Palouse, WA Road Trips

The region is pronounced "puh-LOOSS". The exact origin is unclear, but is likely connected to the local Palus tribe or the French word pelouse, meaning "land with short and thick grass" or "lawn." The peculiar and picturesque loess hills which characterize the Palouse Prairie, superficially resembling sand dunes, are underlain by wind-blown sediments, forming a fine-grained mantle up to 250 ft (76 m) thick. The Palouse had a settlement and wheat-growing boom during the 1880s, accelerated by the simultaneous proliferation of railroads. By 1890 nearly all the Palouse lands had been taken up and converted to wheat farming. Spokane, on the periphery of the rural farmlands, became the dominant urban hub of the entire interior northwest, becoming known as the capital of the "Inland Empire".

Spokane, the smallest city to ever host a World's Fair (in 1974), converted its fairgrounds into Riverfront Park, with a grab-bag of ornamental buildings and sculptures. Washington State University in Pullman has a large campus with red brick buildings and tall trees characteristic of the area's historic style. Gonzaga in Spokane and Eastern Washington University in Cheney also have pleasant walkable campuses. Spokane House, in Riverside State Park near Spokane, is the oldest house in Washington state. An interpretive center tells the story of the trading post and the Spokane Indians who lived here. There are several monuments scattered throughout the region marking the battlefields of the wars between Americans and native peoples in the 1850s. Palouse Falls is a remote 200 ft (61 m) waterfall on the Palouse River, the largest in Washington east of the Cascade Mountains. The Snake River Canyon carries the Snake River through the Palouse from Lewiston, Idaho, through an arc northwest then southwest, and finally empties it into the Columbia River at Burbank, near Pasco. The most popular site is just SW of Pullman near Lower Granite Dam. However, you cannot follow the river by car any further downstream. Due to the extensive backtracking that would be required, most people are only able to view one section of the canyon per road trip.

Like the rest of Washington State, microbreweries and beer in general is hugely popular, and the area has many to offer for beer enthusiasts. Some brews can only be found in local stores or bars (some notable brewers don't even bottle their product). Ask your servers for local beer recommendations and search out regional microbrews in stores.

1 Spokane International Airport (Geiger Field) (GEG IATA) serves as a major commercial airport for the Palouse region with air service from major cities in the western U.S. The following are additional airports travelers can fly into to reach their final destination in the Palouse Region: 2 Tri-Cities Airport (PSC IATA) is the more in the Columbia River Basin Region of the state (Tri-Cities & Walla Walla) but may be closer to your final destination in the Palouse Region. 3 Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport (PUW IATA) serves as a regional civil aviation airport with limited commercial services from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Boise by Alaska Airlines. The next nearest major international airports are Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Portland International Airport, but they are 5-7 hours away by car. A connecting flight (Alaska Airlines, Delta Connection or Boutique Air) is recommended. Amtrak's Empire Builder stops at Spokane. This is the only train service to the region. Interstate 90 (I-90) is the major east-west route through this region, connecting Spokane to Seattle, Coeur d'Alene and Montana. US-395 runs concurrently with I-90 from Spokane to Ritzville, then south to the Tri-Cities. It serves as the 'western edge' of the Palouse. US-12 is the main east-west highway between Walla Walla to Lewiston, Idaho. It goes through Starbuck, Dayton and Pomeroy. US-195 serves as the main north-south highway through the Palouse country. It runs from I-90 west of Spokane and winds its way down towards Lewiston, Idaho.

US-195 is the major north-south route, connecting the several largest communities in the region.