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Palouse, Washington
Palouse Falls, Lyons Ferry
Part 1
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| A farm nestled in the rolling hills
of the Palouse country. Early French pioneers called the area Palouse, French for lawn. |
Planning to spend a few days in the Palouse country, we pack
the vanagon and cross the Cascades into Eastern Washington.
The Palouse is a region of low rolling hills, carpeted in lush
green in the spring, and golden browns in the late summer.
The area is bordered by the Snake River to the South,
Spokane to the North, and stretches into Idaho to the East.
It is not a major tourist destination, but very popular with
photographers for its unusual terrain.
We spend the first night at a campground in Sprague by
a lake, and are awakened the following morning by
loud whistling sounds of yellow-headed blackbirds.
After breakfast in the camper, we drive on Hwy 23 past
Rock Lake and stop in St. John at the grocery store.
Meeting the locals who tell us about the Iris Test Garden
not far out of town, we decide to take a look.
The Liefer family welcomes visitors in season to view
2,000 varieties of irises in bloom. Quite a display of color.
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| Irises at the Iris test garden just south of St. John. |
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| The soil was blown in over the
centuries by the steady southwest wind. It is more than 100 feet deep in many places. |
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| Steptoe Butte in the distance. |
Back on the road, we are headed to our destination,
Steptoe Butte in the heart of the Palouse.
The fertile hills are covered in the lush green crops of spring,
contrasting with brown bare soil.
We drive past brightly colored barns, standing lonely in
the fields, like old ships in ocean waves.
There are not many trees, except for the occasional survivor,
surrounded by vast wheat and lentil fields.
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| Rolling hills of the Palouse. |
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| Lonely barn in the fields. |
Almost all roads intersecting the major roads are
dusty washboard gravel roads zigzagging between the hills,
connecting the farms. Feeling adventuresome, we take
these primitive roads, which often turn into dirt tracks through
the fields, but miles later become gravel roads once again.
Sometimes we are a little nervous to get stuck in the middle
of nowhere, but the high ground clearance of our VW makes
it possible to navigate here. The primitive roads take us to
the most remote regions of the Palouse, passing small communities
isolated from modern consumerism.
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| Primitive roads through remote farmland. |
Click here to continue with Palouse story and photos