Drive 80 miles from Spokane and Washington stops looking like Washington

The Palouse isn’t what you’d expect from Washington

Most people picture Washington as forests, mountains, or coastline. But drive 80 miles south of Spokane and the land does something else entirely.

The hills roll in waves, the colors shift with the seasons, and the whole region moves at a pace you didn’t know you needed.

The Palouse covers southeastern Washington and spills into north-central Idaho, and it rewards the kind of traveler who slows down long enough to look.

Ancient floods carved this landscape 13,000 years ago

Long before the farms arrived, a glacial lake in what is now Montana kept bursting through its ice dam.

Each time it broke, walls of water swept across eastern Washington, carving deep canyons, buttes, and the scarred terrain geologists call the Channeled Scablands.

The floods redirected rivers and left behind dramatic rock formations.

When the water finally stopped, wind-blown silt called loess settled over everything, building up the deep, fertile soil that would one day make the Palouse one of America’s most productive farming regions.

The hills change color all year long

Say the name right and locals will appreciate it: puh-LOOSS.

It likely comes from the Palus tribe or the French word “pelouse,” meaning land with short, thick grass. Either way, the name fits the place.

In spring, the hills run bright green. By summer, they shift to gold, brown, and mauve as the crops ripen and dry.

Photographers travel here from around the world to work with the light and the patterns. Some people call it the Tuscany of America.

Stand on any hillside in June and you’ll see why.

Drive 208 miles through farmland, small towns, and state parks

The Palouse Scenic Byway covers 208 miles of Whitman County roads, designated in 2003. It follows seven different highways, including Highway 195, Highway 27, and Highway 26.

There’s no official start or finish, so you pick your own entry point and go from there. Most travelers set up in Pullman and work outward.

The byway threads through rolling farmland, river valleys, and small towns where grain elevators stand taller than anything else on the skyline.

Palouse Falls drops 200 feet into a basalt canyon

Elementary school students from Washtucna petitioned the state legislature to make Palouse Falls Washington’s official waterfall, and in 2014, they won.

The falls drop about 200 feet into a basalt canyon inside the 94-acre Palouse Falls State Park. The Palouse Indians called it “Aput Aput,” meaning falling water.

Three viewpoints let you look down into the canyon, including the Fryxell Overlook with its wide panoramic sweep. Trails to the canyon floor are permanently closed for safety, so plan to take it all in from above.

You’ll need a Discover Pass to park.

Drive to the top of Steptoe Butte for views into three states

The rock that forms Steptoe Butte is more than 400 million years old, which makes it ancient even by geological standards.

A paved road winds all the way to the summit, so you don’t have to hike a step if you don’t want to. On a clear day, you can see into Idaho and Oregon from the top.

Native Americans called it Power Mountain and believed that making the trip brought a gift of power from the mountain’s guardian spirit. Steptoe Butte is part of the Steptoe and Kamiak Buttes National Natural Landmark.

Hike through ponderosa pines at Kamiak Butte

Kamiak Butte runs a different kind of experience than Steptoe.

Where Steptoe is open and exposed, Kamiak is covered in ponderosa pines and Douglas firs, and the shade makes it a good choice for warmer days.

The county park covers 298 acres and rises to 3,641 feet, with about five miles of forested trails, including the Pine Ridge Trail loop. The summit opens up to sweeping views of the farmland.

Come in spring if you can, when wildflowers push through and the hills below sit at their deepest green. The park has picnic areas, a playground, and a small campground.

Pullman connects you to Moscow, Idaho, on a seven-mile trail

Washington State University anchors Pullman, about 80 miles south of Spokane and close enough to the Idaho border that you can cross it on foot.

The Bill Chipman Palouse Trail runs seven miles along a former railroad corridor, connecting Pullman to neighboring Moscow, Idaho.

It crosses Paradise Creek 12 times on original railroad bridges, and the paved path works for walkers, runners, and cyclists.

Downtown Pullman has local shops, galleries, and places to eat, and it serves as the most practical home base for exploring the byway.

Try Cougar Gold cheese straight from the can at Ferdinand’s

Washington State University’s creamery has been making Cougar Gold cheese since the 1940s, when research funded by the U.S. government and the American Can Company set out to solve the problem of storing cheese without refrigeration.

The result was a sharp white cheddar with a nutty flavor, sold only in 30-ounce tin cans. The creamery produces about 250,000 cans a year, and around 80 percent of them are Cougar Gold.

Student employees run both the production and the shop. Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe on campus is where you go to try it, along with the ice cream.

A wagon wheel fence and a century-old barn near Uniontown

The Dahmen Barn went up in 1935 as a commercial dairy.

Steve Dahmen spent decades building a fence around it using more than 1,000 antique wagon wheels and salvaged farm equipment parts. He and his wife Junette donated the whole property to the community in 2004.

Today it runs as Artisans at the Dahmen Barn, a nonprofit with artist studios, a gallery, a gift shop, rotating exhibits, live music, and workshops.

It also sits near the top of the list for most-photographed spots along the entire Palouse Scenic Byway.

A 65-foot chainsaw sculpture on Main Street in Colfax

In 1988, a group of men in their early 70s played a touch football rematch in Colfax. The original game had been 50 years earlier, in 1938, between Colfax High School and St. John.

Nearly 4,000 people showed up to watch the rematch. Colfax won 6 to 0, avenging the original loss.

To mark the occasion, artist Jonathan LaBenne carved the faces of all 51 players into red cedar logs, stacking them into a 65-foot sculpture on Main Street. A generic bearded codger figure rides the top.

The Codger Pole is hard to miss and even harder to explain until you hear the story.

Small towns, lentil chili, and a printing museum worth your time

The Palouse grows about a third of the nation’s lentils, and Pullman has celebrated that fact every year since 1989 at the National Lentil Festival.

It’s free, and the signature move is handing out thousands of bowls of lentil chili from a massive communal pot.

The town of Palouse, along the river near the Idaho border, hosts Palouse Days every September and is home to the Roy M. Chatters Newspaper and Printing Museum, with presses going back to the 1800s.

Rosalia has a vintage Texaco station that photographers pull over for. These towns are worth the detour.

Visit the Palouse region in southeastern Washington

The Palouse sits in southeastern Washington, about 80 miles south of Spokane. The closest airports are Spokane International and Pullman-Moscow Regional.

Spring and early summer give you the greenest hills and the strongest flow at Palouse Falls, while late summer and fall bring golden fields and harvest-season color.

Pick up a Discover Pass before you go, since Washington state parks require it for vehicle access. Cell service gets thin in the remote stretches, so download your maps and plan your route before you leave town.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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