Walk through a lava tube. Touch an erratic. See where hundreds of cubic miles of water from an Ice Age lake thundered through a narrow gap during a cataclysmic flood. Geologic processes usually operate on time scales far too large to be witnessed within a human lifetime. Fortunately for backyard explorers the earth leaves behind visible evidence of the past. You need only know where to look. Washington Rocks! is a field guide that can help non-scientists come into contact with that evidence.

The book’s three authors — each a professor at Eastern Washington University — begin their work with an excellent 12-page synopsis of Washington geology. That chapter gives the reader a basic understanding of the major storylines and subplots involved in our slow-moving, 100 million year geologic drama. Some parts of our state were island land masses that smashed into North America as one subsurface plate collided with another. Some of our lands were uplifted oceanic crust; some were volcanic material that erupted or oozed from deep in the earth; and still others were carved and gouged by Ice Age glaciers.

After the statewide geology lesson, the authors share 57 specific locations around the state where travelers can visit, see, and maybe touch the landforms created by these geologic forces. Washington has a rich variety of features: basalt columns, caves, coulees, gorges, scablands, landslides, volcanoes, lava flows, rivers, and the aforementioned erratics (i.e., large boulders carried many miles by a glacier and dropped in place when the ice melted away). Each feature is given a one or two page easy-to-understand summary and is accompanied by color illustrations. Many of the photos are spectacular. They’re not simply postcard glamor shots; they truly assist in explaining the rock formation’s story. Maps and diagrams appear on several pages, too.

Shelf Appeal: This book may be enjoyed by anyone from the comfort of an armchair. Road-trippers with casual interests in geology may enjoy using the book to plan interesting stops during drives across the state. If the fascination is more intense (and the book’s photos may well spark curiosity), those travelers may want to plan longer side-trips just to see some of the places mentioned.

-- I wrote this review for the Books section of the Washington state website: http://www.WA-List.com