Picnic

August 11  |  12:00 – 4:00  |  Mud Mountain Dam Park

Time for a picnic. The club will provide burgers, dogs, buns, chips, and condiments. Bring your favorite beverage to quench your thirst and a (homemade) salad or dessert to share. Maybe if we ask nicely, Mitch will let us use his Bocce Ball set.

Note: Take the back road to the park rather than the NORMAL route that your GPS will want to send you.

Mud Mountain Dam

Congress authorized construction of Mud Mountain Dam with the Flood Control Act of June 22, 1936. Work began on August 25, 1939, but was halted by World War II. Construction resumed in 1947, and the dam was completed in 1948. At that time, it was the highest rock and earth-filled dam in the world. Fishway facilities in Buckley were finished in 1949, and the Rim Trail and picnic areas were added in 1980.

The core of the dam is a compacted blend of sand, gravel and glacial till. Upstream and downstream sides of the dam are crushed rock covered by large quarry rocks. The massive weight of the rock holds the core firmly in place. Two tunnels channel the river around and under the dam. A 9-foot-wide tunnel passes normal flows. A 23-foot-wide tunnel is used during periods of high flows and during floods.