The two sites selected represent an annual precipitation gradient that is drier to the west (~70 cm) and wetter to the east (~90 cm). Piezometers containing pressure transducers were placed in three landscape positions at each site. The pressure sensors were placed at the interface between the E horizon and the underlying restrictive horizon and then connected to data loggers to provide an hourly record of the perched zone of saturation. Hydrographs constructed from these data indicate that zones of episaturation exist for up to six months and average approximately 35 cm in thickness over the season. A maximum saturation thickness of 78 cm was recorded at both sites. As much as 82 % of the seasonal precipitation received at a site may be present as perched water, suggesting that little recharge of deep aquifers occurs on these upland landscapes. Furthermore, because of high K_sat in the Ap and Bw horizons, perched water tables respond very rapidly to precipitation events. Data show that perched water table levels may rise to the soil surface in response to periods of high rainfall and/or snow melt, thereby contributing to surface flow. Results demonstrate that restrictive horizons in the form of fragipans and/or argillic horizons exert a major role in controlling the near-surface hydrologic processes in these loess-derived eastern Palouse landscapes.