List of rapids of the Columbia River

This is a list of rapids of the Columbia River, listed in upriver order. The river flows through Canada and the United States. Almost all of these rapids are now submerged in the reservoirs of dams. The list is not exhaustive; there were numerous minor rapids and riffles, many of which were never named.

Map of the Columbia drainage Basin with the Columbia River highlighted and showing the major tributaries
 
Cascade Rapids.
 
Celilo Falls.

Snake River to Bridgeport

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The 70 mile stretch between Priest Rapids and the mouth of the Snake River (the Hanford Reach) "has the slowest current of any part of the Columbia above The Dalles".[25]

 
Priest Rapids.

The portion of the river between Monaghan Rapids and Foster Creek Rapids was regarded as particularly hazardous. An 1893 report by the Army Corps of Engineers described the river from Monaghan Rapids to the foot of Foster Creek Rapids as "very swift and studded with rocks, and taken all in all will be found an extremely hard and dangerous if not absolutely impassable portion of the river to navigate". Over the 45 miles (72 km) from Monaghan to Foster Creek the river fell 171 feet (52 m) at low-water. Over the 10 miles (16 km) between Mah-kin Rapids and a point three miles below Parson Rapids the river fell 41 feet (12 m) at low water. The portion from White Cap Rapids to Eagle Rapids was once known as "Nespilem Canyon". The Corps' 1893 report said that over the worst 3 miles (4.8 km) stretch the river fell 22 feet (6.7 m) at low-water and 24 feet (7.3 m) at high-water, and that the speed of the current at low-water was about 10 miles per hour (16 km/h). On the possibility of navigation the Corps was pessimistic: "The fall of the river here is so great that it is certain that no system of rock removal could make the river sufficiently navigable to justify the danger and risk necessarily incurred in running boats on it."[37]

 
Upper Long Rapids.
 
Kettle Falls.

Canada–US border to Revelstoke

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Revelstoke to Mica Dam

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Mica Dam to source at Columbia Lake

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: The Cascades (historical)
  2. ^ Ulrich, Roberta (2007). Empty Nets: Indians, dams, and the Columbia River. Corvallis, Oregon: Oregon State University Press. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-87071-469-6.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: The Dalles (historical)
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Threemile Rapids (historical)
  5. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: The Dalles (historical)
  6. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fivemile Rapids (historical)
  7. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Tenmile Rapids (historical)
  8. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Celilo Falls (historical)
  9. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Preachers Eddy
  10. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Schofield Rapids (historical)
  11. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lower John Day Rapids (historical)
  12. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Upper John Day Rapids (historical)
  13. ^ a b c d e f g United States Army Corps of Engineers (1912). Report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army. United States Government Printing Office. pp. 2798–2800, 2863. ISSN 0271-3845. OCLC 5168357.
  14. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Indian Rapids (historical)
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Washington Place Names Archived 2009-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, Tacoma Public Library
  16. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Squally Hook Rapids (historical)
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i Freeman, Lewis Ransome (1921). Down the Columbia. New York: Dodd, Mead and company. pp. 326–329, 335–339. OCLC 1738301.
  18. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Blalock
  19. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Blalock Canyon
  20. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Owyhee Rapids (historical)
  21. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Canoe Encampment Rapids (historical)
  22. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Umatilla Rapids (historical)
  23. ^ Meinig, D.W. (1995) [1968]. The Great Columbia Plain (Weyerhaeuser Environmental Classic ed.). University of Washington Press. pp. 214, 252–253. ISBN 0-295-97485-0.
  24. ^ "Dam the Columbia: Umatilla Rapids Association". Center for Columbia River History. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
  25. ^ Down the Columbia, p. 320
  26. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Coyote Rapids
  27. ^ United States. War Dept (1893). "Annual reports of the War Department, Part 4". Annual Reports of the War Department: For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30. United States Government Printing Office. ISSN 1050-1274. OCLC 1777262.
  28. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Priest Rapids
  29. ^ Dorpat, Paul; Genevieve McCoy (1998). Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works. Tartu Publications. p. 25. ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
  30. ^ a b Gulick, Bill (2004). Steamboats on Northwest Rivers. Caxton Press. pp. 225–228. ISBN 978-0-87004-438-0.
  31. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Cabinet Rapids (historical)
  32. ^ a b United States Army Corps of Engineers (1892). "Annual report of the Chief of Engineers to the Secretary of War for the year 1892, Volume 3". Annual Report of the Chief of Engineers to the Secretary of War for the Year. United States Government Printing Office: 2716. ISSN 1050-1266. OCLC 5168701.
  33. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Nixon Rapids (historical)
  34. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rock Island
  35. ^ a b Landes, Henry (1917). A Geographic Dictionary of Washington. Washington Geological Survey. pp. 132, 233. OCLC 2882774.
  36. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Methow Rapids (historical)
  37. ^ a b United States Army Corps of Engineers (1893). Report of the Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army, Part 4. United States Government Printing Office. pp. 3388–3389, 3394–3396. OCLC 18063671.
  38. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Reef Rapids
  39. ^ Symons, Thomas William (1882). Report of an examination of the upper Columbia River and the territory in its vicinity in September and October, 1881, to determine its navigability, and adaptability to steamboat transportation. United States Army Corps of Engineers. United States Government Printing Office. p. 182. OCLC 13375670.
  40. ^ Down the Columbia, p. 274
  41. ^ United States. War Dept (1893). "Annual reports of the War Department, Part 4". Annual Reports of the War Department: For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30. United States Government Printing Office: 3389–3390. ISSN 1050-1274. OCLC 1777262.
  42. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Eagle Rapids
  43. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Long Rapids
  44. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: White Cap Rapids
  45. ^ Down the Columbia, p. 275
  46. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Parson Rapids
  47. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Granite Rapids
  48. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Mah-kin Rapids
  49. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Nespelem Rapids
  50. ^ a b c Down the Columbia, p. 271
  51. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Equilibrium Rapids
  52. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Monaghan Rapids
  53. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hell Gate Canyon
  54. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hellgate Island
  55. ^ Report of an examination of the upper Columbia River, p. 172
  56. ^ Report of an examination of the upper Columbia River, p. 168
  57. ^ Down the Columbia, p. 224
  58. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rickey Rapids
  59. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Kettle Falls (historical)
  60. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Little Dalles
  61. ^ United States. War Dept (1893). "Annual reports of the War Department, Part 4". Annual Reports of the War Department: For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30. United States Government Printing Office: 3385. ISSN 1050-1274. OCLC 1777262.
  62. ^ "Waterloo Eddy". BC Geographical Names.
  63. ^ a b "Tin Cup Rapids". Trails in Time. Retrieved 10 October 2009.
  64. ^ Down the Columbia p. 197
  65. ^ "Tincup Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  66. ^ a b c "Lower Arrow Lake". BC Geographical Names.
  67. ^ "Narrows, The". BC Geographical Names.
  68. ^ "Upper Arrow Lake". BC Geographical Names.
  69. ^ "Big Eddy". BC Geographical Names. and topographic maps
  70. ^ "Revelstoke". BC Geographical Names.
  71. ^ "Steamboat Rapids". BC Geographical Names. and topographic maps
  72. ^ "Little Dalles Canyon". BC Geographical Names.
  73. ^ "Eighteen Mile Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  74. ^ a b c d e f British Columbia Department of Lands Geographic Branch (1941). "Revelstoke - Golden, Big Bend - Columbia River, 1941, Map No. 5D". Lithographed Regional Maps, Topographic Series, 1917-1952, Sheets: 5A - 5E. British Columbia Archives, Royal BC Museum. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2009.
  75. ^ "Priest Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  76. ^ Down the Columbia, pp. 180-182
  77. ^ "Death Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  78. ^ Down the Columbia pp. 172-173
  79. ^ "Twelve Mile Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  80. ^ "Gordon Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  81. ^ Down the Columbia, pp. 141, 144-145
  82. ^ Down the Columbia, pp. 151-157
  83. ^ "Redrock Canyon Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  84. ^ "Yellow Creek Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  85. ^ "Weasel Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  86. ^ "Mink Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  87. ^ "Boulder Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  88. ^ "Elbow, The". BC Geographical Names.
  89. ^ "Surprise Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  90. ^ Down the Columbia, pp. 114-115
  91. ^ "Brinkmans Terror Rapids". BC Geographical Names.
  92. ^ "Kitchins Rapids". BC Geographical Names.