The Parks headquarters Information Center is moving from its current location in Tumwater to the Department of Ecology building at 300 Desmond Drive SE in Lacey. Our customer service team is located at the front desk, just inside the main entrance.
Ice Age Floodfest 2025
Join us at Sun Lakes–Dry Falls for our annual Floodfest event, where expert presenters share their insights and passion for Ice Age floods geology, the Channeled Scablands, shrub-steppe ecosystems, anthropology, archaeology and regional history.
Visitors can expect to hear from:
- The Ice Age Floods Institute - Lower Grand Coulee Chapter and other Ice Age Flood Institute chapters from Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Washington.
- The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation will have historic photographs telling the story and the history of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation. They will also share the legends of the beautiful landscape of the Dry Falls area and surrounding landscape.
- Dr. Karen Capuder - Anthropologist and Senior Archaeologist Colville Tribes, will share some of the cultural and political history of the Colville Tribes, from time immemorial to the present day.
- Grant County Historians/authors: Dan Bolyard & John M. Kemble - Dan Bolyard has been a lifelong Grant County Big Bend area resident and railroad historian. John M. Kemble is a local historian and explorer highlighting Dry Falls, Sun Lakes, Steamboat Rock, The Grand Coulee and Banks Lake.
- North Central Regional Library - April Harward, learn about the NCW Summer Library programs — captivating storytelling to engaging workshops and fun activities, everyone can unleash their unique voice and explore their passions.
- National Park Service - Justin Radford, Program Manager for the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail with a Mobile Interpretive Center showcasing the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and The Grand Coulee, a National Natural Landmark.
- Foster Creek & Columbia Basin Conservation Districts - programs on Shrub Steppe ecology, water resources, wildlife and native vegetation.
- Washington Department of Wildlife - wildlife found in Eastern Washington, as well as the enhancement and preservation work that is done in the Columbia Basin.
- Archaeologist - Mark Amara, Kim Lancaster and Kellie Green, representing the Cascadia Conservation District, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Their booth will highlight the importance of historical artifacts, tools of the trade and hands-on activities too.
- Bureau of Reclamation will have an overview of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project and the Grand Coulee Dam.
Activities will include:
Field Trip Hike:
Lake Lenore Caves Heritage Area | 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
- Bruce Bjornstad, Bruce Bjornstad, a Research Scientist based in Richland, Washington, is the author of the popular ‘On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods’ guidebooks, will lead an educational hike from the Lake Lenore Caves trailhead. The park is situated above Lake Lenore, and it offers stunning views of the lower Grand Coulee. The caves themselves are shallow basalt formations created during the Great Missoula floods.
Presentations inside/upstairs at the Dry Falls Visitor Center:
10 - 11 a.m.
Justin Radford, Program Manager, NPS, Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, will present an overview of this unique geologic trail starting in Montana, through Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Interpretive Specialist, David McWalter, will present an overview of Washington's Ice Age Floods, introduce the rugged terrain of eastern Washington that was shaped by floods of unimaginable power during the last ice age, and share how the scientific views of the landscape have changed over the last century.
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
WA DNR, Geologist, Joel Gombiner, will present an update on recent studies of Washington’s Ice Age Floods and introduce a new lidar-based visualization of Dry Falls. Daniel Coe & Joel Gombiner - Washington Geological Survey
1 - 2 p.m.
WA State Parks, Interpretive Specialist 1, Sarah Overby will be presenting Brushstrokes: The Colorful Story of Lichen. From rocks, trees, soil, and pretty much anything that will sit still long enough, lichen will spring up in robust colonies. Crusty, leafy, or even… fuzzy? They paint beautiful, bright oranges and greens across the dark basalt rock and the branches of the sagebrush, but what are they doing there? This 45-minute presentation aims to dive deeper into the complexities of lichen and discuss its impact on ecosystems as well as its impact on us.
Viewing of Bruce Bjornstad’s - Ice Age Floodscapes
- Bretz’ Great Cataract Group
- Primordial Potholes Coulee
- Grand Coulee - NW Exposures
- Dry Falls
- Deep Lake Potholes