The enchanted, moss-covered Lancaster Falls on Warren Creek in the Columbia River Gorge bring the barren volcanic basalt rocks to life.
The Columbia River Gorge, with its picturesque temperate rainforest and fabulous waterfalls, cuts deeply into a vast deluge of basaltic lava. The subduction of the oceanic plate along the coastline caused the Earth’s crust inland of the volcanic Cascade Range to thin through a geological process known as back-arc spreading. This repeatedly caused volcanic fissures to open between 6 and 17 million years ago along the western border of Idaho.
About 16 million years ago, enormous outpourings of fluid basaltic lava flooded large parts of Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The lava even reached the Pacific Ocean through a channel resembling today’s Columbia River Gorge. The fairytale-like atmosphere of the forest and waterfalls effectively conceals the destructive volcanic past of this landscape.
