Day trips
Waterfalls, canyons & geology
Ice Age flood country: Wallula Gap, Dry Falls, petrified forests and caves.
Drive times are from the Cable Bridge between Kennewick and Pasco and assume normal traffic and dry roads. Check WSDOT pass reports in winter.
Palouse Falls State Park
Washington’s state waterfall: the Palouse River drops about 200 feet into a basalt canyon in northern Franklin County. Discover Pass required; stay behind fences.
Columbia Hills Historical State Park
Shrub-steppe hills above the Columbia Gorge with Horsethief Lake, climbing at Horsethief Butte, spring wildflowers and Native American petroglyphs.
Ginkgo Petrified Forest and Wanapum
A National Natural Landmark at Vantage where petrified logs still lie where they were buried, plus a riverfront campground and swim area at Wanapum just down the road.
Hat Rock State Park (Oregon)
A grassy Oregon state park on Lake Wallula named for its hat-shaped rock, a landmark Lewis and Clark noted in 1805.
Lake Lenore Caves
A short climb to shallow caves in the basalt cliffs above Lake Lenore, carved by the same Ice Age floods that shaped the Tri-Cities.
McNary National Wildlife Refuge
Wetlands and river bottoms near Burbank where thousands of ducks and geese winter. Free, close and great for birding.
Steamboat Rock State Park
A 5,043-acre park on Banks Lake with a flat-topped basalt butte you can hike, plus boat launches, lawns and camping.
Steptoe Butte State Park
A 3,612-foot butte you can drive to the top of, with views across the rolling Palouse wheat fields. Photographers come at sunrise and sunset.
Sun Lakes–Dry Falls State Park
Dry Falls is what is left of an Ice Age waterfall about 3.5 miles wide.
Wallula Gap and Twin Sisters
Two basalt pillars on a bluff above the Columbia at Wallula Gap, the narrow pass the Ice Age floods squeezed through.
Yakima River Canyon and Umtanum Creek
A winding scenic byway between Ellensburg and Selah with river access sites, bighorn sheep and a suspension footbridge to the Umtanum Creek trail.
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