The Palouse region takes it’s name from the Palouse River, which drains an area of some 2 million acres of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho.
Just outside of Spokane Washington, to the south and southwest, the geography changes markedly. The dry red brown scab rock interspersed with sparse grasses and patches of pine suddenly changes to seemingly endless rolling hills. In the spring, these hills are cloaked in every shade of green imaginable, looking like a three dimensional, velvet tapestry. This undulating landscape stretches 75 miles south to the edge of the Snake River Canyon. U.S. highway 195 bisects this region from north to south. As you drive this asphalt roller coaster, you find groups of farm buildings tucked into folds in the landscape, seeking protection from the prevailing winds. Many of these are occupied by families who can trace their ancestry to the earliest non-indigenous settlers of this region.
Technically, the region encompasses more than just the rolling hills. Locally, “the Palouse” refers to the rich agricultural region where dry land farmers raise wheat, barley, green and dry peas, canola and lentils. In fact, the Palouse is known as the lentil capital of the world, featuring The National Lentil Festival in Pullman, Washington.