All posts by Scott Hunter

Scott has been living in the Grand Coulee Dam area since 1988 and loving it.

Good weekend to be here

  • Run The Dam (a whole festival)
  • Sunbanks Rock Fest
Dressed up like the rock band KISS, a group of runners come off the top of the dam in 2022 in the full spirit of the weekend.

Dressed up like the rock band KISS, a group of runners come off the top of the dam in 2022 in the full spirit of the weekend.

It’s not just a dam run anymore.
The Dam Run has morphed into more than a 5K, 10K, or half-marathon race on Saturday, Sept. 16. Now it’s a whole festival.

And Sunbanks Lake Resort is wrapping up its lineup of music festivals with a weekend of tributes to great rock bands.

Run the Dam now offers food, vendors, beer garden, live entertainment, Kids Korner and more.

First Friday Market is tonight

Kids get cool in the sprinklers at First Friday in July.

The chamber of commerce’s First Friday Market hits the street — Main Street, that is — tonight, Aug. 4, 2023, from 5-9 p.m.

  • The event will feature:
  • a sprinkler park for the kids (on the grass at Coulee Plaza)
  • a beer garden at the other end of the street at MPH High Dam Bar & Grill
  • music by guest DJ Joel DeWinkler
  • great food from Porky’s and Siam Palace
  • cool and shady mister tents

Here’s your visitor guide

A boat on Banks Lake is tiny against the massive wall of the Upper Grand Coulee.

Here’s our 2023-24 Visitors’ Guide, the print version in online form. Use this to keep it “in your pocket” for quick reference

OR

Pick up the actual print version just about anywhere in town, at the Visitor Center at Grand Coulee Dam or at several visitor centers around the state.

Grand Coulee Dam laser light show and public tours begin Memorial Day weekend 

 – Starting May 26, the Bureau of Reclamation will begin operations of the “One River, Many Voices” laser light show and the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant public tours. 

laser light show
The lasers tell the story of the dam and surrounding area and people, drawn with light figures 300 feet tall and up to nearly a mile away.

The light show will run nightly at 10 p.m. Pacific Time through July 31. Beginning Aug. 1, the show will start at 9:30 p.m., and from Sept. 1–30, it will begin at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are not required to enjoy the light show.

Public tours at the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. PDT, running approximately one hour. Availability is limited and subject to change. Tours can be canceled without notice. Please call 509-633-9265 for accessible accommodations. For additional tour guidelines, visit https://www.usbr.gov/pn/grandcoulee/visit/tour.html.

Admission is free to watch the laser light show and to join a public tour. The Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center remains open daily from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. PDT, free of charge.

The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation’s largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR