Raging Ice Age floodwaters carved spectacular features throughout eastern Washington, creating unique landscapes. Follow the path of the floods and discover more about this amazing story.
Under Water
During the largest floods, water backed up behind constrictions, such as Wallula Gap, forming temporary lakes that flooded vast low-lying areas of eastern Washington. In these places, floodwater dumped huge amounts of sand and silt, helping to creat the rich agricultural soils we value today.
Are You a Landscape Detective?
Rocks, plants, and landscape features provide us with many clues about the Ice Age floods and other stories of the area's past. What do the large column-shaped rocks tell you?
(Left Photo Caption)
Ice Age floods carved Frenchman Coulee and left this remarkable feature, called the Feathers. The coulee is located across the river, about 10 miles from here.
(Center Photo Caption)
Created by Ice Age floods, the now-waterless Dry Falls would have dwarfed Niagara Falls. This amazing feature is located about 50 miles northeast of here.
(Right Photo Caption)
As basalt lava cools and solidifies, it begins to shrink, causing the rock t crack. This causes some of the rock to form into long columns, called columnar basalt.
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