Thousands of years ago, immense flows of water from alpine glaciers and high levels of precipitation cascaded over a broad area of the Snake River Canyon directly into the Snake River. At the mouth of Malad Canyon, weak joints in the basalt walls gave way to the rushing water, concentrating it into a narrow channel. Over many years these concentrated flows retreated and deepened in a zig zag course, eventually creating three canyons before diminishing to current water levels. The waterfall visible down the gorge to the left is a much diminished remnant of the great waterfalls that carved the 2 1/2 mile long, 250 foot deep canyon known as Malad Gorge. Along the canyon edge, the water's power can be seen in the smoothing and shaping of the basalt rocks, and along the Northrim Trail and Woody's Cove area there are other examples of past canyon-cutting episodes.