The Historic Sunset Highway

Dry Falls

In the heart of the Grand Coulee lies one of the natural wonders of North America the Dry Falls cataract. This 3.5-mile-wide chasm of basalt, with a drop of 400 feet, was left high and dry thousands of years ago as the last of several Ice Age floods swept through the Grand Coulee. This is one of the most extraordinary landscapes to be found along the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.

Dry Falls is thought by some to be the greatest known waterfall that ever existed, but the refilling of the Mediterranean 5 million years ago probably dwarfed it.

According to the current geological model, catastrophic flooding channeled water at 65 miles per hour through the Upper Grand Coulee. It is estimated that the flow of the falls was ten times the current flow of all the rivers in the world combined.

Resources & Credits

The Historic Pacific Highway in Washington