Columbia River Plateau

The Columbia River Plateau, sometimes called the Columbia River Basin, is a broad plateau in Washington State where the Columbia River rolls its way between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountain foothills.

Photo: Lumpytrout, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Yakima and Kennewick.

Yakima

Photo: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0.

Yakima is the principal city of the Yakima Valley, an agricultural region noted for apple, wine, and hop production on the Columbia River Plateau of Washington State.

Kennewick

Photo: formulanone, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Kennewick is a city in Benton County along the Columbia River of Washington State, roughly between the Yakima and Snake Rivers on the south bank of the Columbia.

Pasco

Photo: Allen4names, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Pasco is a city in the Columbia River Plateau in Washington State, roughly between the Yakima and Snake Rivers on the north bank of the Columbia. Pasco is one of the Tri-Cities of Washington, which also includes Kennewick and Richland.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Walla Walla and Richland.

Walla Walla

Photo: Phbludwig, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Known for its funny name and its famous Sweet Onions, Walla Walla in the Columbia River Plateau of Washington State is a pleasant stop with a charming downtown and booming wine industry. This guide includes the neighboring city of College Place.

Richland

Photo: PNWCorbin, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Richland is a city of 51,000 people in the Columbia River Plateau, where the Yakima River flows into the Columbia. It is the closest city to the Hanford Nuclear Site, where development of its historic nuclear reactor lead to a large national research lab and a waste remediation effort that is the single largest construction project in the country.

Moses Lake

Photo: Chris Phan, CC BY 2.0.

Moses Lake is a city in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,146 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 26,969 in 2024. Moses Lake is the most populous city in Grant County.

Prosser

Photo: PlumbTN, Public domain.

Prosser is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Washington, United States. Situated along the Yakima River, it had a population of 6,062 at the 2020 census.

Sunnyside

Photo: Orange Suede Sofa, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Sunnyside is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States. The population was 16,375 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Yakima County.

Ephrata

Photo: Senapa, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ephrata is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Washington, United States. Its population was 8,477 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 8,718 in 2024.

Zillah

Photo: Zcarstvnz, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Zillah is a town in the Yakima Valley, on the Columbia River Plateau of Washington State. It sports two quirky attractions: the unfortunately-named Church of God-Zillah and the Teapot Dome Gas Station.

Toppenish

Photo: Jared DeJong, CC BY 2.0.

Toppenish, "the city of murals", is a town of 8,900 people in the Yakima Valley, on the Columbia River Plateau of Washington State. More than 75 murals adorn its buildings, depicting scenes of the region from 1840 to 1940.

Ritzville

Photo: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Ritzville is a city in Adams County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,767 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Adams County. The city is part of the Othello, WA Micropolitan Area, which comprises all of Adams County, and is part of the larger Moses Lake-Othello, WA Combined Statistical Area.

Othello

Photo: afiler, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Othello is a city of about 8,500 people in the Columbia River Plateau of Washington State. It's a food processing hub for the region, processing approximately 1.5 billion pounds of frozen potato products annually, comprising 15 percent of production in North America.