This Hypnotic Landscape in Idaho Was Sculpted by Ancient Ice Age Floods 15,000 Years Ago

Palouse, Idaho

The Palouse region in northern Idaho is one of America’s most unique farming landscapes, known for its rolling hills and rich soil from the last ice age. This fertile land covers about 4,000 square miles across the Idaho-Washington border, with hills rising between 2,000 and 2,700 feet. It’s one of the most mesmerizing sites you’ll ever see in Idaho, with equally trippy facts.

The Palouse Has the World’s Deepest Topsoil Layer

The soil in the Palouse goes down as far as 200 feet in some places, making it the deepest windblown soil deposit anywhere on Earth. This special soil, called loess, formed from glacier sediments over 15,000 years ago.

Farmers here work with soil that existed before many ancient civilizations began. Plant roots can grow deeper here than anywhere else, which helps farmers produce 20% more wheat than the national average.

The Appaloosa Horse Breed Originated in the Palouse

The Nez Perce tribe created the Appaloosa horse breed in this region. These spotted horses were first called ‘A Palouse Horse,’ which later became ‘Appaloosa.’

The tribe carefully chose horses with specific spotted patterns and great stamina, breeding them to create horses that could travel 100 miles in one day. By the late 1800s, they had grown their herd to thousands of Appaloosas.

Pink Sunsets Are Created by Wheat Dust in the Palouse

Summer evenings in the Palouse sometimes feature an unusual sight called a ‘wheat dust sunset.’ When farmers harvest their wheat, tiny bits of wheat dust float up into the air and turn the sky pink.

You can only see this in a few places around the world where large wheat farms exist under the right weather conditions. The unusual sunsets have caught the attention of photographers, and some of their pictures appeared in National Geographic’s 2023 ‘Earth’s Natural Wonders’ collection.

Plant Roots Form an Underground Communication Network

Plants in the Palouse Prairie have created an impressive underground system. Washington State University scientists found that the roots of prairie plants connect to each other across thousands of acres.

Plants use this network to share food and nutrients with each other, creating one of nature’s most complex communication systems. Today, only 1% of the original prairie still exists, with most of it protected in the Phillips Farm Conservation Area.

Giant Wave-Like Hills Were Created by Ancient Floods

The Palouse’s rolling hills look like ocean waves frozen in place. These hills formed when massive floods called the Missoula Floods swept through the area 15,000 years ago.

Some of these wave-like hills reach 100 feet high and are among the largest of their kind on Earth. University of Idaho geologists study these formations to learn about ancient floods and what they might tell us about future climate changes.

Moscow, Idaho Became Famous for Its Special Lentil Soup

Moscow, Idaho sits in the middle of the Palouse and is known as the ‘Lentil Capital of the World.’ Local chef Margaret McGreevy created a special pink lentil soup at her restaurant ‘The Pioneer Kitchen’ in 1952.

This soup, which combined local pink lentils with herbs and a secret spice mix, was served to United Nations delegates. The recipe became so important that it’s now kept safe in the Moscow Historical Society’s archives.

The Palouse Has Unique Temperature Differences Within Short Distances

The Palouse has some of the most unusual weather patterns you’ll find anywhere. Scientists have found that temperatures can differ by 15 degrees between hilltops and valleys, even when they’re just a quarter-mile apart.

These temperature differences let farmers grow both cold-weather and warm-weather crops side by side. At Paradise Ridge, you can find wheat that likes cold weather growing right next to chickpeas that need warmth.

A Natural Formation Serves as an Ancient Calendar

The Nez Perce tribe used a special bowl-shaped area in the hills as a calendar. This natural formation, which they called ‘Sun Bowl,’ creates shadow patterns that show when seasons change.

University of Idaho astronomers have studied the site and found it can predict seasonal changes within two days of accuracy. The site is now protected as a National Historic Landmark.

The Region’s Harvest Involves Hundreds of Coordinated Machines

The Palouse has what locals call the ‘Great Combine Migration.’ The Palouse Growers Cooperative organizes 400 combine harvesters to work together across the hills in North America’s largest coordinated farm operation.

Engineers from MIT have studied how well this system works, and farmers from Germany and Japan come to see it in action. This method has helped shape modern farming techniques around the world.

Sound Travels in Unusual Ways Through the Palouse Valleys

Some valleys in the Palouse create strange echoes when sound bounces between the hills. Native American tribes used these ‘echo fields’ near the Snake River Canyon to send messages over long distances.

University of Washington scientists found that sounds can travel clearly for up to three miles in these valleys, which isn’t normal for sound in open spaces. Musicians now come here to record songs using these natural echo chambers.