Ice Age Floods
Ice Age Floods
National Geologic Trail
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iceagefloodstrail.org

Ice Age FloodsNational Geologic Trail Explorer

103Sites
174Routes
3,380Trail Miles
400Erratics
1,860Field Notes
4States
172Live Gauges
☰ Layers & Data
Map Layers
Flood & Water
Geological Sites
Drivable Routes
Exploration
Historical Research
🌊 Flood Comparison
Nearest Gauge --
Missoula Floods ~386,000,000 CFS
times today's flow
Current Conditions
Ephrata, WA
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Temperature
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Conditions
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Wind
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Humidity
Nearest River Gauge
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Station
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Flow (CFS)
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Stage (ft)
Today
During the Flood
Split View Activated

Drag the divider to compare today's landscape with a representative late-Pleistocene flood. Move the timeline slider to change the flood hour.

The Scale of the Missoula Floods
Among the largest documented freshwater floods, triggered when the ice dam holding Glacial Lake Missoula failed repeatedly during the late Pleistocene.

Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail

Explore the path of North America's greatest floods — from Glacial Lake Missoula across four states to the Pacific Ocean

3D Flood Simulation

Watch the catastrophic flood unfold hour by hour with the timeline slider

103 Geological Sites

Explore landforms carved by floodwaters — coulees, scablands, dry falls

174 Drivable Routes

Plan road trips along connecting routes, loops, and side trips

1,860 Historic Sites

See where J Harlen Bretz documented evidence a century ago

Getting Started
Use the layer panel to toggle data on and off — hover the info icons for descriptions
Use search to find specific sites, routes, or boulders by name
Press Play in the flood toolbar to animate the 48-hour flood timeline
Use Split View to compare today's landscape with a representative flood reconstruction
Missoula Floods Timeline
Ice Dam Breach — representative late-Pleistocene flood
Depicting one of ~100 flood events i
Dam Breach