Lenore Lake Caves

Seven basalt caves line the east wall of the Grand Coulee above Lenore Lake, carved by the Missoula Floods roughly 15,000 years ago. The floodwaters, released repeatedly from glacial Lake Missoula, tore chunks of columnar basalt from the coulee walls, leaving alcoves and shallow chambers in the cliff face. These are not deep caves. Most extend only 10 to 20 feet into the rock, and a headlamp is unnecessary for all but the deepest.

The trail climbs 200 feet from the parking area on loose, rocky terrain to reach the cave level. The path is short but uneven, with sections of talus and a few steep drop-offs that require attention. Early Native Americans used these shelters for thousands of years, and the area remains culturally significant to the Sinkayuse, Sanpoil, and Nespelem people.

Lenore Lake sits in the Channeled Scablands, a landscape shaped entirely by catastrophic flooding. Dry Falls, the largest waterfall the continent has ever seen (now dry), lies just a few miles south. The surrounding steppe supports raptors, prairie falcons, and migrating waterfowl on the lake below. Rattlesnakes inhabit the talus slopes. Give them space and watch where you place your hands when scrambling near the caves. Spring wildflowers bloom on the basalt ledges, and the sage-steppe is most pleasant in spring and fall before summer heat sets in.