Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ESSENTIALS
GETTING THERE
The towns of Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam, and Electric
City are at the junction of Wash. 155, which runs south to Coulee City and north
to Omak, and Wash. 174, which runs west to Wash. 17 and east to U.S. 2.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Contact the
Grand Coulee Dam Area Cham-
ber of Commerce,
306 Midway, Wash. 155, Grand Coulee, WA 99133-0760
(
&
800/268-5332
or 509/633-3074; www.grandcouleedam.org).
WHAT TO SEE & DO
You can learn the history of the dam by stopping in at the
Grand Coulee Dam
Visitor Arrival Center
(
&
509/633-9265
), which is open daily. This center is
also where you can arrange for a free guided tour of the dam (tours are held daily
on the hour 10am-5pm). Every night between the end of May and the end of
September, the
world's largest laser-light show
is projected onto the face of the
dam. The accompanying narration is broadcast over the radio at 90.1 FM and
tells the history of Grand Coulee and the dam. There is also a self-guided walk-
ing tour through historic Coulee Dam, the government town built to house
workers during the construction of the dam.
Lake Roosevelt,
with its 660 miles of shoreline, provides ample opportuni-
ties for watersports and fishing and comprises the
Lake Roosevelt National
Recreation Area,
1008 Crest Dr., Coulee Dam, WA 99116 (
&
509/738-6266
or 509/725-2715; www.nps.gov/laro). Along the shores of the lake are 17 car or
walk-in campgrounds and 10 boat-in campgrounds. About 21 miles north of
Davenport, at the confluence of the Spokane and Columbia rivers, stands
Fort
Spokane,
which was built in 1880. Four of the original buildings are still stand-
ing. An 1892 brick guardhouse here now serves as a visitor center, though the
recreation area's main visitor center is the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Arrival
Center right at the dam.
Much of the land bordering Roosevelt Lake lies within the Colville Indian
Reservation. In the town of Coulee Dam, you can visit the
Colville Confeder-
ated Tribes Museum,
512 Mead Way (
&
509/633-0751
), a small museum
with interesting displays of baskets and tribal regalia, as well as historical pho-
tos. The museum is open April through December, Monday through Saturday
from 10am to 6pm. Admission is by donation. The Colville tribes also operate
the adjacent
Coulee Dam Casino,
515 Birch St. (
&
800/556-7492;
www.
colvillecasinos.com).
Some 30 miles down the Grand Coulee, just south of Coulee City on Wash.
17, you can have a look at a natural wonder that's as impressive as the dam.
Dry
Falls
are the remains of a massive waterfall created by the same flood waters that
scoured out the Grand Coulee. At their peak flow, the waters cascading 400 feet
over these falls stretched 3
1
⁄
2
miles wide (in comparison, Niagara Falls are only
1 mile wide and 165 ft. tall). Between mid-May and the end of September,
you can learn more about the falls and floods at the
Dry Falls Visitor Center
(
&
509/632-5214
), which is located at the Dry Falls Overlook on Wash. 17. If
you're interested in going to the base of the falls, continue south 2 miles to
Sun
Lakes State Park,
which has a road leading back to the falls. Within this park
you'll also find a campground and lakes for swimming, boating, and fishing.
Park admission is $5.
For a glimpse of another unusual waterfall, head 10 miles south of Coulee
City on Pinto Ridge Road. Here you'll find
Summer Falls,
an impressive man-
made waterfall that only flows in, you guessed it, summer. The falls are formed
