Washington State Parks: Palouse Falls

Palouse Falls is so well-loved by Washingtonians that it is our official state waterfall. It is also well-loved by photographers. And it's not hard to see why.

There is drama in the landscape here. The walls of the canyon, carved from the land by the Missoula Floods expose rugged columnar basalt. The Palouse River winds through the canyon first dropping over the upper falls, a plummet of about 20 feet. It looks to be almost a set of rapids in comparison to the 198 foot drop of the park's main attraction, lower falls. It then meanders through curved canyons until it reaches its confluence with the Snake River.

Most people and almost all photographers come for the views of the lower falls as it plunges into a deep bowl. From the view points along the short rim trail, you can photograph the gentle rolling Palouse hill landscape in contrast with the rugged canyons. Even a snapshot gathers applause.

A wide angle lens is used for the sweeping vistas one can get from the view points. These images show the contrast between the surrounding hills and the deep canyons, hidden from view until you reach the rim.

But don't put your telephoto lens away. Details of the canyon such as the castle rocks that stand guard at the edge of lower falls can be isolated from the scene. And there's a lot of beauty in the details of Palouse Falls.

Late afternoon can bring a special show to the falls. Stand at the far north end of the rim trail, where the rim is blocked and you can see a rainbow near the base of the falls. You may not want to move as it shimmers in the spray of the falls.

As with most waterfalls, seasonal changes can be quite dramatic. Winter and spring rains can have the waterfall gushing over the edge and summer's droughts can reduce the falls to a trickle. The meadows of the park can also have varying changes for the seasons with flowers blooming in the spring and summer and dried grasses in the autumn.

There is a darker side to Palouse Falls State Park, a sad story of the misuse by the people who love it so. This past October, park staff erected a fence blocking entry to the north end of the park and with it blocking access to the upper falls and some of the more iconic views of the falls.

Why? Because visitors couldn't respect the park or the land.

Social trails criss-cross the north end of the park and once visitors got to the view of upper falls, they'd climb down the basalt walls to the canyon floor, sometimes getting stuck and needing rescue. Vandalism was also occurring regularly to park machinery in the area. Park staff decided the best way to protect the park and the visitors was to close off that section of the park.

The only authorized trail in the park is the rim trail. All other trails including the one to the base of lower falls are social trails. Please be careful if you decide to hike this trail as it is not maintained as it is not an authorized trail. Maybe with more funding and staffing it could be safer to hike, but if that trail is also misused staff may need to close off that section of the park too.

Palouse Falls State Park is a camping park but for tents only. All campsites are walk-in campsites. There are train tracks that go through a small canyon just west of the entrance and yes, trains travel through there during the night. So if you do camp out, take ear plugs.

Getting there: From highway 26 in Eastern Washington, head south on highway 260/261. Drive 6.5 miles and turn left staying on highway 261 (highway 260 continues straight). Continue on highway 261 for 8.5 miles to Palouse Falls Rd and follow the step road to the park.

Playing by the Rules

The last weekend of June is spent on the border of Idaho and Montana, a special place in the world and US history - Lolo Pass. This is the place where Lewis & Clark crossed the Bitteroot Mountains. Here lie meadows filled with camas, meandering streams between forests of dark green seemingly at the top of the world. My organization sponsors a race on the forest roads behind the visitor center and I look forward to photographing the event every year. This year was no different I was even going to do a little backpacking on the way home, but snow levels on my intended route sent me home early.

So as I drove the Palouse in southeast Washington, I thought why not take my time heading home? Stop take some pictures. Afterall, I do have a new camera and I'm ready to make it pay for itself. I passed one picturesque barn because I needed to find the restroom. Passed another because it came & went before I had a chance to "see" it. Then along a stretch of highway I saw this little beauty. The clouds? Perfect. The greens? Perfect. The barn? Perfect. (Except a friend says it needs to be red - I like the grey.) I quickly pulled over, hopped out with my camera. The composition already in mind.

This scene is perfect for the Rule of Thirds where an image can be separated into a tic-tac-toe grid and the  important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. I knew I wanted the cloud-filled sky to dominate, so I placed the horizon line along the lower third of the frame. The face of the barn seemed to be looking left so I put it into the lower right corner so that it would "look" into the frame. I also had to be concerned where the peak of the roof fell - i didn't want it to intersect with the horizon - and wanted it to rise above the horizon to connect the sky & fields.

I only needed to shoot off one or two shots. I knew before I even lifted the camera to my eye that this would be a great image. Previsualize, and follow the rules at least until they need to be broken.

1st stop - The Palouse

3/29/09

The forecast called for snow again over the weekend proving that spring was still far away, yet the vibrant colors in the flower stalls in the market prior to my departure rallied my hopes that spring would indeed be right around the corner. Furthering my hopes that spring would be quickly on its way, the drive over the pass to Spokane revealed more land as the snows receded, the ice in the waterfalls replaced by flowing water. Yet this morning we woke to snow falling on the hills of the Palouse - winter was refusing to release its hold on the northwest.

However, I had been looking for this up close look at the Palouse by people who lived in the area, I was not going to let it pass. We did pass planned photo-op after photo-op as the falling snow made distant views non-existent. At breakfast we were joined by a local farmer turned historian, Glen Leitz, who shared with us bits and pieces of the history of the Palouse. I always enjoy listening to oral history and this gentleman had a lot to tell, so much in fact that we had to leave before he even finished his stories.

We continued on our journey as the snows started slacking off so we were able to stop at more places - museums, barns, mills, churches and cemeteries. All unique in their photographic qualities. I began to realize I would need to come back for several days to truly capture this rare and beautiful place. Finally, the clouds started breaking apart in the late afternoon and the sun highlighted the hills in the distance. Just in time too, our final stop near sunset would be Steptoe Butte.

Never seeing Steptoe before, I was extremely excited as I drove up the winding road to the top. Each turn revealed more of the scenery - rolling hills touched with snow stretching in every direction. I decided to leave before sunset - eager to be on my way and hoping to be someplace really cool for sunset. I was in a gully at the best color, but a not too disappointed because I knew my trip had started off great - even if spring was reticent in its appearance.

One Last Waterfall

Palouse Falls, 3/26/08

It was cold this morning as Olympia & I drove out the old dirt road, winding our way between the ranches on our way to that perfect view of the Wallowas. I had spotted the view the day before as I was about to round the bend and drop back down in the valley. "This is it!" I said to Olympia ass the mountains came into full view. "This is where I want to watch the sunrise." And the reward was spectacular, the pinks lit up the snow still clinging to the slopes and sparkled on the clouds overhead. Then all too soon it was gone.

After exploring the surrounding area a bit, we packed up to head northward towards Walla Walla and Palouse Falls. I stopped in the town of Wallowa for a mocha breve made by a friend at the Blonde Strawberry Coffeeshop - worth the stop anytime of the year.


We reached Palouse Falls in the afternoon after driving through fields showing the first signs of spring and others still sleeping under the spell of winter. I had never seen Palouse Falls and was amazed at the size of this cascade in the heart of sagebrush country. But the view was magnificent as I stood high on the cliff overlooking the gorge that had taken centuries to carve through the volcanic rock.


At our feet stood the most raggedy yellow-bellied marmot I had ever seen, but also the bravest. His home was in the cracks and crevices over-looking the gorge. Just watching him jump around on the rocks made my stomach lurch. After a quiet and cold evening at the falls, Olympia made our way home to spend the rest of the week in relative warmth at home.