Franklin County: Rivers, Parks, and Regional History

The Columbia River forms Franklin County’s western, southern, and eastern boundaries. Travel interests range from river landscapes and waterfalls to museums and aviation history. You can choose different priorities for your stay and weigh nature and culture against each other.

River Landscapes, Parks, and Wildlife

At the confluence of the Snake River and Columbia River lies the 267-acre Sacajawea Historical State Park, a park for day visits. Lyons Ferry State Park features a Palouse landscape shaped by Ice Age floods at the confluence of the Snake River and Palouse River. Activities offered there include boating, fishing, hiking, and swimming. On weekends, you can rent kayaks and paddleboards; rentals are available on a “first come, first served” basis.

The Palouse Falls State Park Heritage Site offers a different kind of scenery: This 94-acre day-use park provides impressive views of Washington’s official state waterfall. The Palouse River runs through a narrow canyon and plunges 200 feet at the falls into a turbulent pool. The landscape was shaped more than 13,000 years ago. The parks’ acreage and the river formations described give each park a distinct focus.

The Hanford Reach National Monument protects more than 196,000 acres of shrub-steppe habitat and the White Bluffs escarpment. Wildlife living there includes white pelicans, great egrets, great blue herons, mule deer, elk, porcupines, coyotes, and bald eagles. In Hanford Reach, the Columbia River includes 51 miles of free-flowing river; anglers find an important year-round fishery there. Cycling is allowed on roads open to vehicle traffic, as well as between the locked gates on Ringold Road.

The riverfront parks also differ in scale: Chiawana Park covers 127 acres, of which 25 are developed. Pasco’s Heritage Park is five acres and has a walking path. Wade Park has a public boat launch; its operating conditions may change. Check them before your visit.

Museums, History, and Aviation

The Sacajawea Historical State Park offers self-guided outdoor interpretive activities and depictions of Indigenous dwellings. The Sacajawea Interpretive Center tells the story of Sacagawea, the Indigenous interpreter and guide, and the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery. It offers views of the confluence of the Snake River and Columbia River and covers the history of the Lewis & Clark Trail as well as Native American artifacts.

The Franklin County Historical Museum’s permanent exhibits cover paleontology, wildlife, and landscapes, as well as Native American history, pioneer life, and the development of the railroad, river, and aviation industries. The museum opened as a Carnegie library in 1911. The Snake River-Palouse Indian Exhibit features objects and cultural values connected with ceremonial traditions, tribal mythology, and ecological knowledge. The Clement-Hooks Gallery of Rural Art displays works inspired by the landscapes of Franklin County and the Columbia Plateau.

The North Franklin Heritage Museum is housed in a restored 1904 Gothic Revival church. The museum includes the fully restored local Adams Homestead, a farmhouse dating to about 1910, a 1973 Burlington Northern caboose, and the Pepiot Ranch House. The museum is open Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.; visits at other times are available by appointment. Check opening hours before your visit.

The Pasco Aviation Museum is housed in a former control tower that was once part of Naval Air Station Sand Point in Seattle during World War II. The museum offers flights in a restored 1943 Stearman biplane; appointments are required, and availability and conditions may change. The flights pass over areas where naval cadets trained at NAS Pasco in the 1940s. April 6, 1926, is also significant in aviation history: On that day, a small biplane took off from Pasco carrying 200 pounds of U.S. mail. This is associated with the first airline airmail service in the United States. The CPCCo Planetarium has a 36-foot panoramic dome.

Dates and Visit Planning

The Pasco Farmers Market is held on Saturdays from May through October, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., at Peanuts Park, 426 W Lewis. Check the dates before your trip. Visiting the North Franklin Heritage Museum outside its regular Saturday hours requires an appointment; appointments are also required for flights at the Pasco Aviation Museum. These time-specific offerings can be a deciding factor when planning, while the parks and museums highlight different nature and history themes.

Discover more destinations: Pasco, Connell, West Pasco, Skamania, Walla Walla, Grant County, Okanogan, Benton

Return to the main travel overview: Washington.