Crescent Bar, Washington — River Bend That Changed Careers

Crescent Bar occupies a spectacular bend in the Columbia below walls of dark basalt.

For much of the twentieth century, the useful thing about this ground was agriculture. Irrigation supported orchards and crops on land tucked between river and cliff. Then the same geography acquired a different value: sunshine, water access and dramatic scenery made it increasingly attractive for golf, boating, condominiums and vacation homes.

The river changed too. Wanapum Dam downstream raised the Columbia into a broad reservoir, creating the calmer waterfront modern visitors know.

Crescent Bar is therefore a place where land and water both changed careers. Irrigation helped turn dry ground into farmland; hydropower helped turn a river corridor into recreational shoreline.

Above all those changing uses, the basalt cliffs have remained stubbornly indifferent.