Weekly tours carry passengers on an odyssey of natural and man-made scenery CRUISING THE Columbia and Snake rivers, you explore a watery seam that connects not only Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, but also some of the most impressive an varied scenery in...

I'd come to the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon to see the whole West in one place. I wanted to see the Big West again, the dry-butte-and-sagebrush- and-big-bowl-of-the-sky West. I live on the California fringe, where things are almost as chummy and rectilinear...

A wildfire pushed by strong winds blowing through a gorge destroyed five homes on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and a sixth closer to the water, authorities said.Residents of a bluff above where the wind-whipped fire started were told Thursday afternoon to leave their...

A wildfire pushed by strong winds blowing through a gorge destroyed five homes on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and a sixth closer to the water, authorities said.Fifty to 60 other homes were threatened by the blaze that began Thursday near the bottom of...

The Columbia River is the most important geological element in Washington. It contributes to the state in terms of recreation, wildlife, and economic stability. All of the rivers that stem off of the Columbia and the Columbia itself are important to not just Washington but the United States. Few other geographical places could equal the contributions that it has made.