GRAND COULEE DAM, Wash. — It's the best 'dam' show you'll ever see, and it's free!
Every year from Memorial Day weekend until the end of September, the Bureau of Reclamation nightly presents the Laser Lights Display on the face of America's largest concrete structure, Grand Coulee Dam.
During the approximate 36-minute show, you will hear the story of the Columbia River and Grand Coulee Dam.
"It's an educational tool for us in an entertaining way," said Craig Sprankle, public affairs officer for Grand Coulee Dam.
The crowd reaction varies.
"It depends on the person," he said. "Young folks like the fast-moving music, while older persons like the story line."
An average of 2,000 people view the display every night through the summer. Some nights it might be just 1,000 spectators, but on holiday weekends the number can jump to as many as 60,000. Fireworks ignited from the top of the dam are added on Independence Day.
Billed as the "Grandest Show in the Grand Coulee," this huge projection screen allows the image of the Statue of Liberty to be shown full-size — 151 feet high.
It isn't a movie presentation, it's images — huge ones — that dance across the face of the dam.
Most Utahns are probably familiar with Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam, both on the Colorado River, but Grand Coulee represents a different type of structure on the Columbia River.
Unlike Hoover Dam, which is extremely tall (726 feet) and 1,244 feet long, Grand Coulee Dam is just 550 feet high, but it's 5,223 feet long (almost a mile).
The dam is some 700 miles from Salt Lake City, and a visit here is usually part of a longer trip to the Pacific Northwest. Coulee Dam is about 86 miles west of Spokane or some 200 miles east of Seattle.
Sprankle admits Grand Coulee is off the beaten bath for most tourists to the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, it's worth a visit.
A light show on the dam started in 1957 with 742 flood lamps. Lasers were added in 1989.
The laser show tells the story of the Columbia River on a first-person basis, as if the water could talk, from prehistoric to modern times.
It uses running water — a few tenths of a foot in thickness — that turns white and bubbles over the dam's spillway to create a natural projection screen.
You may recall the laser scenes in "Star Wars," but this uses real lasers, and when they streak past and light up a section of the dam, it's a real treat of reality — not science fiction.
Music from well-known recording artists, such as Neal Diamond, accompanies the show.
This year's laser show begins at 10 p.m. nightly from May 27 to July 31. From Aug. 1-31, it will start at 9:30 p.m.; from Sept. 1-30, it will be shown at 8:30 p.m.
Near the dam's visitors center are bleachers and grass, perhaps the best places to watch the show. Some people bring blankets or chairs and watch from the parking lot or other surrounding areas.
Sprankle said there are lots of viewing areas, so even late arrivals aren't likely to miss out. Thanks to a low power FM broadcast (at 90.1 on the FM radio dial) of the accompanying music and audio, some spectators may not need to get out of their vehicles to enjoy the show.
(A bright spot of lights just north of the dam is the Grand Coulee Dam Casino, operated by the Colville Indian Tribe. It has a free museum for visitors.)
Free tours of the dam are given daily during the warm-weather season. The times are 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sprankle said Grand Coulee offers free tours and parking because of the way the facility was funded in its early days. (In contrast, Hoover Dam charges $11 per adult for its facility tours and $7 parking.)
He said about 400,000 people took the tour in 2005. There's no official count on the laser show, but most of the tour visitors appear to stay for the laser display.
The visitors center has films in its upstairs theater, and Sprankle said the renovated center has interactive, hands-on features.
For example, you can "operate" the dam in one game and see the consequences, good or bad, of your actions. Another display offers a realistic jackhammer experience.
Grand Coulee is the largest producer of hydro power in America. Its waters irrigate some 600,00 acres of farmland.
Besides the dam, there is golf, wildlife and bird viewing, hiking, camping, hunting and fishing in the area.
There are four motels in the city of Grand Coulee, plus five RV/camping resorts.
Motorists driving at night should be cautious of deer, which frequently wander onto the roadways.
For more information on Grand Coulee, call 509-633-9265, or go to: www.grandcouleedam.org.
About 33 miles southwest of Grand Coulee is Dry Falls Dam, another worthy tourist attraction. It is located just south of Highway 2, near Coulee City.
Resembling the plateaus of southern Utah or the Grand Canyon more than Washington state, this was the site of the world's largest waterfall during the last ice age. Almost four miles of vertical cliffs drop some 400 feet. A tremendous ice dam some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago blocked the flow of water to create the huge falls. (Niagara Falls, in comparison, has a 165-foot drop across a mile width.)
The falls followed the ancient path of the Columbia River.
There are spectacular vistas here, a small visitors center and lookout. The visitors center is open from mid-May to the end of September, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Besides the viewpoints, Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park offers camping and fishing at the foot of Dry Falls. It has 73,000-plus feet of freshwater shoreline. The Dry Falls Interpretive Center is two miles north of the vista visitors center on Highway 17.
Call 509-632-5214 to reach the Dry Falls visitors center.
SOURCES: www.grandcouleedam.org. www.grandcouleedam.com;
www.usbr.gov/dataweb/dams/wa00262.htm; Bureau of Reclamation Public Affairs; Grand Coulee Dam visitors center
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com