I visited this Mecca of Landscape Photography four times in the last three years.  I love Palouse which is located in the northwestern region of the United States. It covers parts of north central Idaho and southeastern Washington. The shot was taken from the top of  Steptoe Butte State Park, a 150-acre, 3,612-foot-tall natural monument. Thimble-shaped, the quartzite butte looms in bald grandeur over the prevailing flat lands. The park is famous for its stark, dramatic beauty and the panoramic view it provides of surrounding farmlands, the Blue Mountains, and other neighboring ranges and peaks. From the top of the butte, the eye can see 200 miles.

Native Americans called the butte “the power mountain.” It was believed that a journey to the butte bestowed a gift of power from the mountain’s guardian spirit. The butte’s present name honors Colonel Edward Steptoe, who gave years of service maintaining peace in the region. His men were killed in a conflict, which he tried to prevent, with Native Americans.

The actual origins of the name “Palouse” is uncertain. Some historians theorize that the name of the Palus tribe was converted by French-Canadian fur traders to the more familiar French word pelouse, meaning “land with short and thick grass”. Slowly over time, the spelling morphed into Palouse. A second theory speculates that the name was a French word in the beginning, describing an area which was then applied to the native peoples inhabiting it.

Geographically speaking, the Palouse region is outlined as the region of fertile hills and prairies north of the Snake River and north of the Clearwater River, which separates it from the Camas Prairie. It extends north along the Washington and Idaho border and is centered on the Palouse River.

It is a 365 Day wonderland for Landscape Photography. I will be writing more about this landscape and why I love it so much.

For high Resolution Image: http://www.sridar.photography/p19955246/h3148e32#h3148e32

When to go, What to See…

In Part 2.

Continued…