Jump off Joe is a
butte
In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...
in the
Horse Heaven Hills south of
Kennewick
Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...
in the U.S. state of
Washington. Jump off Joe rises above the
Tri-Cities and is visible throughout much of the region, including in parts of
Umatilla and
Morrow Counties in
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
to the south. A gravel road approaches the summit from the south up a steep incline. On a clear day, visitors to the summit can see
Mount Hood
Mount Hood, also known as Wy'east, is an active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range and is a member of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast and rests in the Pacific N ...
,
Mount Adams and
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...
.
Jump off Joe's high elevation compared to the surrounding area makes it an ideal location to place towers for radio and television communications. Among these is an
amateur radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...
repeater that provides coverage to much of the Columbia Basin. Two major local television stations,
NBC affiliate
KNDU
KNDO (channel 23) is a television station in Yakima, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the Spokane-based Cowles Company as part of the KHQ Television Group. KNDO's studios are located on West Yakima Avenue in downtown ...
and
ABC affiliate
KVEW have their towers atop the butte. FM radio stations with transmitters on top of the butte include
KUJ-FM and
KORD-FM
KORD-FM (102.7 MHz) is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Richland, Washington, United States, the station serves the Tri-Cities area. The station is currently owned by Townsquare Media and features programming from C ...
.
Geology
Jump off Joe and the greater Horse Heaven Hills are
anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...
s within the
Yakima Fold Belt. The belt is a series of fault lines extending throughout south-central Washington which are part of the larger
Olympic–Wallowa Lineament. The lineament runs from
Port Angeles
Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 19,960 at the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in the county, as well as the most populous city on the Olympic Peninsula. T ...
to the
Wallowa Mountains in northeastern Oregon.
Rocks in the area are predominantly basalt, part of the
Columbia River Basalt Group. Lava flows believed to have originated from the
Yellowstone hotspot approximately 10 to 15 million years ago when the hotspot was located in western
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
. These lava flows covered large portions of Washington and Oregon all the way to the Pacific Ocean in basalt up to thick.
During the
Last Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago.
Ice sheets covered m ...
, ice sheets extended into what is today the
Idaho Panhandle
The Idaho panhandle—locally known as North Idaho, Northern Idaho, or simply the Panhandle—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, ...
, blocking the flow of the
Clark Fork River creating
Glacial Lake Missoula. Over a period of 2,000 years the weight of the water behind this ice dam caused it to break sending a surge of water toward the Pacific Ocean. This water would back up at the Horse Heaven Hills, flowing through and deepening
Wallula Gap located a few miles southeast.
Climate and ecology

Jump off Joe lies in a
semi-arid
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...
environment within the
rain shadow
A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side.
Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...
of the
Cascade Mountains
The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...
. Being nearly above the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...
, Jump off Joe receives more snow than the Tri-Cities and can remain snow covered for much of the winter season. High winds in the area provide an excellent setting for
wind turbines
A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. , hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, were generating over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each y ...
to generate power. Like most of the Mid Columbia, the butte is treeless. Plant life includes native grasses and
sagebrush
Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus ''Artemisia (plant), Artemisia''. The best-known sagebrush is the shrub ''Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrush is native to the western half of North Amer ...
.
Annual rainfall at the nearest airport, the
Tri-Cities Airport in
Pasco is . Afternoon temperatures in the summer can exceed . Jump off Joe frequently lies above
inversions that form in the Columbia Basin during
high pressure
In science and engineering the study of high pressure examines its effects on materials and the design and construction of devices, such as a diamond anvil cell, which can create high pressure. ''High pressure'' usually means pressures of thousan ...
systems in the winter months.
See also
*
Badger Mountain (Benton County, Washington)
Badger Mountain is a small mountain in Richland, Washington. Badger rises above the Tri-Cities, Washington, Tri-Cities connected to the smaller Candy Mountain (Washington), Candy Mountain via Goose Gap, is visible throughout much of the area and ...
*
Wallula Gap
*
Rattlesnake Mountain (Benton County, Washington)
References
{{Washington State hills and ridges
Horse Heaven Hills
Mountains of Benton County, Washington
Tri-Cities, Washington
Mountains of Washington (state)