Columbia River

100 The Columbia River is a river located in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is the biggest river in volume flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America, and the second largest in the United States. It is the largest hydroelectric power producing river in North America. From its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean it flows 1,270 miles, and drains 258,000 square miles.
Geography
Columbia River, Revelstoke, BCColumbia Lake forms the Columbia's headwaters in the Canadian Rockies of southern British Columbia. The river then flows through Windermere Lake and the town of Invermere, then northwest to Golden and into Kinbasket Lake. The river then turns south all the way through Revelstoke Lake and the Arrow Lakes to the BC–Washington border.
The river then flows throughout the east-central portion of Washington State. The last 300 miles of the Columbia form the Washington-Oregon border line. The river goes into the Pacific Ocean at Ilwaco, Washington and Astoria, Oregon.

For its first 200 miles the Columbia flows northwest; it then bends to the south, crossing from Canada into the United States, where the river meets the Clark Fork. The Clark Fork River begins near Butte, Montana and flows through western Montana before entering Pend Oreille Lake. Water demanding from the lake forms the Pend Oreille River, which flows across the Idaho panhandle to Washington's northeastern curve where it meets the northern Canadian fork.
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon or South SideThe River then runs southsouthwest through the Columbia Plateau, changing to a southeasterly direction near the Columbia Basin, where the magnificent Gorge at George is situated. The Gorge Amphitheater, which looks out over the gorge, is a spectacular 40,000 person concert venue.