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!

MONTANA – IDAHO – WASHINGTON – OREGON

Montana - Places to GO and Things to DO

Bison Range

February 5, 2023

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

Erratic in the Bitterroot

May 1, 2023

An 8 ton erratic left behind by Glacial Lake Missoula in the Bitterroot Valley on the property of a local rancher was relocated to serve as the focal point of an outdoor kiosk exhibit at the Ravalli County Museum at the former County Courthouse, 205 Bedford Street in Hamilton. Unlike their counterparts at other location along the National Geologic Trail, erratics in this part of the Ice Age Floods did not come from Canada nor did they travel as far, but the action of the floodwaters and iceberg rafts is equally evident despite more shallow waters. There are similar erratics found elsewhere in Bitterroot, on the campus of the University of Montana, and at the Bison Range. The outdoor display tells the same story as other locations on the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail but also includes information on two other National Park Service trails that pass through this area – the Nez Perce and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trails. The museum has other indoor exhibits of historical interest and about Glacial Lake Missoula.

Glacial Lake Missoula Strandlines

August 12, 2022

Glacial Lake Missoula Strandlines Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Imagine you are standing on the edge of glacial Lake Missoula 15,000 years ago. You can hear lapping waves cutting benches known as “strand-lines” into the shoreline. Today, you can see these huge strand-lines on hills surrounding Missoula, Montana, marking changes in lake level over time. On Mount Sentinel, marked with an “M”, and Mount Jumbo, marked with an “L”, the strand-lines are seen as horizontal lines in the vegetation or highlighted by snow in the winter. Public hiking trails switchback through the strand-lines on Mount Sentinel and Mount Jumbo. Ancient shorelines or strand-lines of Glacial Lake Missoula are visible as perfectly parallel horizontal benches on hillside slopes around Missoula. They are most visible with light snow cover, or in low evening light on the mountains marked with an”M” and an “L” on either side of Hellgate Canyon looking east from the downtown. These shoreline benches cut by wave action in the lake recorded various lake levels as the ice dam blocking the Clark Fork River far upstream on the Idaho border repeatedly failed and refilled 40 times or more. It may be that as the ice-age waned each successive ice dam that reformed was smaller and failed under less pressure from a lower lake level than the one before, leaving behind its bench as a record of the successively lower ancient lake shorelines. It’s also possible they record winter still-stands in rising lake levels over time. Quick Facts Location:The Kim Williams Trail at Van Buren and 5th Street leads from the U Montana campus along the river between the mountains. To reachhigh water markers on the mountains see the Interactive Map or go to GlacialLakeMissoula.org

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Idaho - Places to GO and Things to DO

Celebration Park – Home of Melon Gravel

July 10, 2026

17,000 years ago, a massive Ice Age lake – now called Lake Bonneville – filled a large portion of present-day Utah. As temperatures changed, the influx of ice melt caused the lake level to rise. In addition, the Bear River, once a tributary of the Snake, was diverted by volcanic activity back into Lake Bonneville. These factors ultimately led to the breaching of a sedimentary rock dam at Red Rocks Pass, Idaho. There was only one ice-age Bonneville Flood because Lake Bonneville broke through a rock dam, unlike the Missoula Floods whose glacial ice dam repeatedly dammed Glacial Lake Missoula, then broke and rebuilt. 1,100 cubic miles of Lake Bonneville water rushed through the Snake River Canyon, and it took only six weeks for Lake Bonneville to empty the equivalent volume of modern-day Lake Michigan. The Great Salt Lake we know today is a remnant of Lake Bonneville, but at one tenth the size, it is a mere puddle compared to what the lake used to be. The power of this catastrophic flood widened canyons as the force of the water pulled huge chunks of basalt off the cliffs and tumbled them around, smoothing their jagged edges along the way. As the canyon width narrowed, the force and velocity of the flood increased. Wherever the canyons widened, the flood lost force and velocity, the waters slowed and began dropping its bedload – in this case, giant tumbled basalt boulders instead of your typical river gravel. These flood-rounded boulders, named melon gravel due to their distinct shape, are scattered over vast areas of land. The rocks’ unique outlines and smooth surfaces caught the eye of Native American tribes in the area, who have used them as canvases for petroglyphs for thousands of years. Visitors can see the medium sized flood deposits just outside the visitor center, or hike upriver to see gigantic melon gravel the size of heavy-duty trucks. Celebration Park is located in the Snake River Canyon, approximately 23 miles south of Nampa, Idaho. It is home to an enormous melon gravel field deposited by the Bonneville Flood.

Glacial Dam at Green Monarch Ridge View Point

August 12, 2022

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.

Farragut State Park

August 12, 2022

Farragut State Park Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Farragut State Park is located at the “breakout” of Glacial Lake Missoula floods, where the ice dam in the Clark Fork valley and the 20-mile-long tongue of ice occupying the Lake Pend Oreille basin failed. From there, a torrent of water and ice burst from the south end of the lake. Farragut State Park is located at the “breakout” of Glacial Lake Missoula floods. Failure of the ice dam in the Clark Fork valley fractured and broke apart the 20-mile-long tongue of ice occupying the Lake Pend Oreille basin, and a torrent of water and ice burst from the south end of the lake. That churning slurry of flood waters, ice, boulders and other debris erupted from the south end of Lake Pend Oreille, flowing 2000 ft deep across Farragut State Park. Nearly all of the water escaping from Glacial Lake Missoula passed through this area. Discharge estimates range from 14 to 21 million cubic meters per second! Vic Baker’s definition of a megaflood is one which has a discharge of at least 1mil cubic m/s, so we are possibly looking at ground zero for the worst Pleistocene flood in the world. Farragut State Park includes many geologic features left by glaciation and megafoods.Hoodoo channel, an abandoned outlet of Lake Pend Oreille provided a pathway for late-glacial meltwater and for the last outbursts from Glacial Lake Missoula. The channel is marked with a number of closed depressions, probably the result of melting icebergs. One of the largest of these features have been proposed, including kettles, potholes, and sub-glacial meltwater. Some of that debris was deposited to form the Rathdrum Prairie Outburst Plain, an extensive, heterogeneous mix of flood deposits. Farragut State Park offers unique scenery, history and an abundance of recreational opportunities. Quick Facts Location:13550 E. Hwy 54 Athol, ID 83801

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Washington - Places to GO and Things to DO

Postmortem on the southern Cordilleran Ice Sheet

January 26, 2024

(21Feb2024) On 18 March 2924 at 7:00pm the Puget Lobe Chapter io the IAFI will have Dr Ralph A Haugerud give his presentation “the Postmortem on the Southern Cordilleran Ice sheet. Death of an ice sheet can have many causes, as shown by retreat of

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Oregon - Places to GO and Things to DO

Erratic Rock State Natural Site (Bellevue Erratic)

July 7, 2022

Erratic Rock State Natural Site (Bellevue Erratic) Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Six miles west of McMinnville just off of Hwy 18 sits a 90-ton rock, the Bellevue Erratic, that was floated as much as 500 miles in an iceberg by way of the

Tualatin Ice Age Walking Trail

August 12, 2022

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

Tualatin Public Library

July 7, 2022

Tualatin Public Library Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail The Tualatin Public Library, located just off Interstate 5 in Tualatin, Oregon, is home to a display of Ice Age Megafauna. The Library features a striking display of an articulated partial mastodon skeleton, which was discovered

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GO PLACES! DO THINGS!

Along the ICE AGE FLOODS
NATIONAL GEOLOGIC TRAIL

MONTANA – IDAHO – WASHINGTON – OREGON

Montana - Places to GO and Things to DO

Bison Range

Erratic in the Bitterroot

Glacial Lake Missoula Strandlines

Idaho - Places to GO and Things to DO

Glacial Dam at Green Monarch Ridge View Point

Farragut State Park

Washington - Places to GO and Things to DO

Postmortem on the southern Cordilleran Ice Sheet

Oregon - Places to GO and Things to DO

Erratic Rock State Natural Site (Bellevue Erratic)

Tualatin Ice Age Walking Trail

Tualatin Public Library

MONTANA – IDAHO – WASHINGTON – OREGON

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GO PLACES! DO THINGS!

Along the ICE AGE FLOODS NATIONAL GEOLOGIC TRAIL

MONTANA – IDAHO – WASHINGTON – OREGON

MONTANA – IDAHO – WASHINGTON – OREGON

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Along the ICE AGE FLOODS
NATIONAL GEOLOGIC TRAIL