The Dark Divide is the largest roadless area in western

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 ...

state, comprising approximately 76,000 acres (310 km²) of intact wilderness on Juniper Ridge linking

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...

and Mount Adams in the southern

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, a ...

of Washington. In two remote valleys of the Lewis River drainage are 500-year-old trees. These ancient forests are protected from logging as reserves for the

northern spotted owl The northern spotted owl (''Strix occidentalis caurina'') is one of three spotted owl subspecies. A western North American bird in the family Strigidae, genus '' Strix'', it is a medium-sized dark brown owl native to the Pacific Northwest. An ...

and other species under the

Northwest Forest Plan The Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) is a series of federal policies and guidelines governing land use on federal lands in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It covers 10 million hectares within Western Oregon and Washington as wel ...

. Downstream of the confluence of Quartz Creek, the Lewis River plunges over four large waterfalls. Curly Creek, another tributary, is the only cataract in Washington with an intact natural stone bridge, and the early formation of a second natural bridge can be observed. Although the Dark Divide is largely composed of black

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

, features such as 5,238-foot (1,596 m) Dark Mountain, Dark Creek and Dark Meadows are actually named for John Dark, a 19th-century gold prospector and speculator.

Gallery

File:Jumbo Peak 3482.JPG, A rock outcropping immediately north of the summit of

Jumbo Peak Jumbo Peak may refer to: * Jumbo Peak (Washington), Washington State, United States * Jumbo Peak, in the Tararua Range, New Zealand See also * Jumbo Mountain, Washington State, United States * Jumbo Mountain (Canada) Jumbo Mountain, sometimes ...

with Mount Rainier in the background File:Jumbo Peak 3246s.JPG, Rock outcropping on slopes of

File:Campanula scouleri 3224f.JPG, Pale bellflower ('' Campanula scouleri'') File:Fragaria virginiana 3128.JPG, Virginia strawberry (''Fragaria virginiana'') File:Eriogonum umbellatum 3451.JPG, Sulphur flower ('' Eriogonum umbellatum'') File:Calochortus subalpinus 3135.JPG, Subalpine mariposa lily ('' Calochortus subalpinus'') File:Xerophyllum tenax 3555.JPG, Bear grass ('' Xerophyllum tenax'') File:Speyeria mormonia 3312.jpg, Mormon fritillary (''

Speyeria mormonia ''Speyeria mormonia,'' commonly known as the Mormon fritillary, is a North American butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It is highly diverse, having differentiated into several subspecies which occupy a wide geographic range. ''S. mor ...

'')

Sources

*Pyle, Robert Michael, ''Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide'', Houghton Mifflin, 1995,
Washington’s Dark Divide Roadless Area
Regions of Washington (state) Gifford Pinchot National Forest {{Washington-geo-stub