Last updated: August 8, 2023
Place
Cabinet Gorge Dam
NPS
Quick Facts
Location:
Cabinet Gorge Dam Clark Fork, ID 83811
MANAGED BY:
Avista
Amenities
3 listed
Information Kiosk/Bulletin Board, Parking - Auto, Scenic View/Photo Spot
The Cabinet Gorge Dam is a good place to see how far the ice dam for glacial Lake Missoula extended into the Clark Fort valley. Ice moving south from Canada filled the valley below Cabinet Gorge Dam in western Montana creating a wall of ice over 3000 feet deep. The ice dams blocked the flow of water down the Clark Fork River and created a gigantic natural glacial Lake Missoula that stretched eastward for more than 200 miles and was over 2000 feet deep. Glacial Lake Missoula filled the valleys of western Montana with more water that Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined. Pressure from this massive amount of water and changing climates helped this massive lake fill and drain over a 100 times creating the cataclysmic Missoula Floods.