Upper Moses Coulee

The Hidden Gem in Our Backyard

Twenty miles east of Waterville, US Highway 2 dips down into Moses Coulee. Formed from the flood waters of ancient Glacial Lake Missoula, Moses Coulee is a fascinating place to visit. 

Just a little over a mile north of the US 2 intersection, the basalt wall comes close to the road. It’s an easy place to drive by and not take notice. But when you stop to sit and watch, a drama unfolds. We have seen Great Horned Owls, Prairie Falcons,  American Kestrels,  Western Meadowlarks, Canyon Wrens, Rock Wrens, Red-tailed Hawks, and Ravens in that one little section. And if you are there at the right time of year, you also can see them on their nests with their young. Also along the coulee walls we have observed Golden Eagles and Peregrine Falcons. 

From the center of the coulee floor, Jameson Lake Road meanders six miles north, up through the heart of the upper coulee to Jameson Lake. It’s one of our very favorite places to spend some time. Peaceful and quiet, with one exception… the first couple weekends of fishing season. At those times, we stay away. 

As we approach the south end of the lake, we slow down to barely a crawl, so when we cross the cattle guard in the road there, we don’t make a huge racket and disturb the birds that are on the water.

We go there often, and have even spent the night on the WDFW property there. We’ve traveled there after midnight to photograph the Milky Way in the middle of summer, visited in July 2020 to photograph the comment NEOWISE, and have gone there in the middle of winter to see if the Swans have returned to the frozen lake.

Going to Jameson in the spring and summer is especially enjoyable! The adult birds are gathering nesting material, laying eggs, and raising young.

It’s fun to make subsequent visits and watch the progression of new life.

And, if you are lucky, you might see a Common Loon or two.

There are migrants passing through that we never see at any other time we visit.

We always look for the Great Blue Herons and the Osprey.  And, when we are lucky, we can spot a Caspian Tern flying through.

Jameson never disappoints. We always look for the Ruddy Ducks, the Redheads, the Ring-neckeds, the Pied-billed Grebes, the American Coots, the Mallards, the Canada Geese, and where they might be keeping their young ones along the lake.

We know where the Bullock’s Orioles build their nests, along with the Eastern and Western Kingbirds, and the three Blackbird species that live there, Brewers, Red-winged, and Yellow-headed. 

We scan the basalt for holes in the rocks which house Common Ravens, Prairie Falcons, and Peregrine Falcons. And if you look really closely, or have a good pair of binoculars or a spotting scope, you can see the mud nests of the Cliff Swallows up under the eaves of the basalt.

Jameson Lake, and the Coulee it sits in, are great places to visit!