Hi EveryoneWe have been planning to tour the Scablands. They essentially run from the mouth of the Columbia River to Missoula, Montana. The area was scoured out by Ice Age floods that periodically swept the area when the glaciers repeatedly melted and unplugged ice dams in what is now the Columbia River Basin. Has anyone else driven this? What route did you follow? Dry Falls is a definite must see. ( a 3.5-mile-long (5,600 m) scalloped precipice in central Washington) as is Grand Coulee Dam. No single route was used so were not sure exactly sure how to explore this vast region.Any input is welcome.Thanks and RegardsBill and Carole

I'm not sure of entire route....The light show at one of the dams on hwy97 in WA (forget the name of dam)...be sure to look at the time when it starts and when it gets over. Makes a late evening if any younger kids involved as still sunlight till late. But kids might enjoy http://stonerosefossil.org/ if going in that direction. Sure would be nice to read about a trip report when finished.

Good for you! Few people have heard of Eastern Washington’s basalt “Channelled Scablands” nor care how it was formed by the great Missoula Flood thousands of years ago. Pretty much choose any east-west route through that part of the State and you will experience it. Some of my favorites: (1) US2 from Spokane to Waterville...at Coulee City you can head north on WA155 along Banks Lake to Grand Coulee Dam. The coulees in this area are awesome. (2) The entire Palouse Hills region in SE Washington...US195 from Spokane to Pullman and down to Clarkston, WA/Lewiston, ID. and west from Clarkston on US12 through Walls Walls and onward on I-82 through the Tri-Cities and Yakima. (3) WA26 from Pullman to Vantage which is on the Columbia...this highway passes through the “potholes” region, hundreds of lakes formed by the flood...this area basically encompasses most of the huge region from here all the way north to Grand Coulee. Palouse Falls is just south of WA26 between Hooper and Washtucna.I am a Western Washington native, but I went to college in Pullman, and I love Eastern Washington. Have done a lot of exploring. If your objective is to experience the Channelled Scablands, that part of the State is a tremendous classroom. You might also get good info through WSU in Pullman.I skimmed the surface. Ok to PM me.

An eastern Washington prof has a nice series of videos about Washington geology including several of the flood sites.Nick on the Rocks - Dry Fallsand related links.I'm sure there are guide books and other geological explanations. I've used a Roadside guide and field trip notes from Geological conferences. Basically anything downstream from Missoula will show some evidence of these floods. That starts with MT200, ID200 past Sandpoint. Around Spokane the floods spread out. Much went down the Columbia River gorge, now Lake Roosevelt, and then flowed south around the current site of Grand Coulee Dam (there was an ice dam from another glace lobe further down stream).WA155 follows this route SW from the Dam along Banks Lake. WA17 continues SW past the Dry Falls and Sun Lakes. Look at the area with Google Maps Terrain and Sat view modes to see the scouring.Further west on US2 is Mosses Coulee, a dry canyon carved by the floods. WA172 north of US2 crosses moraines left by glaciers.WA28 Wenatchee to Quincy gives you views of the downstream end of Mosses Coulee, and giant gavel bars deposited by the floods.There's more evidence of erosion and deposition all along the Columbia to Portland. The flood waters formed lakes at constrictions like Wallula Gap (on the stateline) and backed up into side valleys at places like Portland. They also flowed overland between the Columbia and the Snake. Palouse Falls off of WA261 (south from Washtucna, WA26) is a prime example of erosion as the flood waters drained into the Snake canyon. Again Terrain maps view is particularly revealing.The irrigation system across central WA takes advantage of the flood geology. For example irrigation drain water collects in the Potholes on WA262. There isn't a lot of flood evidence on I90 except around the Columbia river crossing.Most of SE Washington is covered with the Columbia basalts - thick layers of lava. Often that lava cooled in a columnar form that makes steep cliffs with plucked by flood waters. In other places they removed old soils, leaving bare rock out crops.Major areas were covered by glacial loess, fine wind blown sediment. This forms rolling hills in SE Washington around Pullman, the Palouse. Scouring of these loess hills can be seen south of the Potholes.http://www.sevenwondersofwashingtonstate.com/the-channeled-scablands.htmlJust follow the arrows on this map. :)

We are thinking of getting a hosting position in central Washington to explore this more in depth.Have a good book on the subject “Glacial Lake Missoula and it’s Humongous Floods” by David Alt.We have also spent time at Grand Coulee Dam and that area, some great areas to see!

Hi EveryoneWe really appreciate all the replies we received. I am currently printing them out and will take them with us. There are great suggestions as to what to see and how to do it. We sat down with several maps this morning and and started doing some serious planning. We were surprised at how far north the Dry Falls were. Not what we had in our "preconcepts" thinking. We are already changing our planned route. It was also unanticipated how hard it was to find many of the landmarks on paper maps. We hadn't used the reference keys in years but found it necessary this time around. Funny how map skills get forgotten with disuse.Regards and AppreciationBill and Carole

The Mega Flood Route - The Washington Coast to Missoula Mt

fanrgs
Explorer
Apr 01, 2018
If you are interested in the fascinating structural geology of eastern Washington and western Idaho as well as the scablands, there are two not-to-miss areas immediately west and east of them. The Okanogan Trench along US 97 north of Chelan and the Seven Devils Complex along US 395 south of Grangeville, ID are well-worth exploring too. They are the result of plate tectonics and represent "foreign" geologic terranes that were not originally part of the North American Plate.
BizmarksMom
Explorer
Mar 31, 2018
I've been to several sites on an individual basis. It honestly never occurred to me to sting them together into a road trip. What a neat idea!
BillandCarole
Explorer
Mar 31, 2018
Hi Everyone
We are touched at how this topic seems to have generated so many fond memories memories. I hope that we will come away similarly inclined. Thanks for the photos and for sharing. Personal stories make things come alive.
Regards and hugs
Bill
paulj
Explorer II
Mar 31, 2018
There are also COE campgrounds along the Snake River below the Palouse Falls.
vermilye
Explorer
Mar 31, 2018
StarkNaked wrote:
Everyone has already jumped in and given some great advice, so I'll skip that part and tell our story. We were on the way to Steam Boat Rock, so we were on Hwy 17, and would be going right past Dry Falls. Neither of us had ever been there, but I had done my homework before we got there and knew where I wanted to go.

With out saying a word, I turned off at Sun Lakes State Park and drove all the way into the bottom of the falls, right to the edge of Dry Falls Lake. It puts you right in the middle of the bottom of the massive hole that the falls created.

Now every time we watch Nick On The Rocks, and we see the shot of Nick standing on the lookout above the falls, she yells out "I've been there"!!!

P.S. The last part of the road to the lake is dirt/gravel. Not something you want to do in a RV.

I can recommend both Sun Lakes and Steam Boat Rock for camping.

I haven't seen "Nick on the Rocks", but is this the viewpoint? Standing at the end is an experience!

I'll second or third making a stop at Palouse Falls. While the campground is for tents or very short RVs, there is an overflow parking lot that works well for dry camping. I was lucky on my visit - no one in the host site, so I had full hookups.

Palouse Falls:
BizmarksMom
Explorer
Mar 31, 2018
The only thing I have to add is; What a cool idea! I've been to a lot of those places at various times, but have never thought to link them into one road trip.
paulj
Explorer II
Mar 29, 2018
ppine wrote:
... He wrote a master's thesis on the channeled mima mounds. ...

You may be mixing names :) The mima mounds are mysterious mounds south of Olympia (made by giant gophers or something like that!). A different part of the state.
StarkNaked
Explorer II
Mar 29, 2018
Everyone has already jumped in and given some great advice, so I'll skip that part and tell our story. We were on the way to Steam Boat Rock, so we were on Hwy 17, and would be going right past Dry Falls. Neither of us had ever been there, but I had done my homework before we got there and knew where I wanted to go.

With out saying a word, I turned off at Sun Lakes State Park and drove all the way into the bottom of the falls, right to the edge of Dry Falls Lake. It puts you right in the middle of the bottom of the massive hole that the falls created.

Now every time we watch Nick On The Rocks, and we see the shot of Nick standing on the lookout above the falls, she yells out "I've been there"!!!

P.S. The last part of the road to the lake is dirt/gravel. Not something you want to do in a RV.

I can recommend both Sun Lakes and Steam Boat Rock for camping.
ppine
Explorer II
Mar 29, 2018
I am a third generation Husky from UW. My Dad used to teach geology at Cheney. He wrote a master's thesis on the channeled mima mounds. Years a go I worked for the BLM out of Spokane. There is nothing I would rather do with my Dad than drive around eastern WA and examine the geomorphology.
paulj
Explorer II
Mar 29, 2018
If I had choice for a long term campsite, I'd choose the Keller Ferry Campground. It's a waterfront campground with shade trees in an otherwise hot and dry landscape. The drive back up to US2 is a bit windy and steep. But the ferry ride gives access to the lesser known Colville Reservation area, with access north to Canada, west to the Grand Coulee and Okanogan, and east to Gifford Ferry and NW Washington.