Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Kettle Falls
The question that tickles most people to Kettle Falls is: where are the falls? The answer
is: they've disappeared. The original Kettle Falls, a series of cascades and rapids that was
once a favored fishing spot for Native Americans, was inundated in the late 1930s by wa-
ter that backed up behind the new Grand Coulee Dam (ultimately forming present-day
Lake Roosevelt). The spectacular natural sight wasn't the only casualty. A town that had
been founded 3 miles south of the falls in the 1880s had to be uprooted piece by piece
and moved a few miles east to be rebuilt alongside the existing settlement of Meyers
Falls (bisected by a much smaller waterfall). The two towns amalgamated in the 1940s to
form 'new' Kettle Falls. These days it is largely a blue-collar lumber settlement set in an
attractive valley that - somewhat ironically - acts as a base for water activities on the
lake that once drowned it.
To get a glimpse of the town before its relocation, drop by the Kettle Falls Interpret-
ive Center ( 11am-5pm Wed-Sat May-Sep) , just north of US 395, to see a giant photo
mural showing the predam Columbia as it crashed through Kettle Falls.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search