The Columbia Bar is a system of bars and

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

s at the mouth of the

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

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 so ...

s of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and Washington. It is one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world, earning the nickname Graveyard of the Pacific. 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 Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, 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 moderating effect of a

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

. 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 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 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 along the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (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. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

coast, including Cape Flattery at the northwest tip of the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large peninsula 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 the ...

and Cape Scott, 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 ...

. 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 main outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The Canada–United States border, international boundary between Canada and the ...

Viewing

The most accessible place to watch ships cross the bar is at the South Jetty viewing platform at Fort Stevens State Park located near Warrenton, Oregon. This is also the north end of the Oregon Coast Trail. 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.

References

External links

"Rough Bar" photos at Columbia River Bar Pilots website

Columbia River Bar Pilots
Video produced by Oregon Field Guide
Columbia River Danger Areas demonstration chart for bar pilots
{{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