Palouse Falls State Park

 

I first saw images of Palouse Falls in a magazine. The images were so stunning that I decided to make the 5 hour drive to have a visit. I timed my trip so that I would arrive when there would be a New Moon so that I could try to capture images at night with the Milky Way. I arrived, set up camp and set out to explore a bit. I climbed into my tent at dark to sleep, hoping for clear skies!

I awoke at about midnight and grabbing my equipment, walked the short distance to the rim of the canyon. I could see a light coming from down near the base of the water fall, and thought that maybe someone was down there with a flash light. I was very surprised to see that they had started a camp fire down in the basin! The light from the fire cast a wonderful reddish light along the canyon walls!

If you would like to learn how to capture images of the Night Sky, here is a link to my Night Sky Photo Tours Page!

Getting to Palouse Falls State Park

Palouse Falls is located in Eastern Washington. From Interstate 90 take the exit for Ritzville (220-221) and head south on Highway 216. Here the dry desert-like climate is in stark contrast to the much wetter western side of the state. The park has a campground and hiking trails. Early spring is a good time to visit, the water flow of the Palouse River is stronger and there is more green and wildflowers along the river bank and up on the plateau.

Day time images from Palouse Falls State Park

While your over in that neck of the woods, make some time to also visit Steptoe Butte and drive around. The Palouse is a agricultural region of Washington. In spring the rolling hills are painted green with endless fields of flowing crops. Its quite a sight!

Night time images of Palouse Falls and other scenic images of Washington State are for sale, as fine art prints and also as Canvas Wrapped Prints. Here is a link to peruse them.