Two Winter Trips to Palouse Falls State Park

"a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert"

Palouse Falls State Park is favorite destination close to home. An hour an a half south of Spokane, Washington, it lies in the rolling hill country known as the Palouse, and area of wheat farms and long vistas. The main feature of the park is the falls for which the park is named, which drop 198 feet (60 meters) into a huge bowl in the ground. These falls, known as the lower falls, are on the Palouse River not far from its confluence with the Snake River.

Both above and below the main falls the river flows through a canyon which it has cut into the surrounding scablands. Upriver in the canyon the river makes an abrupt left turn around a huge granite outcrop known as the Mohawk and there is another falls there, really more of a cascade than a falls. This area is reached by a path along the surrounding cliffs to a railroad track and from there down a rocky slope to the river.

We were at the park early in January with one of our daughters, her husband and children. The park was very muddy and not only the children but adults were very muddy after a few hours there. The children enjoyed the mud, the adults did not. We were there again near the end of January with one of our sons who was out to help remodel our home. He was not dressed for hiking but we did make our way with him to the upper falls.

January 5

January 29