The Columbia Bar, also frequently called the Graveyard of the Pacific, is a system of bars and shoals at the mouth of the Columbia River spanning the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s of

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. It is known as one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world. The bar is about wide and long.

Description

South Jerry Columbia River under repair 2022

The bar is where the river's current dissipates into the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, often as large standing waves. The waves are partially caused by the deposition of sediment as the river slows, as well as mixing with ocean waves. The waves, wind, and current are hazardous for vessels of all sizes. The Columbia current varies from westward, and therefore into the predominantly westerly winds and ocean swells, creating significant surface conditions. Unlike other major rivers, the current is focused "like a fire hose" without the benefit of a

river delta A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, or (more ra ...

. Conditions can change from calm to life-threatening in as little as five minutes due to changes of direction of wind and ocean swell. Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar, and because of the danger and the numerous shipwrecks the mouth of the Columbia River acquired a reputation worldwide as the

graveyard of the Pacific The Graveyard of the Pacific is a somewhat loosely defined stretch of the Pacific Northwest coast stretching from around Tillamook Bay on the Oregon Coast northward past the treacherous Columbia Bar and Juan de Fuca Strait, up the rocky western c ...

. The navigational channel is wide at the west end and narrows to within the jetties (though the jetties themselves are never closer than apart). The channel is dredged to in the northern three-quarters and for the southern quarter. Inside the bar, the channel remains wide and reduces to deep. The Clatsop Spit juts into the ocean on the south side of the river mouth, and on the north side is Peacock Spit, named after the USS ''Peacock'' which wrecked there in 1841. In 1884, after decades of shipwrecks, the United States Corps of Engineers built the south jetty to keep the channel navigable. In 1914, the north jetty was added. The nearby United States Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment, Washington, is renowned for operating in some of the roughest sea conditions in the world, and is home to the National Motor Lifeboat School. It is the only school for rough weather and surf rescue operation in the US, and is respected internationally as a center of excellence for heavy boat operations. Approximately 16 bar pilots, earning about $180,000 per year, guide ships across the bar, often boarding ships by helicopter. They generally consider "the bar" to be the area between the north and south

jetties A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying somet ...

and Sand Island (see detail of bathymetric map for locations of these). Over 700 people have drowned in the Columbia Bar and Bar Pilots are highly skilled and trained in navigating ships through the rough waters. The Columbia Bar is part of a set of major marine

coastal hazards Coastal hazards are physical phenomena that expose a coastal area to risk of property damage, loss of life and environmental degradation. Rapid-onset hazards last over periods of minutes to several days, and encompass events such as major cyclone ...

along the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

coast, including

Cape Flattery Cape Flattery () is the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States. It is in Clallam County, Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, where the Strait of Juan de Fuca joins the Pacific Ocean. It is also part of the Makah Reservation, and ...

at the northwest tip of the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and th ...

and

Cape Scott Cape Scott is a cape at the western side of the terminus of Dennistoun Glacier on the northern coast of Victoria Land in Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the ...

, which is at the north tip of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. Historically, the region's mariner's nickname was the Graveyard of the Pacific, and it is studded with thousands of shipwrecks. The "Graveyard" also includes the rocky, rugged shoreline of the west coast of Vancouver Island, the shores of the Olympic Peninsula, and the

Strait of Juan de Fuca The Strait of Juan de Fuca (officially named Juan de Fuca Strait in Canada) is a body of water about long that is the Salish Sea's outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The international boundary between Canada and the United States runs down the centre ...

Viewing

The most accessible place to watch ships cross the bar is at the South Jetty viewing platform at

Fort Stevens State Park Fort Stevens was an American military installation that guarded the mouth of the Columbia River in the state of Oregon. Built near the end of the American Civil War, it was named for a slain Civil War general and former Washington Territory gover ...

located near

Warrenton, Oregon Warrenton is a small, coastal city in Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Named for D.K. (Daniel Knight) Warren, an early settler, the town is primarily a fishing and logging community. The population was 6,277 according to the 2020 US Censu ...

. This is also the north end of the

Oregon Coast Trail The Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) is a long-distance hiking route along the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of Oregon in the United States. It follows the coast of Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border south of Brookin ...

. A more dramatic view can be found by hiking the steep trail to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse at the Cape Disappointment State Park located in

Ilwaco, Washington Ilwaco ( ) is a city in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 936 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1890, the city was home to the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company along the Long Beach Peninsula, with its core economy ba ...

References

External links

"Rough Bar" photos at Columbia River Bar Pilots website

Columbia River Bar Pilots
Video produced by

Oregon Field Guide ''Oregon Field Guide'' is a weekly television program produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting focusing on recreation, the outdoors, and environmental issues in the state of Oregon. The show has become part of the Oregon zeitgeist. Steve Amen is th ...

{{Coord, 46, 15, N, 124, 02, W, type:waterbody_region:US-OR_elevation:0_dim:4km, display=title Columbia River Landforms of Pacific County, Washington Landforms of Clatsop County, Oregon Shoals of the United States

Description

Viewing

See also

References

External links