Lake Lenore Caves State Park, State park with caves in Grant County, Washington.
Lake Lenore Caves State Park is a Washington state park in Lenore Canyon, where basalt coulee cliffs rising from the shore of Lake Lenore hold several shallow rock shelters. The Missoula floods underscoured these cliffs, the same floods that formed the Channeled Scablands. The park is part of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail.
The area took shape during the Missoula Floods of the last Ice Age, when powerful water surges eroded the basalt rock. These massive events created the distinctive landscape features that remain visible today.
Native Americans used the rock shelters, and some petroglyphs remain in the caves. The site lies within the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, which marks the path of the Missoula floods.
The walking path is about 2 kilometers round trip and starts with steep steps before flattening out through sagebrush vegetation to reach the first cave. A Discover Pass is required to enter the area, and sturdy hiking shoes are recommended due to the uneven ground.
The rock shelters are shallow overhangs under basalt coulee cliffs, not deep caves, and were underscoured by the Missoula floods that also carved the Channeled Scablands. Petroglyphs inside some of them are easy to miss; look at the rock faces rather than the floor.
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