Palouse Falls was raging
Looking the other way (south) at the Palouse River.
classic basalt formations
empty picnic area in the state park, but the park was not empty this Saturday afternoon
because all the picnicers were using the campground, where I wanted to camp
You can hike up along the rim for another view, and towards the trail that goes to the lip of the falls
How this area looks when you're down there
The hike there goes either from the gravel road near the restrooms, or along the rim, down this diagonal cut from the railroad tracks,
and then down the canyon. It's less than a mile one way.
You can get to within about 20 feet above the top of the falls
The earlier picture looking down was taken from the rim above here
There is one spot near the picnic area where some marmots are waiting to be fed
Once they realized I wasn't going to feed them, they went back to taking it easy
Day two I drove back to the town of Kahlotus and then took SR 263 down to the Snake River
The 130 mile long Columbia Plateau Trail (roughly Pasco to Spokane), a rails-to-trails project, passes by this area.
This is the Burr Canyon trestle and the trial actually goes along this thing! But there is no access in this area, and I read that it is closed to all access.
The road passes far below it, and no tresspass signs block access from here. You need to come in from farther north or south. I hope it is opened for use
some day.
After returning to the Pasco-Kahlotus Road (a much better way to travel this region than the more popular SR 260),
I found the Snake River Road, which led to Snake River Junction, which is a mid-trailhead for the Columbia Plateau Trail.
I decided to head north.
It reminded me a lot of the Deshutes River Trail, just bigger and longer. (But Deschutes is still unique in allowing camping - I don't think it is allowed anywhere in this area).
There are even train tracks follow the other side and they passed by regularly.
