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# Nick on the Rocks: How massive floods landscaped a tiny WA town
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/environment/2025/01/nick-rocks-how-massive-floods-landscaped-tiny-wa-town/
- Published: 2025-01-03T04:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-10T19:25:07.000Z
- Description: 3,000 years of Ice Age activity shaped Pateros in Central Washington where the Methow River meets the Columbia.
- Author: Adam Brown
- Tags: Environment, history, Multimedia, Video, Nick on the Rocks, Geology, Columbia River, Pateros, Flood, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-04-14 08:10, #Import 2025-05-09 12:31, #article

North of Chelan, where the Methow River meets the mighty Columbia, is the small town of Pateros, Washington. While it might not be obvious to the untrained eye, the surrounding landscape on Highway 97 was dramatically shaped by ice and water during the last Ice Age.

Ice sheets dragged huge rocks down from Canada and massive floods sent granite boulders tumbling down the banks of the river. A gigantic terrace formed high above the river, and its origins mystify geologists to this day.

Join Nick Zentner as he tells the story of a tumultuous 3,000-year period in the Columbia River Gorge.

*Support for Nick on the Rocks is provided by Pacific Science Center.*