Plate 03 · Series I, American Escarpments

Palouse Canyon Basalt

Franklin County, Washington

Looking down into the canyon near Palouse Falls, Washington. The dark, tiered basalt cliffs drop nearly 200 feet into the gorge, where the river winds through steep talus slopes, pale sagebrush, and golden summer grasses. A striking reminder of the power of the ancient Missoula Floods that shaped the Pacific Northwest landscape.