41 min
Overview
Round Lake, like its larger neighbor Lacamas Lake , is a child of the Missoula Floods, a depression carved when ice dams collapsed somewhere in northern Montana over 12,000 years ago and swept down through the Columbia River valley. The floods were not a single event but occurred at least 40 times over a period of 2,000 years. A "Missoula boulder," perhaps rafted down the cataclysmic spate on a floe of ice, sits at the south end of Round Lake. The area was a rich foraging ground for Native Americans, who found wapato in the lake and camas on the oak scablands above it. In the early 1880s, a ditch was excavated that connected the lake with Camas' new paper mill (see the Mill Ditch to Round Lake Hike ). At that time, two dams were constructed at the south end of Round Lake, raising the water level by some 12 feet (the old timber dams were replaced in the 1930s). Another aqueduct to the paper mill was dug by Chinese laborers. Nowadays, this is a recreation area, where families come to picnic and fish for trout, bluegill, and smallmouth bass. A trail leads around Round Lake and connects with other scenic hikes in Lacamas Regional Park (see the Lacamas Heritage Trail Hike and the Lacamas Creek Loop Hike ).
Trail Stats
2.3 km
43 m
90 m
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Photos
Trail photo
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Trail photo
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Trail photo
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Trail photo
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Trail photo
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