Over Memorial Day Weekend (2017) we decided to make the trek out to Palouse Falls by way of the Columbia River Gorge to avoid the I-90 traffic. We made a stop at Beacon Rock on Saturday, stayed at a hotel, and did Palouse Falls on Sunday. We arrived around 11a and the parking was already getting packed. The volunteers were phenomenal at packing in the cars and we only had to wait about five minutes (unlike when we were leaving and there were cars waiting for significant amounts of time).
Parking is right at the edge of the falls. You can walk down a few dozen feet and stand at the railing overlooking the falls and canyon. It's the best waterfall I have seen in Washington. Bring a picnic lunch and hang out in the grassy area in the shades of the trees.
If you step out - it's hot. It was end of May and well into the 90s (F). There is a 'trail' that goes up and around the side of the waterfall and looks down on it but it's really not very impressive. You can see everything you need to see from near the parking lot -- unless... you want to go down to the headwaters. There is a trail that leads down and to the railroad tracks. Caution with kids and pets -- the trail is very hard, hot, and has loose gravel. We hike with our medium sized dog fairly often but he came away with tender feet. The trail is not maintained by the WTA (I think) and appears to be more of a rogue trail. It leads down into the canyon upstream form the falls where there are rapids/tiny falls that people were wading into. Dip your feet, get cool, and reapply the sunscreen.
There is a trail that leads down stream towards the head of Palouse Falls - we did not take it because the dog's feet were already getting tender, we drank all four bottles of water, and our picnic food was waiting for us back at the car. Next trip out...we may give that extension a try. It looks like it circles around to the top of the falls.
In talk to others, the best time to come is in the fall when the fall foliage is out and it's slightly cooler. May have to come back!
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