* WATERFALLS
Through millenniums of geologic events, waterfalls
have found their home in the Columbia River Gorge. A
visit to the area is not complete without a visit to
its breathtaking waterfalls.
Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round
waterfall in the United States. Though Multnomah
Falls is grand and popular, all of the falls in the
Gorge are special and breathtaking.
History
For over 31,000 years, the Columbia River Gorge has
supported flourishing civilizations. Evidence of the
Folsom and Marmes people, who crossed the Great
Continental Divide from Asia, were found in
archaeological digs. Excavations at Five Mile
Rapids, a few miles east of The Dalles, show humans
have occupied this ideal salmon fishing site for
more than 10,000 years.
Geology
The Columbia River Plateau was created by a
series of basalt flows. The flows covered 164,000
square kilometers -- portions of northeast Oregon,
southwest Washington and western Idaho. |
