Roadside Geology of Washington

Roadside Geology of WashingtonI was in my friend’s pick-up several years ago when I noticed a colorful book on the dashboard, picked it up, and actually found it one of the more interesting travel books I have ever read. “Roadside Geology of Washington” is a great way to understand the geological history of the roadsides of Washington state. This book is no “ Another Roadside Attraction” and instead contains detailed geological history lessons, maps, and old photographs of the different areas. Although the book is part of a series of books about the geology of the states, this is the only one I've had the chance to peruse.

The book is divided into sections  detailing the geography along specific highways in Washington state, with specific routes providing both the distance and the end destination, but also contains a detailed and informative introduction about the history of the state.

The great part about “Roadside Geology of Washington” is that it changes your perspective on Washington as a state. Instead of just viewing the state in terms of the present and the state’s relatively brief history as part of the United States, it forces you to think of the state in terms of of its billion year history and also encourages you to speculate about what might happen to Washington state in the next ten to fifteen million years-not something that I think of normally.

“Roadside Geology of Washington” gives the entire background of how each part of the state was formed, but is definitely user-friendly enough for the non-scientists to use, too.   Since Washington state is home to 4 volcanoes , one of which erupted in 1980, and has has so many different habitats, our state is has a much more interesting geological history than other states in the union.


The problem with the book is that many of the pictures (which largely display rocks and rock formations at various stages) are difficult to see clearly and are of poor quality, probably because the pictures are significantly older than the text. The topographical maps are not nearly as cool as Google Earth, but do provide explanations of the geological phenomenon they are depicting including information about recent excavations, drilling, and the dumping of liquid waste by Hanford in eastern Washington.  

While I don’t recommend it for a sit-down read or as a coffee-table book, I think the correct use for it is in the car while traveling the highways of Washington State, provided of course that the person reading the book is not the one doing the driving.