Columbia Lake and The Source

The Columbia River begins at the south end of Columbia Lake at Canal Flats. There the lake is spongy and marshy and fed by underground streams. The lake is eight miles long and a little over one mile wide and only about 15 feet deep. The altitude at Canal Flats is 2650 feet. At the north end there is a depression where the water from the lake spills over and creates the wetlands that eventually become the Columbia River. It's a miracle!

Columbia Lake from Columbia Lake Provincial Park

Highway 95 View Point near Canal Flats

Columbia Lake in the distance, and the wetlands in the foreground

Another view of Columbia Lake and the wetlands. One third of the way from the top and in the center of this picture there is a concave contour between the wetlands and the lake and Dale and I think that is the spillway.