colorful history. T

The Sunshine Mill has a long, colorful history.

The Sunshine Mill has milled wheat on this property for more than 130 years, and was the first building in The Dalles to have electricity, powered by a Thomas Edison Motor which can still be seen in The Mill. It is also the only designated skyscraper in The Columbia River Gorge. The Sunshine Biscuit Company once owned this property and the wheat milled here was used to make everyone’s favorite cracker, the Cheez-It!

The Sunshine Mill now houses Quenett and Copa Di Vino wineries owned and operated by James and Molli Martin, both from The Dalles. Quenett Winery released its first vintage in 2002 and burst onto the wine scene with its outstanding vintages of Sangiovese and Zinfandel. The word Quenett comes from the journals of Lewis and Clark, who camped along luscious and fruitful banks of the Columbia River and learned from the local Indians that the word Quenett meant “Steelhead.”

The story and inspiration for Copa Di Vino, or “Wine by the Glass”, takes us on a journey through Provence on a bullet train where James and Molli first saw the concept of ready to drink wine. They brought their idea back to the States and began re-habilitating the Sunshine Mill Campus to become the production site and tasting room for Copa Di Vino, which has been housed on site since 2009.

So take a walk through the grounds and discover The Sunshine Mill, the awe-inspiring property that James and Molli have hand crafted out of artifacts found here to share with you. Enjoy a tasting or have a glass of wine in our amphitheater. Order an Antipasto platter to enjoy in The Boiler House Bar and drink differently at The Sunshine Mill.

https://www.lewisandclark.travel/listing/sunshine-mill-winery/

Check out our YouTube Channel! We have some great

Check out our YouTube Channel!

We have some great content being posted there every Saturday - you’ll see videos related to personal stories and adventures on the trail, special reports on various trail locations, and much more!

Be sure to subscribe and share with friends as well!

https://www.youtube.com/@lewisandclarktrailalliance

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Here’s a summary of the latest video you can find there:

“Wilkinson (1757-1825) was one of the most duplicitous, avaricious, and altogether corrupt figures in the early history of the United States. Although he served in the Revolutionary War as adjutant general under General Horatio Gates, he took an oath of allegiance to Spain in 1787, and was paid by the Spanish government. In 1803, he was appointed governor of Louisiana Territory above the 33rd parallel—the northern boundary of the present state of Louisiana. —Joseph A. Mussulman

Jim Holmberg, Senior Curator at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky tells us all about ‘Jimmy the Snake’ ”

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-hCZSsPORs)

Share your photos and stories from the Trail! Thi

Share your photos and stories from the Trail!

This photo was shared by Lexie B. about a week ago:

“The Meriwether Lewis monument under the aurora borealis on the 215th anniversary of the night he arrived at Grinder’s Stand.”

Thanks for sharing, Lexie! And thanks for sharing your stories of the trail with others 🙂

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Some more information about Grinder’s Stand:

“Meriwether Lewis traveled the Natchez Trace during his final trip in 1809, when he was governor of the Louisiana Territory. Accompanying him were Major James Neelly, John Pernier, and Neelly's servant. When they reached the Chickasaw Agency, six miles north of the present location of Houston, Mississippi, Lewis asked Neelly that the trunks with the expedition journals would be sent to "the President" in the event that anything happened to him. Stephen Ambrose records in Undaunted Courage that "Neelly assumed Lewis meant Jefferson, not Madison," then the current President.

On October 11, at Grinder's Stand (also “Inn”), 72 miles short of Nashville, most historians believe that Lewis, suffering from depression and anxiety, shot himself in the head and died the following morning. Thomas Jefferson had much earlier noted Lewis's depressions, when he served as the President's secretary, and believed that they ran in the Lewis family."

https://www.nps.gov/articles/grinder-s-stand-tn.htm

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Do you have pictures or personal stories from your time along the Trail?! If you do, please message the group with them for a chance to be featured in future posts!