
Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail – July 2023 Update
Hello from the trail. A lot has been happening over





Hello from the trail. A lot has been happening over

SOME LOCAL NORTHERN IDAHO ICE AGE FLOODS and GLACIAL FEATURES Purcell

Indigenous people have been in the Americas longer than archaeologists

It’s difficult for most people to grasp the immensity of

The mantle hotspot now under Yellowstone is thought to have

Nearly 10,000 years ago, Earth came out of its most

The Lyle Cherry Orchard Trail is a moderately strenuous trail

The 2023 GSA Outburst Floods Penrose Conference made a field

The Wenatchee Valley Erratics’ next program will be on Tuesday, June

The first wave of humans into the Americas during the

By measuring radioactive elements in rocks from Earth and other

Spring is coming and the trail is starting to wake

Appearing much different than the nearly ubiquitous Columbia River basalt

Tucked into the Lenore Canyon are the Lake Lenore Caves. Along

During the last ice age, which route was taken by
IAFI Events
Explore and Discover How Our Amazing Region was Formed!
Field Trips, Presentations and Other Events are designed to educate, entertain and leave you with a sense of “wow” along with providing fascinating information about the Ice Age Floods.







Ice Age Floods Institute Events Inspire, Encourage Exploration, Offer Friendship and Involvement
Field Trips and Hikes are led by amateur and professional Geologists with new and amazing information to share. They are fun, exciting and informative outdoor adventures for the entire Family to enjoy!
Visit our Activities Event Calendar below for IAFI Field Trips, Hikes and other activities in your area, and go have a great time!

We offer indoor Presentations, especially popular when heat or cold make outdoor Field Trips too uncertain or uncomfortable. Many Presentations are available via Zoom.
We also offer programs for schools, senior centers and similar organizations to educate and stimulate minds about the Ice Age Floods.

Other Events such as meetings, festivals, conventions and gatherings, with various public and private organizations, help us tell the story of the Ice Age Floods, Geology, Wildlife and History.
We often have our ‘Store in a Box‘ at these types of events where people can view and purchase IAFI merchandise.

Balbas et. al. use cosmogenic beryllium-10 dating methods to further constrain the timing of ice sheet retreat, as well as the potential pathways for megafloods from both Lake Missoula and Lake Columbia. Read this fascinating Geology article summarizing their findings. Balbas2017 – Missoula Flood Chronology In summary, our new chronological

Using detailed fossil comparison techniques, scientists have been able to identify a giant new saber-toothed cat species, Machairodus lahayishupup, which would have prowled around the open spaces of North America between 5 and 9 million years ago. One of the biggest cats ever discovered, M. lahayishupup is estimated in this new

There’s a Columbian Mammoth hiding out in Coyote Canyon down Kennewick way, and MCBONES Research Center Foundation is working to uncover his/her hiding place. For a small contribution you can tour this hide-and-seek site, or you can volunteer to help uncover the hidden mammoth. Sound interesting? Find out more in

Floods of lava (Columbia River Basalts) and Ice Age Floods of water (Lake Missoula floods and the Bonneville Flood) are world-famous topics among geologists. To have both sets of floods in the same area means the geology of the Inland Northwest is truly Disneyland for Geologists! The program begins in

The Columbia River Gorge is an incredibly popular area to visit, and that’s for good reason, the setting is uniquely spectacular. The Gorge encompasses: Easily accessible ecozones that range through boreal conifer forests, oak woodlands, high desert grasslands and alpine environments in only 40 miles, Dazzling viewpoints and scenery, including

In September 2021 my wife and I took a trip to see what was new along the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail and visit some places we did not make it to in our very first trip in 2004. The IAFI chapter brochures were very helpful in learning what

Check out this 2-Minute Geology expedition with Nick Zentner and Tom Foster exploring the Giant Current Ripples at West Bar and Camas Prairie. Ice age floodwater 650 feet deep – moving at 65 miles per hour – left Giant Current Ripples along the Columbia River at West Bar! The ripples

Geologists have been investigating a potential cycle in geological events for a long time. A recent analysis on the ages of 89 well-understood geological events from the past 260 million years show a catastrophic 27.5 million year pulse in eight clusters of world-changing geologic events over geologically small timespans. This