- Lacamas Lake (OregonHikers.org)
Lacamas Lake, along with its neighbor, Round Lake, fills a depression carved by the ice age Bretz (Missoula) Floods at the end of the last ice age. Even though the lake is 180 feet above the Columbia River channel down which the floods roared, the roiling spate was deeper than that and cut across the landscape here to create a new channel. In the 1880s, two dams were built at Round Lake, which also raised the water level in Lacamas Lake. A few years later, a ditch was dug, using Chinese workers, to channel water from the lake to the Camas paper mill. In the decades that followed, further improvements were made to this system which fed the water needs of the paper mill.
- Pothole Falls, Washington (waterfallrecord.com)
If you live in the Portland (Oregon) metropolitan area, you’ve obviously got a number of very impressively waterfalls to the east. But did you also know that there are some smaller waterfalls to the north, just across the Oregon/Washington state line? In the city of Camas, you can find Lacamas Park. It’s a very enjoyable park to hike around, even if you’re not planning on seeing any waterfalls. The terrain is relatively gentle, with only a few minor uphill portions.
- Woodburn Falls, Washington (waterfallrecord.com)
I visited Woodburn Falls over two years, so I had to try and remember where this waterfall was located and how to possibly arrive at the falls. Oddly enough, I did have a pretty clear recollection that the falls was on some spur trail at a park.
- Lacamas Park Lily Field (OregonHikers.org)
The city of Camas, Washington, was named for the camas plant. Camas was a very important crop in Native American traditional life. The roots were dug up, dried or cooked, and saved for food use and as sweeteners. The bulbs were usually harvested in summer, but the plants were sometimes marked during the spring bloom to avoid confusion (and possible fatalities) with a plant with very similar looking leaves, the highly toxic death camas. Every year, the people gathered in the meadows to harvest the larger bulbs only. Woodlands and brush were burned to create more expansive camas meadows, and camas plots, often assigned to particular families, were harvested on a rotational basis to allow plants to produce more bulbs.
- Mill Ditch to Round Lake Hike (OregonHikers.org)
The Georgia-Pacific Paper Mill, with its broad columns of steam slowly billowing skyward, is the dominant feature of the small city of Camas. The town’s industrial history goes back a long way - to the first sawmills of the 1850s. In 1884, Henry Pittock’s LaCamas Colony Company used Chinese laborers to construct a 7,000-foot ditch that would carry water from Round Lake to its new mill on the site of the current Georgia-Pacific operation. This aqueduct is still in operation and serving its original purpose; indeed, hikers have to chance to walk much of the ditch as well as connect to its source at Mill Pond in Lacamas Park, where they can also make use of a much wider network of trails.
- Calymmian (Wikipedia)
The Calymmian Period (from Ancient Greek: κάλυμμα, romanized: kálymma, meaning “cover”) is the first geologic period in the Mesoproterozoic Era and lasted from 1600 Mya to 1400 Mya (million years ago). Instead of being based on stratigraphy, these dates are defined chronometrically.
Washington Trails Association
- Lacamas Park - Round Lake to Lower Falls (wta.org)
Lacamas Park is a surprising swatch of forest between Camas and Washougal where you can easily take time out to relax and enjoy nature. The park has over six miles of trails, with both wide-hard surfaced paths and more primitive dirt tracks. This loop hike combines both types to give you the optimum experience while exploring a lake, creek, and two waterfalls. There is also an optional side trip to visit the Lily Fields, which are infused with purple camas blossoms from mid-April to mid-May. Although there are some heart-thumping uphill sections, the hike is generally easy and appropriate for reasonably fit people of all ages.
- Camas, Washington (Wikipedia)
Camas /ˈkæməs/ is a city in Clark County, Washington, with a population of 26,065 at the 2020 census. The east side of town borders the city of Washougal, Washington, and the west side of town borders Vancouver, Washington. Camas lies along the Washington side of the Columbia River, across from Troutdale, Oregon, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area.