Walla Walla in mid-March

I'll be up there in mid-March while my lady attends a nursing conference. Any opinions on the time of year and subject matter for doing a little photography while there? Thanks.

I dont know but they sure produce some real nice onion rings at Burgerville YUMMM!

It's a few hours from the Palouse area...all you need is to wander and take a GPS with you as you cross all over backroads...

I knew there had to be something other than the prison...

I'm about 30 miles west of Walla Walla and have been there many times.

Check out Pioneer Park in town which has a very good bird aviary, ponds, large trees, etc. A good photo-op spot.

Walla Walla has some real neat 100 something year old houses and buildings, if you're into that.

You can drive southwest into the hills on some backroads toward the Columbia River and grab some shots of windmills in the wheatfields.

Head west on hwy 12 to the Columbia River + Walla Walla river junction at Wallula, and you'll find photo-ops at the Wallula Gap and the basalt cliffs and rock formations. There's a rock near there called the Twin Sisters that's a good spot to shoot. At the weigh scales at the junction drive south up the gravel road straight up into the hills for fantastic windmill + wheatfield shots along with great river view shots. While you're heading west on 12 from Walla Walla, (or back east returning from Wallula) check the small towns of Touchet and Lowden for old buildings and farm equipment photo ops.

Or, you can head southeast into the Blue Mountains for pine trees and rolling hills.

All of this is within about a 30+/- mile radius of Walla Walla, and March is a good time to go. It will be cool and possibly breezy especially in the hills, and one good thing is the rattlesnakes aren't out yet.

Grab a Washington Back Roads book by DeLorme (you can order online from Walmart or Amazon) and you can plan ahead.

As stated previously the Palouse area is a couple hours away, but I'm not so sure that March is the time to go there. I was there last year in early May and next time we go it will be in late May or early June. I'm thinking March might be too early, but maybe someone else on this forum has been there in March and can elaborate further.

You can see the Wallula Gap area and the windmills at my website http://cafields.com click on Columbia Basin.

There's more, but this is what I could think of quickly.

Regards

C.A.Fields
http://cafields.com

I forgot about Palouse Falls which i'd estimate to be about an hour or two drive from Walla Walla. It's a very scenic and highly photographed location around here. Note: If it's not a cloudy day or late in the afternoon / early evening after the sun goes low in the hills, I'd bypass the falls trip, as the sun creates terrible shadows in the falls basin and casts a bad glare on the falls itself. One benefit to the sun however is that you can usually get a rainbow in the shot if you're there in the early afternoon.

If you do go there be sure and hike around the bluff to the north and down to the upper falls. No one hardly ever goes down there.

You'll see lots of photo ops along the way between Walla Walla and Palouse Falls while driving through the Snake River canyon at Lyons Ferry.

You can see Palouse Falls (upper and lower) at http://cafields.com click on NW Waterfalls, then go to page 6.

Regards,

C.A. Fields
http://cafields.com

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, C.A. I will be making the trip based on your great input..

Wow, this IS great info. Thanks to both for Q & A!

Palouse Falls is about an hour from Walla Walla, it's worth a stop. Drive east on Hwy 12 and explore some back roads around Prescott, Waitsburg and Dayton. I grew up near there, so there are some nice farms, barns, streams and such if you go looking around.