Little Goose Dam and the Paddleboat

There are four dams along the Snake River in Washington State. On Thursday June 2nd we took a drive to one of them, Little Goose Dam. There is a fair amount of controversy about removing the dams to enhance fish passage and restore the salmon runs along the Snake River. At this point in time the dams provide navigation passage for boats, transportation of commodities, and generation of hydroelectric power.

We will not get into whether they should be removed, rather just enjoy the trip for the day.

This image shows a map of the four dams along the Snake River. Ice Harbor - Lower Monumental - Little Goose - Lower Granite.

The Snake River originates in Wyoming and arcs across southern Idaho before turning north along the Idaho-Oregon border. The river then enters Washington and flows west to the Columbia River. The Snake River is about 1,078 miles in length.

This Google Map shows our driving route, the blue line, to Little Goose Dam, or destination. It is about 55 miles from our home here in Walla Walla out through beautiful rolling wheat country.

This overhead image of Little Goose dam shows the lock on the right hand side that allows large boats to pass the dam and shows the fish ladder that fish can use to circumvent the dam (it is the long pipe looking structure going across the image). It also shows the discharge of the water flowing out of the dam generating electricity.

As we were driving from Starbuck along the river towards the dam we saw this large sternwheeler or paddleboat going upriver toward the dam. The boat is named "American Pride". It seemed to us to be quite large, five separate decks high. We thought it would be interesting to see it go through the lock and continue it’s journey upriver to Clarkston, Washington,

Here is a look at the paddlewheel working on the boat. As we will see later, it appears that this is not the only propulsion system for the boat.

Here is just a closer look at the paddlewheel. Interesting and fascinating method of propulsion.

We can see the bridge being raised in preparation for the paddleboats passage. There is a road that crosses this lower portion of the dam providing vehicular access to various areas and this obviously needs to be raised to provide access to the lock for the boat.

Here the boat is approaching the lock. The bridge is raised and the lock is open. In the background, you can see the water flowing out of the damn generating power and the fish ladder is winding across parts of the facility.

The large paddlewheel on the back of the boat is not moving yet the poat is positioning itself to move into the lock, hence there must be other propulsion systems besides the paddlewheel.

The boat is entering the lock. The lock is about 86 feet wide, 100 feet high, and 668 feet long. The American Pride is 295 feet long and 46 feet wide and has capacity for 150 passengers. It does not have a problem fitting in the lock.

The boat is entering the lock.

The boat is fully in the lock and the bridge is being lowered. As big as the boat seemed to us going up the river it is dwarfed by the size of the lock.

As we can see in this image the lock has swallowed the boat and the massive doors are closing. The water will next fill the lock and raise the large boat to the upriver level.

Here we have relocated to the up river side of the dam and lock. There is another roadway bridge that provides access across the dam and it is being raised to allow boat traffic to pass out of the lock.

We were surprised to see another barge in the lock. Where the heck did that come from?

The barge is being pushed by a tug boat. The barge is used to transport small salmon called smolts around the dams. The smolts are trapped above Lover Granite, the first dam, upriver, and transported below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River where they are released to continue their journey to the ocean..

The tug boat and fish carrying barge are heading up the river, clear of the lock.

Now we get a look at the paddleboat cruise ship, American Pride. It is coming out of the lock.

It took about 45 minutes from when the lock was closing to fill the lock and allow the boat to continue upstream.

Here is a closeup of the front of the boat. It seems that the dark object on the front is a gangplank device that provides for the passengers to get off at various ports of call.

It appeared to us that there were very few passengers on the paddlewheeler. The cost of the 8 day excursion from Astoria to Clarkston is from $4,600 to more than $6,700 depending on the accommodations you have. There are several stops along the way and excursions you can take from these stops.

The cruise ship is continuing its journey towards Lower Granite Dam about 37 miles up stream and then onto Clarkston. It will need to go through the lock at Lower Granite as it was seen doing here. at Little Goose.

We hope you enjoyed this look at Little Goose dam and the paddlewheeler called American Pride. It was fun to watch it traverse the lock and continue on it’s journey.

Let us know if you have any questions regarding this post.

Be Well - Stay Safe - All the best - George & Deanna