The first time I ever saw (or heard) the name “Palouse Falls” was yesterday, an hour or two before I got there. Earlier in the day, in Spokane, I picked up a copy of the local weekly, the “Inlander,” when I stopped for breakfast. But I didn’t look at it until I briefly paused at a rest stop on the way to Ritzville, southwest of Spokane. This week’s Inlander just happened to be the annual “Best of the Inland Northwest” issue, with an article about “Recreation,” including the following paragraph on the “Best Washington Day Trip” – to Palouse Falls: “The waterfall itself is beautiful – the Palouse River tumbles off basalt cliffs and plunges for nearly 200 feet. And no elaborate hike is required. The waterfall is practically visible from the parking lot. But the underrated part of the trip is the drive itself. Just under two hours to the destination….”
Being a sucker for waterfalls, and in no hurry to get anywhere in particular, I figured serendipity was calling, so I took the turnoff a few miles down the road, headed for Palouse Falls State Park.
The scenery on the way there is gorgeous – greens and golds and browns – but I didn’t know that when I took the turnoff at Ritzville, driving for the next 45 very rural miles to the falls, including the last 2 ½ miles on a jarring dirt and gravel road. And I kept wondering as I drove along this winding road out in the middle of nowhere, is this going to be a bust? Will it be much ado about nothing?
Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY! The falls are stunning. The water seems to drop in slow motion. No matter how many different angles I viewed the falls from, I never got tired of looking. Finally I had to pull myself away. There is indeed something mesmerizing about waterfalls.
Sometimes beauty just falls in your lap.