Near Douglas Munro Boulevard, on the right when traveling west.
Signalman First Class
Douglas A. Munro
U.S. Coast Guard
Cle Elum, Washington
On September 22, 1942 Coast Guard Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro was in charge of Landing Craft evacuating 500 besieged Marines from the beaches of . . . — — Map (db m62785) WM
On East 1st Street at N Wright Ave, on the left when traveling east on East 1st Street.
Replacing the building destroyed in the 1918 fire, this sturdy brick box housed switchboards, operators, and maintenance crews until 1966. Cle Elum was a link on the "Old Transcontinental Lead" that connected Western Washington with the rest of the . . . — — Map (db m303155) HM
On Canyon Road (Washington Route 821) 12.2 miles south of Thrall Road, on the right when traveling south.
Fiery Floods
Twenty-five million years ago, this area was a land of meandering streams and lush, rolling hills. Then came the first lave flow. Long cracks or vents opened in the earth and lava flooded the land spreading like water. . . . — — Map (db m38486)
On South Canyon Road (Washington Route 821) 0.1 miles south of Thrall Road ( Route 821), on the left when traveling south.
For thousands of years, Native Americans and, later, wagons traveled from Yakima to Ellensburg using the Shushuskin Trail, over Ellensburg Pass. This was a rough, bumpy, winding trail that begged for an alternative by the mid-1910s, when automobiles . . . — — Map (db m306726) HM
Near Interstate 90 at milepost 126, 10.4 miles east of Main Street when traveling east.
Imagine standing here millions of years ago on the edge of a huge plain fringed by distant mountains. Cypress trees grow in the swamps. Maple, sycamore, ginkgo, sequoia, and fir cover the nearby hills and mountains. Ancestors of rhinoceroses and . . . — — Map (db m38446)
Built of cotton wood logs
from Yakima River Canyon
by
1843 Samuel Bedient Olmstead 1881
Union Soldier 1865
Descendant of Captain Richard Olmstead
Hartford Connecticut 1632
Cabin used as a fort during
the Nez Pierce Indian War . . . — — Map (db m235212) HM
Near Interstate 90 at milepost 126, 10.8 miles west of Vantage Highway/Main Street when traveling west.
It’s hard to imagine, but you are about to enter a fertile valley. Named for the Indians who lived here from time immemorial, the Kittitas Valley was the destination of many American settlers who came to the Washington Territory in the 1860s. Rich, . . . — — Map (db m113496) HM
On West Pennsylvania Avenue 0.1 miles west of North 1st Street ( Road 903), on the right when traveling west.
In 1886, Northern Pacific Railroad mining engineers located large seams of coal and the town of Roslyn was founded.
Coal mining, though dirty and dangerous work, attracted large numbers of immigrants to Roslyn – Serbians, Croatians, . . . — — Map (db m38422) HM
On Thorp Highway North 0.2 miles south of E Taneum Road, on the left when traveling south.
Irrigating the prairie
The Thorp and Splawn families settled on Taneum Creek, three miles northwest of Thorp, intending to raise cattle and farm the area’s rich soils.
The open, native bunchgrass prairie was too dry for farming. So, the . . . — — Map (db m301404) HM
On Thorp Highway North 0.2 miles north of Main Street, on the right when traveling north.
Built in 1883 by Oren Hutchinson and Gustave Huhn,
the mill ran continuously until 1946. Original mill
machinery hauled from the Dalles, Oregon by team
and wagon, water powered by turbine wheel. Flour
from this mill shipped to Pacific Rim . . . — — Map (db m301392) HM
Near Ginkgo Avenue 0.5 miles north of Vantage Highway.
The basalt you see in the dry distant hills and the rock under your feet holds a tale of dramatic change. The landscape tells a story of ancient floods, rivers of lava, and the impact of humans along the Columbia River. If you look carefully and . . . — — Map (db m82828)
Near Ginkgo Avenue 0.5 miles north of Vantage Highway.
Millions of years ago, some of the largest lava flows on earth poured over this area again and again. Enormous floods of molten lava flowed out from long, parallel vents, burying the area in more than 5,000 feet of basalt.
In all, more than 300 . . . — — Map (db m82825)
Near Ginkgo Avenue 0.5 miles north of Vantage Highway.
When Ice Age floodwaters rushed across Quincy Basin and down the Columbia River, they gouged chunks of basalt from the scabland cliffs in front of you. During the last Ice Age, this area was repeatedly swept by floodwaters that tore away layer after . . . — — Map (db m82829)
Near Ginkgo Avenue 0.5 miles north of Vantage Highway.
Raging Ice Age floodwaters carved spectacular features throughout eastern Washington, creating unique landscapes. Follow the path of the floods and discover more about this amazing story.
Under Water
During the largest floods, water . . . — — Map (db m82827)
Near Ginkgo Avenue 0.5 miles north of Vantage Highway.
After racing across eastern Washington, floodwaters converged on Wallula Gap, a single narrow outlet about 80 miles to the southeast. This natural constriction forced floodwaters to back up, creating a huge, temporary lake called Lake Lewis. Here at . . . — — Map (db m82830)
You are standing in the pathway of some of the largest floods ever known. They carved steep-walled canyons, sculpted immense waterfalls, and left behind landscapes found nowhere else on earth.
Massive Glacial Dams and Lakes
During the . . . — — Map (db m82826)
Near Ginkgo Avenue 0.5 miles north of Vantage Highway.
This landscape was built by ancient lava flows and sculpted by powerful Ice Age floods. Clues to this fascinating past are all around you.
Remains of a Fossil Forest
The park contains hundreds of pieces of petrified wood that were . . . — — Map (db m82824) HM
