| Palouse River | |
|---|---|
 Several miles downstream from its fork inColfax; looking west in 2007 | |
  Palouse River's mouth in Washington | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington,Idaho |
| County | Franklin,Whitman,Adams,Latah |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Rocky Mountains |
| • coordinates | 46°58′07″N116°27′31″W / 46.9685°N 116.4587°W /46.9685; -116.4587[1] |
| Mouth | Snake River |
• coordinates | 46°35′24″N118°12′55″W / 46.59000°N 118.21528°W /46.59000; -118.21528[1] |
• elevation | 541 ft (165 m)[1] |
| Length | 167 mi (269 km) |
| Basin size | 3,303 sq mi (8,550 km2)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| • location | river mile 19.6 atHooper[3][4] |
| • average | 599 cu ft/s (17.0 m3/s)[3][5] |
| • minimum | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
| • maximum | 33,500 cu ft/s (950 m3/s) |
ThePalouse River is atributary of theSnake River inWashington andIdaho, in thenorthwest United States. It flows for 167 miles (269 km)[6] southwestwards, primarily through thePalouse region of southeastern Washington. It is part of theColumbia River Basin, as the Snake River is a tributary of theColumbia River.
Its canyon was carved out by a fork in the catastrophicMissoula Floods of the previousice age, which spilled over the northernColumbia Plateau and flowed into the Snake River, eroding the river's present course in a few thousand years.
The Palouse River flows fromnorthernIdaho into southeast Washington through thePalouse region, named for the river.
The river originates in Idaho in northeasternLatah County, in theHoodoo Mountains in theSt. Joe National Forest. It flows westward, nearState Highway 6, as it nears the state line. In Washington, the river flows inWhitman County toPalouse and then toColfax, where it meets its South Fork, which originates on the south slopes of Moscow Mountain of the Palouse Range, flows south ofMoscow and west toPullman. (Paradise Creek parallels the South Fork, running through Moscow to Pullman, accompanied by theBill Chipman Palouse Trail andState Route 270.)
From Colfax, the river meanders west and ends up in the lowerSnake River southwest ofHooper, but not before dropping two hundred feet (60 m) overPalouse Falls. The Palouse River enters the Snake River below theLittle Goose Dam and above theLower Monumental Dam.
The Palouse River'sdrainage basin is 3,303 square miles (8,550 km2) in area.[2] Its mean annualdischarge, as measured byUSGS gage 13351000 atHooper (river mile 19.6), is 599 cubic feet per second (17 m3/s), with a maximum daily recorded flow of 27,800 cu ft/s (787 m3/s), and a minimum of zero flow.[3]
TheMissoula Floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and across theColumbia River Plateau during thePleistocene epoch carved out the Palouse River Canyon, which is 1,000 feet (300 m) deep in places.[7][8][9]
The ancestral Palouse River flowed through the now-dry WashtucnaCoulee directly into theColumbia River. The present-day canyon was created when the Missoula Floods overtopped the northern drainage divide of the ancestral Palouse River, diverting it to the current course to the Snake River by eroding a new, deeper channel.[7][10]
The area is characterized by interconnected and hanging flood-created coulees, cataracts, plunge pools,kolk created potholes, rock benches, buttes and pinnacles typical of scablands.[9]
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