Columbia Chronicles A Few Of Their Favorite (And Not-So-Favorite) Things
After spending June exploring the Columbia River from Canada to the Snake River, here are our picks for best and worst attractions, trends and natural features:
Best uses of the river: Family of farm workers playing in the water at the end of a hot day south of Wenatchee. Growing apples.
Worst use of the river: Cascading fountain of blue-dyed water at Desert Canyon, a golf course and development for Seattle yuppies.
Most hopeful sights: Native cutthroat trout. Three bighorn ewes with three lambs on cliffs near Vantage.
Most discouraging sight: Carp, instead of salmon, in the fish viewing window at Rocky Reach Dam.
Best restaurant: That Italian Place in Grand Coulee. Terrific pizza and pasta at reasonable prices. Try the baked artichoke heart. (509) 633-1818.
Best food: Authentic Mexican tacos from Lindo Michoacan Taqueria, a motor home converted into a fast-food stand in Brewster. Shredded beef, tongue, brain or pork with locally pressed tortillas and fresh cilantro. $1 each (three’s a meal).
Best tourist attraction: Rocky Reach Dam. You don’t have to like dams to enjoy its Gallery of Electricity museum, Indian artifacts, fish viewing windows and the 18-acre grounds with 25,000 annual flowers. Open 8 a.m. to sunset.
Most overrated tourist attraction: The laser light show at Grand Coulee Dam. A cartoon with images 300 feet tall. Nightly at 10 p.m. (9:30 p.m. in August; 8 p.m. in September).
Best accommodations: Four Winds Bed & Breakfast in Coulee Dam. Owners Dick and Fe Taylor painstakingly restored this former dormitory for dam engineers. Prices start at $68 for one person. 800-786-3146.
Most rugged stretch of river: Wanapum Lake between Crescent Bar and Vantage is beautiful and repelling at once. Soaring basalt cliffs, prickly pear cacti, abundant rattlesnakes and deadly, sudden winds. Easy access off Interstate 90 and the relatively short drive from Seattle (145 miles) mean big crowds on hot summer weekends.
Prettiest tributary: Chelan River at Chelan Falls Park. A series of cascades with water so blue it looks painted.
Best place to be sung to sleep by coyotes: Quilomene Wildlife Recreation Area north of Vantage.
Best place to see song birds: Keller Ferry. Goldfinches and orioles are just the beginning.
Best bargain: Free ferries at Keller and Gifford on Lake Roosevelt.
Best undeveloped campsite: On the east riverbank a short walk from the Canadian border. You’ll have to carry the tent whether you arrive by car or boat. Take binoculars and watch for bears on the opposite shore.
Best campground with pit toilets: Wilmont Falls on the Colville Indian Reservation. Boat-in only. Call (509) 634-8867 for information.
Best campground with flush toilets and showers: Bridgeport State Park (509-686-7231) near Chief Joseph Dam and Daroga State Park near Orondo (509-664-6380). So plush, it’s not fair to call this camping.
Best place to escape a rainstorm: The Rice Store (and Laundromat). Buy a Hostess fruit pie, then settle down in the cozy laundry with a loaner book off the shelf.
Best fishing hole: Trout in the upper river, walleye on Rufus Woods Lake or sturgeon in Hanford Reach. Just don’t ask us to be more specific. (Hint: The base of cliffs and mouths of feeder streams are a good place to start.)
Prettiest town: Coulee Dam. Take the historic walking tour in the evening; climb the steep Candy Point Trail in the morning (carry plenty of water and wear sturdy shoes).
The thing we would have liked to have seen before the dams: Kettle Falls during the salmon run.
Song we’d prefer never to hear again: “Roll On Columbia” by Woody Guthrie. (We’re sure the tour guides at Grand Coulee Dam would agree.)
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Three Color Photos