Grand Coulee Dam, Washington

While in Spokane, K’s sister J and her husband J joined us on a day trip to Grand Coulee Dam. This dam is the largest creator of hydropower in the U.S. and is even wider than the Hoover Dam. Not only does the dam have the ability to create such a large amount of hydropower, but it also lifts water from the Columbia River into Banks Lake from which the water irrigates a massive amount of land as part of the Columbia Basin Project.

Upon arriving, our first stop was the visitor center where we watched a video and wandered through the exhibits. Just down the hill from the visitor center is a park with a great view of the bottom of the dam where we had lunch and were able to get some group shots of the four of us.

After lunch we headed down the road to the building where the tour would start which entailed going through a security checkpoint, almost like at the airport, and boarding buses. From here the tour began by driving us back down alongside the dam and through the town where we learned interesting tidbits of information. The first stop was the pump house where we got out of the bus and went inside to look around. Our brother-in-law J had been on the tour before but it did not previously include going into the pump house so this was new to him as well. Unfortunately, the generator houses are currently off of the tour but he had been able to see at least one of these.

From there we boarded the buses again and drove out onto the top of the dam. Here we were able to get out again and look down from either side. I think the view down the side of the spillway was most impressive. From the top of the dam we could also see the pipes through which the water is lifted into the feeder canal and then on to Banks Lake. From here the buses continued to the end of the dam where it makes a jog which indicates the section which they partially renovated to allow for the addition of a third generator house. Although the tour was somewhat short, we learned a lot and really enjoyed this outing!