Columbia River Plateau

The  Columbia River Plateau is a region of Washington bordered by the Columbia River.

Regions
The "Tri-Cities Area" consists of Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco, set at the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia rivers.

Interstate 82 follows the Yakima River. Interstate 182 crosses the Columbia River. Interstate 84 follows the Columbia River to the south. The farmland consists of grapes, wheat, apples, and many other crops. The Rattlesnake Hills are to the south of the valley. Residents commonly use Highway 240, which is adjacent to the Columbia River, to travel between Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco quickly.

South of the Rattlesnake Hills is the Columbia River Gorge on the border with Oregon.

Adams County

 * (county seat of Adams County)
 * (county seat of Adams County)

Tri-Cities Area, Franklin County, and Benton County

 * the "Tri-Cities Area": Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco (county seat of Franklin County)
 * , near Pasco
 * (county seat of Benton County)

Douglas County

 * (county seat of Douglas County)

Grant County

 * - county seat of Grant County
 * - largest city in the county
 * - halfway between Wenatchee and Moses Lake
 * - home of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River
 * - on the south end of Banks Lake, near Dry Falls
 * - a small town known for its healing mineral water springs

Klickitat County

 * (county seat of Klickitat County)

Lincoln County

 * (county seat of Lincoln County)

Walla Walla County

 * (county seat of Walla Walla County)
 * , neighboring Walla Walla
 * The small towns of Wallula and Waitsburg
 * , near Pasco

Yakima County

 * (county seat of Yakima County), including nearby Union Gap and Selah
 * The Yakima Valley towns of Grandview, Granger, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Wapato, Zillah

Other destinations

 * Norman A. Welch Memorial Speedway, in Connell
 * Palouse Falls State Park, 23 miles southeast of Washtucna
 * Rock climbing at Frenchman Coulee.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Rock climbing at Frenchman Coulee.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.
 * Climb Steamboat Rock, and hike in Northrup Canyon.

Understand
The Columbia River Plateau region consists of Adams, Benton, Douglas, Franklin, Grant, Klickitat, Lincoln, Walla Walla, and Yakima Counties.

Talk
The primary language is English. With a high number of Hispanic migrants living in Yakima, Pasco, and the surrounding rural areas, Spanish comes as a second language for the region.

By plane
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and Portland International Airport have international flights and domestic flights with most major airlines. Both are about 2-3 hours from this region by car. There are two smaller airports in this region also have commercial air service (although limited): Yakima Airport and Pasco Airport.

By car

 * I-90.svg From Seattle: Take I-90 east to I-82, east of Ellensburg, which leads into the heart of this region. From Spokane one can go west on I-90 to US Hwy 395 in Ritzville and go south into Tri-Cities.
 * I-84.svg From Portland or Boise: Take I-84 to I-82 in Hermiston. If coming from Portland one can also go north on US 97 into this region, from The Dalles to I-82 south of Yakima.
 * I-82.svg & US 12.svg are the main east-west highways through this region. I-82 connects Ellensburg at I-90 to I-84 south of Hermiston in Oregon. US Hwy 12 goes across from Chehalis (from Exit 71 of I-5) to I-82 in Yakima. US Hwy 12 goes concurrent on I-82 from Yakima to Tri-Cities and then continues east of Tri-Cities to Walla Walla.
 * US 97.svg is the main north-south highway along the western edge of the Columbia River Plateau. It goes north south from The Dalles to Yakima, Ellensburg and Wentatchee.
 * US 395.svg is the other north-south highway towards the eastern side of this region. It goes from I-84 south of Hermiston along I-82 to Tri-Cities. From Tri-Cities it goes northeasterly towards I-90 in Ritzville through Othello. Continuing north it goes east along I-90 to Spokane and going south from Hermiston it goes along I-84 towards Pendleton.

By train
Amtrak's Empire Builder stops in Pasco (on the Portland branch) and Ephrata (on the Seattle branch).

Do

 * Tour the massive remediation projects and the historic B Reactor on the Hanford Site, formerly home to one of the United States' largest nuclear weapons production facilities.

Stay safe
The Columbia River Plateau is generally safe. The biggest risk in the Columbia River Plateau is rattlesnakes, don't touch them.

Go next

 * Eastern Oregon, to the south
 * Southwest Washington, to the west
 * North Cascades, to the north
 * Palouse, to the east