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		Palouse Falls Reprinted from March 2006 Issue -by ROSSELLA BRINA Lewis and Clark didn’t quite make it as far as Palouse Falls, thus missing one of Washington State’s most beautiful waterfalls. Seemingly appearing out of nowhere while traveling over the rolling Palouse Hills, this cascade roars across a sagebrush scabland and drops 198 feet over an eroded basalt cliff. The Palouse River meanders among wheat fields, cattle ranches and dry canyons until it takes this breathtaking plunge. When the river is at its full capacity in the spring, and the desert landscape brims with wildflowers, this waterfall is definitely a must-see. An excursion to Palouse Falls makes for a fun day trip from the Tri-Cities. To reach the falls, we drove north on U.S. 395 to Connell, then turned east on State Route 260 to Kahlotus. From there, we headed toward Washtucna, then turned south on State Route 261 and drove nine miles to the entrance of Palouse Falls State Park. This is a camping park with a unique geology and history. Palouse Falls is the result of one of the greatest rushes of water that ever occurred on Earth. During a recent ice age, glaciers from the north blocked the flow of the Columbia River, causing the formation of a huge lake known as Lake Missoula. The lake drained itself in apocalyptic floods. These glacial floods formed a series of waterfalls along the Palouse River before it entered the Snake River. Palouse Falls is the only one that remains today along the glacial flood path of 15,000 years ago. The Palouse River begins in the Idaho mountains north of Moscow and winds its way south where, past Palouse Falls, it continues through the narrow gorge the water has carved over time, encountering the Snake River six miles down the road. A quarter-mile wheelchair accessible trail starts from the parking lot and took us to a waterfall overlook. The landscape is barren, enhancing the contrast with the luxurious waterfall. Just above the lip of the falls, basalt spires jut toward the blue sky, resembling the turrets of a medieval castle. When the sun hit the spray at the bottom of the falls, we got a glimpse of a rainbow. This was definitely a worthy stop in our trip. Palouse Falls State Park hours are 6:30am to dusk in the summer and 8am to dusk in winter. The park has ten primitive campsites and several picnic tables. For more information, visit www.parks.wa.gov and click on Park Information to select Palouse Falls State Park. Not far from Palouse Falls State Park, along State Route 261 toward Starbuck, is Lyon’s Ferry. Located at the confluence of the Snake and Palouse Rivers, Lyon’s Ferry derives its name from the ferry that for 108 years served as a crossing of the Snake River for the Mullan Road constructed in 1858. This location is also famous from an archeological standpoint, because it is the site of the Marmes Rock Shelter. At this archeological dig, one mile up the Palouse River from the Lyon’s Ferry park, skeletal remains of ancient humans were unearthed in 1968. The bones of Marmes Man are among the oldest documented remains found in the western hemisphere, dated to be 10,000 years old. For us, this park was also a fine place to enjoy the sunny day. It offers a wide selection of activities, from boating, camping and fishing, to swimming and waterskiing. And it’s a nice place for a picnic. To conclude our day trip, we headed toward Dayton, to enjoy a quiet stroll along the streets of its historic downtown, admiring the architecture, browsing through the shops, and perhaps immersing ourselves in the Victorian atmosphere of the lobby of the Weinhard Hotel. After this activity-packed day, it was back to the Tri-Cities.