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70543 NE Herman Loop, Cascade Locks, 541-374-8393, nps.gov/places/bradford-island-visitor-center-at-bonneville-lock-and-dam.htm. Hatchery: 7:30 am–dusk daily. Visitor centers: 9 am–5 pm daily. Free.
From the Bonneville to the Grand Coulee, dams have transformed the Columbia River. Today, there’s important debate and reckoning over the impact of these monumental projects—particularly on salmon and Native fishing grounds. You can inform your opinion by visiting Bonneville, the first dam built on the Columbia, completed in 1943 as a Public Works Administration project of the New Deal. The Bradford Island Visitor Center on the Oregon side of the river shows how nature, technology and humans intersect. The views of the fish ladder can be thrilling when you spot a salmon (or a thousand) leap. A visitor center on the Washington side focuses on understanding electricity and how hydroelectric dams generate it. A third visitor center at the Navigation Locks is open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, from 1 to 4 pm. See more fish at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. Visitors can feed rainbow trout (warnings insist that they will bite if teased!) and view the eerily large, elderly white sturgeon, denizens of the river that evolved over 200 million years ago. Their patriarch, Herman the Sturgeon, is not the original article; state officials quietly disclose that he is at least Herman the Fourth.
Don’t miss: The most impressive thing to see is the dam itself. The power of Mother Nature slamming into human technology is awe inspiring. You can drive out to the end of Bradford Island for a great view and a picnic.
Will kids like it? If watching the sea lions at the Oregon Zoo engages the children in your party, they’ll love making faces at the sturgeon in the fish hatchery. The sharklike creatures seem to stare and smile right back at you! You can’t beat feeding fish for 25 cents. There’s also a great gift and coffee shop for a sweet treat.