Theodore Roosevelt Presidential LibraryPublic Lands Directory

Alerts and conditions

All clear. The managing agency, the National Weather Service and wildfire reporting show no current alerts.

Overview

At the end of the last Ice Age, 18,000 to 15,000 years ago, an ice dam in northern Idaho created Glacial Lake Missoula stretching 3,000 square miles around Missoula, Montana. The dam burst and released flood waters across Washington, down the Columbia River into Oregon before reaching the Pacific Ocean. The Ice Age Floods forever changed the lives and landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

From the National Park Service

History

The designation history for this site (every law, proclamation and order, and the administration behind each) is being researched and checked by the Library’s historians.

What to see and do

Activities

  • Guided Tours
  • Self-Guided Tours - Walking
  • Self-Guided Tours - Auto
  • Junior Ranger Program

Plan your visit

Hours

Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail: The Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail is a collection of sites operated and owned by a variety of partners. , Hours of operation and season will vary from site to site. Please check each respective site for more details and information.

Getting there

To Trail Headquarters from Spokane Take I-90 West At Exit 277, merge onto US-2 toward Davenport/Fairchild AFB/Spokane Airport Just past Wilbur, turn right onto WA-21 Stay left onto Highway 174 Turn right onto WA-155 Stay on WA-155 past Grand Coulee Dam and into the town of Coulee Dam Cross the Columbia River and continue on WA-155 Turn right onto Crest Drive and follow up the hill. The HQ Office is located on the left

Weather

The National Geologic Trail is a collection of sites stretched across a four state area, the weather will vary from site to site. Please check the weather for your local region, or the region you'll be visiting, through their respective sites.

Phone: (509) 237-9722

Whose lands these are

These lands are the ancestral and present-day homelands of Native nations. A section on whose lands these are is being prepared with tribal review. In the meantime, Native Land Digital offers a starting point.

Photos

Large butte with lake in the foreground
Steamboat Rock · NPS
Steamboat rock in the foreground with Banks Lake in the distance
Banks Lake · NPS
Dry Lake lake bed and falls blanked with snow.
Dry Lakes · NPS Photo
A overhead shot of the Dry Falls area
Dry Falls · NPS/Cline

Pair it with