Umatiila Rock Trail is a giant fin-like monument in the middle of Grand Coulee below Dry Falls.   The trailhead starts in the Park.   It is possible to drive up the coulee on the road to Deep Lake, but we started right in the Dry Falls Campground, following a wetlands trail to the signed trailhead on the southwest corner of Umatilla Rock.

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Umatilla Rock was scoured by the floodwaters of the release of Lake Missoula at the end of the last Ice Age (and probably in previous ones too).     The largest floods were 10 times the modern flow of all the combined rivers of the world.   The channelled scablands were scoured of all topsoil and vegetation, leaving rocky, barren lands.   Umatilla Rock stands in the middle of the basalt cirque like an island amid small lakes of the coulee.

Rock formations stand in the pass on the south side of the towers.

There are no trees along the trail, except next to wetlands.   The trail is surrounded by grasslands, sagebrush, and bitterbrush with a few spring desert country wildflowers.

At the top of the cirque is Dry Falls Lake., usually a quiet spot, but fishing season had just opened and there was lots of activity so we climbed a side trail up into a gap in the cliffs for lunch.

This scenic hike was about 8km (5 miles).   The trail is quite a moderate one for hiking.   The trail from the campground can be a bit hard to find so some people drive to the upper trailhead instead.   We also stopped at the Dry Falls Center on the rim to take in the view of the basalt cirque from above.

The hike around Umatilla Rock is a moderate one, but with many rewarding views along the way.