Lewis and Clark's Columbia River
Lewis & Clark's Columbia River - "200 Years Later"
"Drano Lake, Washington"
Includes ... Drano Lake ... Cook Hill ... Chemawa Hill ... Broughton Flume ... Campsite of October 29, 1805 ...
Image, 2004, Drano Lake, Washington, boat ramp, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Drano Lake, Washington, with Chemawa Hill in the background. View from boat ramp. Image taken November 4, 2004.


Drano Lake ...
Drano Lake is created by backwater from the impoundment of the Columbia River from the Bonneville Dam. The lake enters the Bonneville Reservoir at Columbia River Mile (RM) 162. The Little White Salmon River drains into Drano Lake, and slack water from the lake extends some distance up the Little White Salmon River. The lake is a popular fishing spot and hosts a boat ramp. It can be reached from Washington State Highway 14. The White Salmon River is located 5 miles upstream, and the Wind River is located approximately 11 miles downstream. Wind Mountain, Collins Point, and Dog Mountain are located between Wind River and Drano Lake.

Early Drano Lake ...
Drano Lake was named after homesteader William Drano.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office Records (GLO) database shows a William Drano being issued a land title on December 22, 1896, for 153.45 acres of parts of T3N R9E Sections 26 and 27 (1862 "Homestead Entry Original").

From the Tacoma Public Library's "Washington Place Names" database (2019):

"Drano Lake is a bay on the Washington side of the Columbia River near Cook in Skamania County. When the railroad filled across the mouth of the bay it made the bay look like a lake. Rafts of logs are often stored in Drano Lake and taken out under the railroad bridge. The name was named from William Drano who was also known as French Billy. There was a post office named Drano which was established November 1, 1894 with Charles Early as post master. It was closed April 21, 1896."

According to Keith McCoy (1987) in Mount Adams Country: Forgotten Corner of the Columbia River Gorge":

"... William Drano, known as French Billy, organized the Drano Flume Company to build a flume which traversed much of his homestead land. Underfinanced, the firm got into trouble and was bought out by Broughton Lumber Company. They not only completed the flume but it has served for 70 years - the last of the great flume mills. ..."

Early Maps ...

1956 Map detail, Cadastral Survey, 1876, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		1876 Cadastral Survey map detail of T3N, R9E, Section 26 and 27, showing the Little White Salmon River, Drano Lake, and the French Billy homestead, Washington. Original map courtesy U.S. Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office (GLO) Records database, 2016.


Views ...

Image, 2004, Drano Lake, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Drano Lake, Washington. View from near the mouth of the Little White Salmon River. Image taken November 4, 2004.
Image, 2004, Drano Lake, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Drano Lake, Washington. View from near the mouth of the Little White Salmon River. Image taken November 4, 2004.
Image, 2004, Mouth of Drano Lake, looking towards the Columbia River, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Drano Lake looking towards the Columbia River. Image taken November 4, 2004.


Drano Lake from the Oregon side ...
A good view of Drano Lake can be had from across the river at Mitchell Point, Oregon.

Image, 2005, Drano Lake, Washington, from Mitchell Point, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Drano Lake, Washington, from Mitchell Point, Oregon. Image taken August 27, 2005.


Drano Lake, etc.

  • Broughton Flume ...
  • Broughton Flume Information Sign ...
  • Chemawa Hill ...
  • Cook Hill ...
  • Drano Lake Tunnels ...
  • Little White Salmon River ...


Broughton Flume ...
A section of the Broughton Flume can be seen on the side of Chemawa Hill, from the boat ramp at Drano Lake. The nine-mile-long flume was the last operating flume in the country, floating lumber from Willard, Washington, to the Broughton Lumber Mill at Hood, Washington, a rail station two miles west of White Salmon and near Underwood, Washington.
[More]

Image, 2004, Broughton Flume on Chemawa Hill, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Broughton Flume on Chemawa Hill, Washington. Image taken November 4, 2004.


Broughton Flume Information Sign ...
Brougton Flume
A Man-made Waterway

"In the early 1900s, lush evergreen forests covered the rugged mountains on either side of the Columbia River, providing a wealth of fuel and building material. In this steep, wet country, water was a perfect convenance. Sawmills were located in the forest, several miles from the Columbia River. There, massive logs were cut into beams called "cants," then splashed into water-filled flumes, where gravity brought the cargo to the riverside finishing mill below.

Across Drano Lake, you may still see the ruins of the Broughton Lumber Company's flume. Built in 1923, it transported lumber until the firm closed ins inland mill at Willard in 1986."

"Drano Flume and Lumber Company used 16-foot sections of Douglas-fir to build the flume which they sold to Harold Broughton in 1927. A five-man crew worked full-time to keep it in good repair. Last of its kind in the United States, the flume was partially dismantled and auctioned to the public."

"The Willard Mill could process 150,000 board feet in a 19-hour work day. Rough-sawn "Cants," eight to twelve feet long, rode the nine mile trough, a descent of 1,000 feet in 55 minutes to the lower mill."

Source:    Broughton Flume Information Sign, Drano Lake Parking, visited February 2016.


[More]

Image, 2016, Broughton Flume Information Sign, Drano Lake, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Broughton Flume Information Sign, Drano Lake, Washington. Image taken February 8, 2016.
Image, 2016, Broughton Flume Information Sign, Drano Lake, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Broughton Flume Information Sign, Drano Lake, Washington. Image taken February 8, 2016.
Image, 2013, Broughton Flume section, Drano Lake, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Closeup, information sign, Broughton Flume, Drano Lake, Washington. Image taken March 24, 2013.


Chemawa Hill ...
Chemawa Hill borders the eastern side of Drano Lake. Remnants of the Broughton Flume cross Chemawa Hill and can be seen from the boat launch on Drano Lake. The first of a cluster of five tunnels carved through the basalts for Washington State Highway 14 begins at the base of Chemawa Hill. According to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System database, Chemawa Hill is at elevation 1,722 feet.

Image, 2004, Drano Lake, Washington, boat ramp, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Drano Lake, Washington, with Chemawa Hill. Image taken November 4, 2004.
Image, 2005, Chemawa Hill and Drano Lake, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Chemawa Hill and Drano Lake, Washington. Note Broughton Log Flume traversing the side of the hill. Image taken February 26, 2005.
Image, 2018, Chemawa Hill, Washington, from Mitchell Point, Oregon, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Chemawa Hill, Washington, as seen from Mitchell Point, Oregon. Image taken April 19, 2018.


Cook Hill ...
Cook Hill borders the western side of Drano Lake. According to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System database, Cook Hill is at elevation 2,887 feet.
[More]

Image, 2003, Cook Hill, Washington, from Drano Lake, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Cook Hill, as seen from Drano Lake, Washington. Image taken October 25, 2003.


Drano Lake Tunnels ...
Washington State Highway 14 Tunnel No.1 and Railroad Tunnel No.2 are at the eastern edge of Drano Lake. The Railroad Tunnel is the shortest of the eleven railroad tunnels along the Gorge, measuring only 122 feet.
[More]

Image, 2004, Tunnel No.1, Train Tunnel No.2, Washington State Highway 14, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Washington State Highway 14 Tunnel No.1 and Train Tunnel No.2, as seen from across Drano Lake. View from west end of Drano Lake. Image taken November 4, 2004.
Image, 2005, Tunnel No.1, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Washington State Highway 14 Tunnel No.1 and Railroad Tunnel No.2. View of the west portals. Image taken June 4, 2005.
Image, 2005, Tunnel No.1, Washington State Highway 14, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Tunnel No.1, Washington State Highway 14. View from west end of Drano Lake. Image taken June 4, 2005.
Image, 2005, Railroad Tunnel No.2, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Railroad Tunnel No.2, Drano Lake. View of the west portal. Image taken June 4, 2005.


Little White Salmon River ...
The Little White Salmon River is located appoximately 5 miles downstream of the White Salmon River, and can be reached off of Washington State Highway 14, seven miles east of Carson, Washington. The Little White Salmon drains into Drano Lake before reaching the Columbia River. Lewis and Clark's camp of October 29, 1805, was near the Little White Salmon River.
[More]

Image, 2003, Mouth of the Little White Salmon River and Drano Lake, Washington, click to enlarge
Click image to enlarge 		Looking across Drano Lake towards channel leading to the Little White Salmon River. The "mouth" of the Little White Salmon River is 1/2 mile behind the "island", as seen from the Drano Lake boat ramp area. Image taken October 25, 2003.


From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...

Clark, October 29, 1805 ...



Columbia River GorgeReturn to
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*River Miles [RM] are approximate, in statute miles, and were determined from USGS topo maps, obtained from NOAA nautical charts, or obtained from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers website, 2003

Sources:    See Little White Salmon River;    ALSO:

  • McCoy, K., 1987, "Mount Adams Country: Forgotten Corner of the Columbia River Gorge";
  • Tacoma Public Library's "Washington Place Names" database, 2019;
  • U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) database, 2018;


All Lewis and Clark quotations from Gary Moulton editions of the Lewis and Clark Journals, University of Nebraska Press, all attempts have been made to type the quotations exactly as in the Moulton editions, however typing errors introduced by this web author cannot be ruled out; location interpretation from variety of sources, including this website author.
/Regions/Places/drano_lake.html
September 2008