Footloose in the Palouse

Palouse wheatfield from Steptoe Butte

“Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain….”  While Katherine Bates penned those famous lines in Colorado, she could very well have been standing on the top of Steptoe Butte in southeastern Washington. As far as the eye can see, it’s a rolling landscape of undulating knolls covered with wheat, barley, and lentils. It looks unlike any farmland in this country, yet it is some of the most fertile land in the world.

How did it get this way?  During the Ice Age, colossal dust storms deposited layers of glacial silt in an area from present day Spokane to Walla Walla, along the Washington-Idaho border. The soil is called loess, from the German word for loose, and consists of microscopic, colloidal particles that are held together by tiny electrical charges. It is wonderfully fertile and has a unique ability to retain moisture. By holding the winter and spring water through the dry summer months, there is no need for irrigation and the region has never experienced a crop failure. The Palouse is the world leader in the production of soft, white winter wheat, and Whitman County has been the top wheat producing county in the U.S. since 1978.

To appreciate the beauty of this farm country, a visitor needs to find some elevation for a bird’s eye view. The highest point in the area is Steptoe Butte near Colfax where the road spirals around several times to reach the summit at 3,600-feet. From this vantage point, especially in the early morning and late afternoon when shadows are more pronounced, the unusual lumpiness of the landscape can be appreciated. Another good viewpoint is Kamiak Butte County Park near the town of Palouse. There’s an expansive panorama from the shady picnic area and an even better vista from the summit, reached by a forested hiking trail.

There are two “best” times to visit the Palouse area. One is in late May when the newly planted crops create a palate of vivid greens and bright yellows. By mid-August, the palate shifts to the soft, golden hues of maturing wheat.  This is harvest time and the hills are alive with gigantic combines and other farm equipment costing more than the average house. It’s fascinating to watch these behemoths climb up and around the hillsides without tipping over.  August is also the time of the National Lentil Festival in Pullman, Wash.

Pullman is the largest town in the area and home of Washington State University. The campus is worth visiting for its museums of anthropology and art, but more importantly, the WSU Creamery. Here, milk from local cows is transformed into scrumptious ice cream as well as Cougar Gold cheese, both available at Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe in the Food Quality Building.

Dahmen Barn, Uniontown

While the Palouse doesn’t have much to offer in terms of major tourist attractions, it is a wonderful place for driving around and enjoying rural, small town America. The Palouse Scenic Byway covers more than 200 miles through the rolling farmland and connects a series of prosperous, small farm communities. Uniontown, in the southern part of the tour, is home to the much-photographed Dahmen Barn. This rustic dairy barn has been converted to an art center and more than a dozen local artists maintain studios in what had been cow stalls and haylofts. There is a gallery and shop where locally-crafted pottery, paintings, jewelry, and fiber arts are available for sale. What makes the barn so popular with photographers is the surrounding fence comprised of 1000 wheels off everything imaginable from baby buggies to threshing machines.

The town is also home to St. Boniface Catholic Church, Washington’s oldest consecrated church. Built in 1904, the church features a striking interior with five altars and stained glass windows; its large size is impressive for a town of 350 people. Another over-sized structure worth checking out is the three-story, wooden J.C. Barron Flour Mill in the town of Oakesdale. It’s empty and looks rather forlorn now, standing as a relic of a thriving milling industry long since gone.

The town of Dayton sits on the southern edge of the Palouse and serves as the county seat for Columbia County. It includes a grand old courthouse, many historical homes, and the Dayton Depot, the oldest existing railroad depot in the state. Beautifully restored, it houses a museum of old railroad memorabilia.

Down by the Old Mill Stream



An 18’ water wheel adorns the outside of the Bob’s Red Mill Visitors’ Center in Milwaukie, Ore. While its function is largely decorative, there was a time when these wheels dotted the countryside of rural America. For centuries, it was the force of water that turned these wheels, that engaged the gears, that revolved the millstones, that ground the grain, that fed the farmers and their families. Wherever there was agriculture, there were mills and the Pacific Northwest was no exception. The first grist mill was built at Ft. Vancouver in 1828 and was soon joined by many more up and down the Willamette Valley. Not only were they an important part of the food-chain, mills often became the community social center. Neighbors would gather to gossip and exchange news while the miller ground their grain. Today, grist mills have disappeared from the landscape, but a few survivors in the area remind us of this important part of farming history.

Butte Creek Mill and Store

Claiming to be the last original, operating, water-powered, grist mill west of the Mississippi, the Butte Creek Mill, is located in Eagle Point, about 12 miles east of Medford. The three-story building on the banks of Little Butte Creek dates to 1872 and was one of the first flour mills in the Rogue River Valley. Its 1400 lb. millstones were quarried in France, milled in Illinois, carried by ship around Cape Horn to Crescent City, California, and hauled by wagon train over the Siskiyou Mountains to the mill. Today, visitors can watch the miller at work and observe the hand hewn timbers and old machinery. Also in the building is a homey country store selling freshly ground grains, cereals, and pancake mixes. 

Thompson's Mills State Heritage Site

Oregon’s oldest surviving flour mill was recently saved from dilapidation by the State of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Dating back to 1856, Thompson’s Mills, once known as Boston Mill, was purchased in 2007, renovated, and developed into a living history museum describing Willamette Valley agriculture in the 19^th century. Inside the five-story mill, you'll find antique machinery, hand-hewn beams, and interpretive exhibits. The mill is the only one remaining of seven mills along the Calapooia River in Linn County.

Cedar Creek Grist Mill

North of Portland and east of Woodland, Washington, is the Cedar Creek Grist Mill. Tucked away in an idyllic, forested gorge, it remains the only grain-grinding mill in Washington that has maintained its original structural integrity and still uses water power and millstones. Built in 1876, the mill was used for years by families throughout north Clark County, but by the turn of the century it had transitioned to a machine shop and gradually fell into decline. Fortunately, a group of dedicated volunteers rescued and restored the old mill and today it serves as a working museum. On weekends, visitors are invited inside to admire the intricate system of pulleys, gears, and belts, and observe the milling process. In fact, if you bring your own grain, they will grind it for you. At the mill site is one of the few covered bridges in Washington.

Bob's Red Mill

By the early 1900s, most of these labor-intensive mills and their grain-grinding stones were replaced by electric power and high-speed steel rollers. Farmers no longer grew their own grain, and a preference developed for white flour and store-bought bread.  Stone milling became increasingly rare. Today, however, there is a renewed appreciation for this old-time process, and many believe the highest quality flours are made by the slow, cool grinding of stones. Grains are crushed without generating excess heat, thus preserving the nutritional value and flavor of the flour.

Bob’s Red Mill is one of the few commercial mills still using this traditional milling process. While electricity has replaced water-power, the grains are still ground by 19^th century, French quartz millstones acquired from old mills. The Visitors Center, designed to be a replica of the original mill in Oregon City, includes an outlet store, an enormous selection of bulk grains, bakery, deli, cooking classes, and milling display.

Steve is the official tour guide at the Thompson's Mill

Walking the Trails at Cape Perpetua

View at Cape Perpetua

On one of those endless searches for a Northwest Passage, British Captain James Cook, cruising along what is now Oregon’s Central Coast, spotted a large, towering headland.  It was March 7, 1778, and he named this landmark Cape Perpetua, in honor of St. Perptua’s Day.  On that same date in 203, this Christian martyr was thrown into an arena in Carthage, North Africa; mauled by a mad cow; and beheaded.  Not a good day for her. Captain Cook didn’t fare much better. Not only did he fail to find the elusive water route across North America, but later in the voyage he was stabbed to death by angry Hawaiian natives, abruptly ending his exploration career.

Today’s visitor, on the other hand, will have great success exploring Cape Perpetua. Begin at the Visitor Center, two miles south of Yachats on Highway 101, where movies and exhibits interpret the natural and cultural history of the area. From here, 26 miles of hiking trails fan out in all directions and offer an excellent cross-section of coastal scenery and flora. 

Rocky beach and tidepools on Capt. Cook Trail

  The Captain Cook Trail to the tide pools is certainly a must. Shortly beyond the Visitor Center, the trail passes by the foundations of the Cape Creek Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Camp. One of many such camps established during the Depression, Cape Creek offered unemployed young men job opportunities and $30 a month. At one point, there were 4 bunkhouses, mess hall, rec room, infirmary, and 200 men. These camp residents constructed many of the local trails, bridges, campgrounds and roads, including the one to the summit of Cape Perpetua. The trail continues through a tunnel under the highway to the tide pools and Spouting Horn. In addition to searching for sea stars, purple sea urchins, hermit crabs, and green anemones in this rocky tidal zone, look for Indian shell middens. Middens are ancient landfills and garbage heaps; a place where mussel-gathering natives threw their empty shells as long as 6000 years ago. North of here is the Devil’s Churn offering a close-up view of the power of the ocean. During storms and rough seas, waves smash through a narrow chasm in the volcanic rock creating huge plumes of sea water and foam.

Devil"s Churn

    The Giant Spruce Trail is an easy, one mile walk paralleling Cape Creek to a 500 year-old Sitka spruce. The nearly fifteen foot thick tree began life as a sprout on a fallen log. Over time, this nurse log rotted away leaving a large gaping hole at the tree’s base.

West Shelter

Cape Perpetua is the highest viewpoint accessible by car on the Oregon Coast and offers a stunning view on clear days. The St. Perpetua Trail to the overlook climbs 700 feet uphill from the Visitor Center by way of eleven switchbacks. The easier option is to drive to the summit on Forest Service Roads 55 and 5553, on the east side of Highway 101. From the overlook parking lot, the Whispering Spruce Trail makes an easy quarter mile loop around the top and includes the West Shelter. Built by the CCC in the summer of 1933, this historic stone lookout provides views of 150 miles of coastland from Cape Foulweather to Cape Blanco and 20 miles out to sea on a clear day. It was used by the Army during World War II to search for unfriendly ships and planes. Today, it is better used as a lookout for migrating whales.
For the more adventuresome, the Cook’s Ridge and Gwynn Creek Trails make a 6.5-mile loop from the Visitor Center through old-growth forests of Douglas fir and Sitka Spruce.

The Cape Perpetua Visitor Center is open seven days a week from10:00 am to 5:30 pm. Ranger guided walks (Eco Treks) are offered on Tuesdays at 1:00pm in the month of August.

Bellingham's Byways

In 1992, the US Department of Transportation began a program of designating National Scenic Byways, those American roads noted for their outstanding scenic, historic or cultural qualities. The town of Bellingham, about 90 miles north of Seattle on I-5, is unique in having two such byways at its doorstep. More interesting is how completely different the two roads are with one offering stunning alpine scenery and the other a peaceful panorama of water and islands.

Downtown Fairhaven

The Mt. Baker Scenic Byway (State Route 542) heads due east from Bellingham and travels 58 miles to dead-end at Artist Point.  Ideally, the journey should be undertaken on a clear, sunny day (yes, they do exist) because it’s all about the view. According to the WSDOT the road is now open for the season. An earlier blog (January 2010) covers this spectacular drive.

Bellingham’s other National Scenic Byway begins at the southern part of town, in an area known as Fairhaven. This historic district, filled with restored brick buildings, is loaded with galleries, unique shops, cafes, and an excellent indie bookstore. The area is also an important transportation hub served by Amtrak and the Alaska Ferry System. From Fairhaven, the Chuckanut Drive (State Route 11) travels south along Samish Bay. Its funny sounding name is a Native American term meaning “beach on a bay with a small entrance.” The narrow and winding road hugs the bluffs and cliff sides of Chuckanut Mountain, providing expansive views of Samish Bay and the San Juan Islands. Things get really exciting when there are cars in both directions and a team of bicyclists all sharing the same spot! Fortunately, several pull-overs along the route allow the driver to enjoy the vista as well. Oyster lovers will want to stop near the south end of the drive at the Oyster Bar which has been serving local oysters since the 1920s. Fried, fresh on the half shell, or baked, the oysters are accompanied by a beautiful view overlooking the water. The drive ends after 21 miles in the flat farmlands and potato fields of Skagit County where it’s only a short drive east to I-5.

Along the Chuckanut

 Bellingham, as the hub for these drives, is worth a visit as well. It hosts a number of museums and a good-sized farmers market on Saturdays in the summer and fall months.

The Scablands of Eastern Washington

Frenchmen's Coulee

Scablands; not an enticing name for a vacation destination and yet, this area west and south of Spokane, is one of the most fascinating geological sites in the United States.  As its name suggests, the region is not intrinsically attractive, and features a barren, scarred land too poor for farming or grazing. Deep canyons (known as coulees), gravel bars, giant boulders, empty waterfalls, and scoured potholes dominate the landscape making it seem more like Mars than the Evergreen State of Washington.

Columbia River

For years, scientists struggled to understand the events that might explain these unusual features.  A geologist by the name of J Harlen Bretz first hypothesized that an enormous, catastrophic flood had created this remarkable topography, but other geologists remained skeptical. Where would the massive amount of water come from?  Even Bretz couldn’t answer that question.

Finally, more and more evidence pointed to the existence of a large lake in western Montana and Bretz’s theory began to fit together. About 12,000 to 20,000 years ago during the Ice Age, a lobe of an ice sheet moved south from Canada blocking the Clark Fork River near what is now Sandpoint, Idaho. Water backed up behind this ice dam creating Glacial Lake Missoula, a body of water larger than Lakes Erie and Ontario combined. Super-cooled water under tremendous pressure created friction and heat enough to destabilize and collapse the dam, releasing 2.5 trillion tons of water.

Steamboat Rock in Grand Coulee

 The lake waters surged across eastern Washington with a force ten times greater than all the rivers of the world combined. Traveling at speeds of up to 80 mph, the flood waters scoured the top soil, carved canyons, blasted out deep potholes, created colossal waterfalls, carried boulders the size of houses, sliced through the Columbia Gorge, filled the Willamette Valley, and transformed the face of the Pacific Northwest forever.

The legacy of the floods (there were several such reoccurring events during the Ice Age) can be found throughout the area, but the sites in the scablands region are the most dramatic and provide a greater understanding of the power of the surging waters. Most locations are easily accessible by car and a good place to begin is by following the largest of all the flood channels, Grand Coulee. From Electric City, Highway 155 parallels the eastern side, running the full 50-mile length of this formidable canyon. Today, water from behind Grand Coulee Dam is pumped into the coulee to form Banks Lake, a holding place for irrigation water, but the immense size of this channel is still apparent. Some of the most interesting features along the way are Steamboat Rock, a monumental, flat island of layered basalt, and steep cliffs of columnar basalt on the east side of the canyon.

Dry Falls

At the end of the Grand Coulee, just west of Coulee City on Highway 17, is Dry Falls.  Situated in the middle of desert land, this barren 400-foot high cliff was once the site of a massive waterfall five times wider than and twice as high as Niagara Falls. The Interpretive Center here provides an instructive museum and a dramatic overlook of this geologic wonder.

Erratic Rock

Continuing north on Highway 17 and west on 172, the route crosses remnants of a glacier moraine and around the town of Mansfield, passes through fields strewn with gigantic boulders. These rocks, known as erratics, were carried here by the floods, often imbedded in glacial icebergs.  When the ice melted, the rocks, originating as far away as Canada and weighing as much as 400 tons, remained scattered about the plateau. (There are also many erratics delivered by the floods in the Willamette Valley; the most famous being the Willamette Meteorite.)

Palouse Falls

Another waterfall, this one with actual water flowing over it, is Palouse Falls located 25 miles south of Washtucna on Highway 261. The Palouse River appears, seemingly from nowhere, and flows over a semicircle of volcanic rock down 200-feet into a deep plunge pool. From here, it travels through a steep-walled, rocky canyon another ten miles to the Snake River. The view of the falls from the canyon rim is nothing short of spectacular. Hiking trails lead down to the base of the falls and through the canyon, but only for the sure-footed.

While there are many more fascinating geologic sites in the region, these few provide good insight into the story of the Ice Age Floods and their role in shaping the Northwest.

Following the Columbia Southern Railroad

Once upon a time, the central Oregon town of Shaniko billed itself “The Wool Capital of the World,” but today, its slogan is, “Oregon’s Best Known Ghost Town.” The intervening one-hundred years tell a tale of the drop in demand for wool after WWI, the rise of competition from other wool growing areas such as Australia and New Zealand, the development of new synthetic fibers, and, most importantly, the demise of the Columbia Southern Railroad.

This branch of the Union Pacific began in 1897 with the goal of connecting Biggs Junction on the Columbia River with central Oregon. Eventually, it reached the town of Shaniko, about 60 miles south of Biggs, but the terrain beyond was too rugged to continue construction to Prineville as originally planned. The trains moved people, wool, wheat, and heavy farm equipment to and from the vast expanse of central Oregon until a rival railway through the Deschutes River canyon to Bend ultimately put the line out of business.

Today, U.S.Highway 97 follows the approximate abandoned train route from Biggs Junction, about 20 miles east of The Dalles, south to Shaniko. The road climbs steeply from the Columbia River to a wide, rolling plateau dominated by wheat fields, wind turbines, and views of Mount Hood looming on the western horizon. The first town after Biggs is Wasco, where the train depot on the south side is about all that remains of the Columbia Southern Railroad. The building, with its mileage sign and name intact, is listed on the National Historic Register and is home to a retired, restored caboose.

Shaniko Hotel

Next on the train’s scheduled stops was Moro, the largest city (today’s population 340) and the county seat of Sherman County. In addition to a charming 1899 courthouse, the town is home to the national award-winning Sherman County Historical Museum, an outstanding regional museum. Its 16,000 artifacts tell the story of rural life in central Oregon, dry land wheat farming, Oregon Trail migration, Native Americans, and wartime patriotism. Especially interesting and touching, are a series of large, flip-through panels assigned to Sherman County families. Like scrapbook pages, longtime residents share their old and new family photos, mementos, news clippings, and other personal memorabilia. In a county with a population of only1800, over 100 folks volunteer at this museum and 400 belong to the historical society.

The road continues through the farming communities of Grass Valley and Kent to Shaniko. The town’s unusual name is a mispronunciation of the original postmaster’s German name, August Scherneckau. As the terminus of the railroad, Shaniko became the transportation and economic hub for an area of 20,000 square miles of Oregon outback dedicated to sheep, cattle, and wheat production.

In its heyday between 1900 when the first passenger train arrived and 1911, Shaniko shipped millions of bushels of wheat. In 1903 alone, wool sales exceeded $5 million and the town could briefly brag about being the busiest wool shipping center in the world. Population soared to over 300 and there was a bank, blacksmith shops, city hall and several hotels.

Restored Shaniko School

While the town was enjoying its new prosperity, a rival line, the Oregon Trunk Railroad, was built connecting the Columbia River to Bend and, from there, on to southern Oregon and California. When it was completed in 1911, most of the through traffic was diverted to the new railroad, leaving Shaniko as the terminus of a dead-end track. The town fell on hard times and languished for years. The 2000 census reported a population of only 26.

Around this time, wealthy Portland business man, Robert Pamplin, Jr., took an active interest in reviving the community and purchased a number of buildings including the century-old hotel and café whose striking brick façade and wrap-around porch are the focal points of the center of town. After spending thousands of dollars in renovations and digging a new well, Mr. Pamplin became embroiled in a dispute with the City Council over water rights  and responded by closing the hotel and café, capping the well, and putting up “for sale” signs. Now, for a reported $3.1 million, anyone can buy a slice of Oregon history.

I-5 Iris Gardens

Driving south on I-5, just beyond the Brooks Exit (between Woodburn and Salem), look to your right for a bright patch of colors.  At 70 miles an hour, it's only a blur, so take the time and exit at Brooks for an amazing, free, visual treat. From the exit, head west to the first stop sign and turn south (left) on River Road for about a couple miles to Quinaby Road. Turn left and in a short distance, you'll see the sign on the left for Schreiner's Iris Gardens.

Here you will discover ten acres of the most stunning display gardens; I have visited a number of times and am still awestruck when I first walk into the garden. While irises are the centerpiece of this floral show, other delights include poppies, lupines, peonies, rhodos, and columbines. If you think of irises in terms of blue or yellow, you'll be amazed to see how many hues and color combinations exist.

 The Schreiner family has been growing and hybridizing irises in the Willamette Valley since the early 1920s. They must be doing something right, since they have more medals than Michael Phelps displayed on the walls.


Every spring, they host a show and this year's has been extended until Sunday, June 12 because of the cool, wet growing season. After that, the gift shop and flower sales end, but the garden remains open for exploring. The flowers should last at least another week or two, depending on the weather, and it is well worth the short detour from the freeway.