Table Mountain is a peak rising on the north side of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

in Washington state, about north-northwest of Bonneville Dam. It is one of the most spectacular landmarks of the Columbia River Gorge. Its southeast face drops in less than one horizontal mile (1.6 km.), and is topped by an almost vertical cliff. Table Mountain is joined by the similar

Greenleaf Peak Greenleaf Peak is a mountain in the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington, located on the north side of the Columbia River near Table Mountain, in the Columbia River Gorge. The peak lies within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic ...

to the northeast, and also by

Hamilton Mountain Hamilton is located on the western end of the Niagara Peninsula and wraps around the westernmost part of the Lake Ontario. Most of the city including the downtown section lies along the south shore. Situated in the geographic centre of the Golden ...

to the southwest, which is lower, (), but similarly steep and much closer to the Columbia. Together these peaks form an impressive group on the Washington side of the Gorge. Between 1425 and 1450 AD the south side of Table Mountain sheared off and dammed the

in an event known as the

Bonneville Slide The Bridge of the Gods was a natural dam created by the Bonneville Slide, a major landslide that dammed the Columbia River near present-day Cascade Locks, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The river eventually breached the br ...

. The river soon carved a new bend around to the south, but for a while Native Americans living in the area could walk across. This led to the legend known as the Bridge of the Gods.

References

Mountains of Washington (state) Columbia River Gorge Mountains of Skamania County, Washington Washington Natural Areas Program Protected areas of Skamania County, Washington {{SkamaniaCountyWA-geo-stub