GO PLACES! DO THINGS!

Along the ICE AGE FLOODS
NATIONAL GEOLOGIC TRAIL


The Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail covers some 16,000 square miles (41,440 km2) in present day Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. We have hand picked some of the best of the best places along the Trail and present them here for you enjoy and explore! Check back often, we will be adding new and wonderful destinations for your entire Family to enjoy!

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SOME PLACES TO GO and THINGS TO DO in MONTANA

Glacial Lake Missoula National Natural Landmark

Glacial Lake Missoula National Natural Landmark Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Glacial Lake Missoula was the largest of several lakes impounded by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet in the Northern Rocky Mountains during the Quaternary period. The lake was approximately 2,900 square miles in size and contained more than 500 cubic miles of water. It occupied the Mission, Jocko and Little Bitterroot valleys, drained by the Flathead River; and the Missoula, Ninemile and Bitterroot valleys, drained by the Clark Fork River. The lake was formed by an ice dam across the mouth of the Clark Fork River at Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho, a result of successive advances of a lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The site is located 12 miles north of Perma, Montana.At least three and possibly more than 100 separate collapses of the ice dam, possibly coincident with periods of ice retreat, caused the lake to drain, producing catastrophic floods across the Columbia Plateau and down the Columbia River Basin. It is estimated that the waters of Glacial Lake Missoula, 1,000 feet deep at Eddy Narrows, were withdrawn at a peak discharge rate of 10 cubic miles per hour. Approximately 550 cubic miles of water passed through those narrows during withdrawal. Evidence of this catastrophic withdrawal can be found in scourings, high eddy deposits of flood debris, flood bars of boulders and course gravel, and successions of giant arcuate ripples or ridges of gravel resting on bedrock surfaces. Ripples appear as ridges 15 to 50 feet high, 100 to 250 feet wide, and from 300 feet to a half-mile long. While the form, structure and arrangement of these features are similar to that of ordinary current ripple marks, they are termed giant flood ripples, due to their large size. The giant flood ripples at this site are unusual due to their being on the down-current side of notches in a ridge separating two basins that were both subsidiary to the main course of Lake Missoula in the Clark Fork Valley. The best examples of giant flood ripples are found in Camas Prairie. Quick Facts Designation:National Natural Landmark OPEN TO PUBLIC:Private Land, closed to the public, but features throughout the area are visible from many vantage points.

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Bison Range

Bison Range The Bison Range was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 to conserve the American Bison.  Since that time it has been managed as a wildlife refuge and native grassland. Today the management is done by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The range is a small, low-rolling mountain connected to the Mission Mountain Range by a gradually descending spur. Range elevation varies from 2,585 feet (788 m) at headquarters to 4,885 feet (1,489 m) at High Point on Red Sleep Mountain, the highest point on the Range.  Much of the Bison Range was once under prehistoric Glacial Lake Missoula. The upper part of the Range was above water. Red Sleep Mountain scenic drive leads to this high point, which has spectacular views across what was once the lake to the Mission Mountains on the other side.  Other flood features are evident on Buffalo Prairie scenic drive. Old beach lines (strandlines) can be seen on north-facing slopes and some large erratics are located near the old corrals. There is a visitor center near the entrance which has a display and videos of Glacial Lake Missoula as well as information on the tribes of the Flathead Reservation and the abundant wildlife, including birds, bears and antelope.  There is also a gift shop.  Camas Prairie ripples and several other important features of Glacial Lake Missoula are in close proximity to this site, much of them are located on tribal lands.  The entrance is off US 93 and MT 212 N about an hour north of Missoula. Bison Range58355 Bison Range Rd, Moiese, MT (406) 644-2661 bisonrange.org FEES – there is a fee for entrance, including the day use area, except for CSKT tribal members OPEN HOURSWinter Hours (Nov-April)Gate: 8am–6pmVisitors Center: 8am–5pm Red Sleep Drive: closed Buffalo Prairie Drive: 8am-6pm Summer Hours (May-Oct)Gate: 7am–8pmVisitors Center: 8am–7pm Red Sleep Drive: 8am–7pm Buffalo Prairie Drive:8am–8pm  Restrictions: Vehicles over 30 feet long and those owing trailers as well as motorcycles, ATVs, and bicycles are not allowed on either drive.  Visitors must remain inside vehicles at all times except for designated areas      

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Eddy Narrows

Eddy Narrows Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Eddy Narrows is a 10-mile long canyon between Plains and Thompson Fall along the Clark Fork River. Here all of the waters from the northern and eastern arms of Glacial Lake Missoula converged and picked up speed as they were forced through this restricted area. The steep valley walls are bare of talus and soils up to the level estimated to be the highest level of the lake (1000 ft), and there are polished grooves in the bedrock on a bench 340-400 feet above the Clark Fork River that run parallel to it. Since there is no evidence of glaciation in this area, the only explanation is the rapid draining of Glacial Lake Missoula. Using the dimensions of this flume-shaped area of the canyon, which controlled the rate of flow of water surging through it, in 1942 J.T. Pardee was able to calculate maximum speeds approaching 80 mph, emptying Glacial Lake Missoula in as little as three days. There are pullouts along MT-200 at either end of the narrowest part of this section marked for observing big horn sheep with Glacial Lake Missoula signage at the one between mileposts 59 and 60 at: 47.537940, -115.071654  Quick Facts Location:Between Plains and Thompson Falls, MT 

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SOME PLACES TO GO and THINGS TO DO in IDAHO

Museum of North Idaho

Museum of North Idaho IceAgeFloods National GeologicTrail “The Museum of North Idaho collects, preserves and interprets the history of the Coeur d’Alene Region. to foster appreciation of the area’s heritage.” In the 1960s, the North Idaho Hoo Hoo Club, an organization of loggers, lumbermen and foresters, first entertained the idea of establishing a museum. They incorporated on May 1, 1968 for a museum focusing on the history of the Coeur d’Alene Region (Kootenai, Benewah and part of Shoshone counties). Through the efforts of volunteers and community support, the Museum opened its doors on the North Idaho College campus on July 28, 1973. In 1979, they remodeled a City-owned building and relocated to its current location. Quick Facts Location: 115 Northwest Blvd, Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814Phone: (208) 664-3448 The Museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am – 5 pm.

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Glacial Dam at Green Monarch Ridge View Point

Glacial Lobe Dam at Green Monarch Ridge View Point Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail  As the Purcell Trench ice lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet advanced south from Canada, it was stopped by the Green Monarch Ridge, building an ice dam 4,000 feet (1219 m) tall and nearly 40 miles (64 km) wide that blocked the Clark Fork river, thus filling glacial Lake Missoula. View the Green Monarch Ridge and the Purcell Trench from a large pullout on Idaho State Route 200, about one mile (1.6 km) west of Hope, Idaho and 15 miles (24 km) east of Sandpoint, Idaho. Quick Facts Location: Idaho State Route 200, about one mile west of Hope, Idaho and 15 miles  east of Sandpoint, Idaho.

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Green Monarch Ridge

Green Monarch Ridge Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail THIS IS WHERE IT ALL BEGAN! The Green Monarch Ridge viewpoint, just south of the Hope Fault, is positioned along the edge of the Purcell Trench Ice Lobe. Here it was responsible for damming the mouth of the Clark Fork drainage basin. This damming effect resulted in the formation of Glacial Lake Missoula, the source of the waters for much of  the PNW Pleistocene Ice Age Floods. The Purcell Trench Ice Lobe originated in Canada and flowed south into Idaho, guided by the structural control of the Purcell Trench. Following the path of least resistance into the basin now occupied by Lake Pend Oreille, it was impeded by the Green Monarch Ridge, located approximately 10 miles south of this viewpoint. Grinding and scraping, the Purcell Trench Ice Lobe backed up behind the Green Monarch Ridge, eventually building an ice plug up to 4,000 feet thick, and scouring out the deepest parts of Lake Pend Oreille. The Purcell Trench Ice Lobe divided into four sub-lobes: one went approximately west (US Highway 2), two went south (US Highway 95 and Lake Pend Oreille) and one went east (SR 200). All four sub-lobes contributed to blocking the Clark Fork drainageQuick Facts MANAGED BY:US Forest Service – Idaho Panhandle National Forest

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SOME PLACES TO GO and THINGS TO DO in WASHINGTON

McBones – Ice Age Floods Mammoth Dig

The Tri-Cities area, home to the Lake Lewis Chapter of IAFI, is inching its way into spring and it’s time to say goodbye to winter. And for some of us, it’s time to begin the 2023 dig season at Coyote Canyon, the resting place of

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Palouse Falls State Park

Palouse Falls State Park Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail The Palouse River runs through a narrow cataract and drops 200 feet to a churning bowl. From there, the current moves swiftly, through a winding gorge of columnar basalt, to its southern end at the

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Frenchman Coulee

Frenchman Coulee Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Frenchman Coulee is a short drive north and west from the Silica Road exit 123 off US-90, along the Old Vantage Road. It is one of the most beautiful features left behind by the great Ice Age

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SOME PLACES TO GO and THINGS TO DO in OREGON

Crown Point National Natural Landmark

Crown Point National Natural Landmark Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail – Historic Columbia River Highway This spectacular viewpoint along the Historic Columbia River Highway 30 was the site of the 1916 dedication of a highway that was, for that time, an innovative European-style road

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Tualatin Ice Age Walking Trail

Tualatin Ice Age Walking Trail Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail The Tualatin Ice Age Trail is a self-guided tour of sites representing the ancient history of our area. Along the trail, you’ll discover evidence of centuries-old ice, rock and bone, including the sites where a mastodon

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