Rock Creek (Palouse River tributary)

For other places with the same name, see Rock Creek (disambiguation).

Rock Creek is a tributary of the Palouse River in the U.S. state of Washington. The source of the creek is Pine Lakes in the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR). The creek flows through the TNWR and ultimately joins the Palouse River 6 miles (10 km) downstream from the unincorporated town of Winona, Washington.

Rock Creek
Rock Creek flows through Hole in the Ground Coulee between Bonnie Lake and Rock Lake.
Location of the mouth of Rock Creek in Washington
Location
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Spokane, Adams, Whitman
Physical characteristics
Source	Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge
• location	Pine Lakes, Spokane County
• coordinates	47°23′55″N 117°32′41″W[1]
• elevation	2,226 ft (678 m)[2]
Mouth	Palouse River
• location	near Winona, Whitman County
• coordinates	46°54′45″N 117°55′41″W[1]
• elevation	1,280 ft (390 m)[1]
Length	52 mi (84 km)[3]
Basin size	430 sq mi (1,100 km2)[4]

Rock Creek drains a basin of 430 square miles (1,100 km²), 13 percent of the Palouse River basin.^[4] Rock Creek drains Rock Lake and, upstream from that, Bonnie Lake. Rock Lake has a maximum depth of 350 feet (110 m) and a mean depth of 170 feet (52 m).^[5] Lakes within the Rock Creek drainage with managed fisheries include Rock and Bonnie Lakes and Chapman Lake. Many small lakes in the drainage have no outlets, and some evaporate completely in dry weather.^[5]

Trail along the east side of Rock Lake. An old rail grade is visible along the basalt walls of the lake.

Geological significance

As Rock Creek crosses the Columbia River Plateau, it passes through the Channeled Scablands, created by the Missoula Floods that swept across eastern Washington during the Pleistocene epoch. The creek follows one of many paths taken by the floods as they cut through the Columbia River Basalt. Notable geologic features in the Rock Creek basin include the scabland and Rock Lake. The creek parallels the adjacent Cow Creek scabland and joins the Palouse River just before it departs Washtucna Coulee, the abandoned flood-scoured course of the river.^[6]

Access

The Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail follows Rock Creek for a portion of the drainage, allowing unique access, particularly to Rock Lake.

See also

• List of rivers of Washington (state)

References

1. "Rock Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. September 10, 1979. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
2. Derived from Google Earth using GNIS coordinates
3. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed 27 August 2011
4. Cook, Trevor; et al. "Palouse Subbasin Plan" (PDF). Northwest Power and Conservation Council. pp. 2, 7 (section 1, "Assessment"). Retrieved February 2, 2013.
5. Cook, Trevor; et al. "Palouse Subbasin Plan" (PDF). Northwest Power and Conservation Council. pp. 71–72 (section 1, "Assessment"). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 13, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
6. Bjornstad, Bruce (2006). On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A Geological Guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin. Keokee Books; Sand Point, Idaho. ISBN 978-1-879628-27-4.