The Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, including Spring Canyon, is scheduled to be open for Labor Day Weekend according to the National Park Service website.
Various locations on Lake Roosevelt have been closed due to pavement construction projects.
From the NPS website:
Updates on Closed Areas – Updated 08/28/2019 The following work and closure timeline is tentative and subject to change depending on weather, wildfire, and other unforeseen circumstances.
Closures for the week of August 26: All locations are currently scheduled to be open for Labor Day Weekend with the exception of Porcupine Campground, Day-use, and Fish Cleaning Station. The Porcupine Bay boat launch may not open until late Friday or early Saturday depending on cure time for the micro surfacing. This schedule is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances. For Crack Sealing: Spring Canyon Group Campsites Spring Canyon Campground Spring Canyon Day-use Spring Canyon Boat Launch
For Patching: The following locations will be open but with traffic diversions in place. Please drive carefully and pay attention to the flaggers. Lincoln Mill Boat Launch (Reopened 8/28/2019) Hanson Harbor Boat Launch Keller Ferry Campground
The Grand Coulee Dam was built during the Great Depression and is now entering the future via interactive, 360-degree virtual reality tours becoming available this weekend.
Seattle-based virtual reality company Pixvana partnered with Big Power Project, a content production studio in Seattle, to create the five-minute experience now available at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center.
An overhead view of workers inside G-23, one of the generators in the largest hydropower facility in North America, Grand Coulee Dam. It’s a view not available in physical tours, but is in a new virtual reality tour offered at the dam’s Visitor Center. – photo courtesy of Pixvana
Up to four users at one time can wear Oculus Go headsets that allow them to experience the Grand Coulee Dam from top to bottom as the audio tells facts about the dam.
The 360-degree technology allows the user to look up, down, and around at their “surroundings.”
Filming involved using 360-degree cameras and air and water craft.
“We filmed over the course of two full days during the summer of 2018,” said Ted Youngs, the founder of Big Power Project. “The [Bureau of Reclamation] gave us amazing access. We were the first crew to take drone footage from the dam, and they also allowed us to push the envelope by shooting from an inflatable dinghy from below the 350 foot-plus tall dam face and by attaching our gear to a bridge crane that traversed the almost quarter-mile long Third Power Plant.”
The 360-degree video “brings viewers inside the Dam’s Third Power Plant, showcasing the impressive infrastructure and teaching visitors the inner workings of how hydroelectricity works,” a May 21 press release from Pixvana states.
The company calls the Third Power Plant “one of the largest and most complicated power-generating facilities on the planet,” which can produce enough electricity to power approximately 3 million homes.
Their “fully immersive experience” includes never-before-seen footage that “spans from the top of the dam, inside the water-fed generators, all the way down the 5,000-foot-long face – and everywhere in between,” the release said.
“The Grand Coulee Dam is one of the most fascinating facilities in the country, but high security, the extremely loud volume of operation, and other physical barriers make it difficult to experience live,” said Rachel Lanham, Chief Operating Officer for Pixvana. “[VR helps] viewers learn in an exciting new way that increases retention, memory, and empathy. An immersive VR tour … allows the facility to engage its visitors, in a fun, low-cost, impactful way.”
A video available at https://spinxr.com/VGRFFQDRX allows people to watch the video on their computer, and click and drag to look around 360 degrees.
Pixvana, founded in 2015, has been involved in virtual reality videos for training waitstaff on a cruise ship, virtual reality therapy, and entertainment projects for NBC Universal.
Big Power Project, founded in 2018, does work ranging from virtual reality to documentaries to large scale installations, according to their website.
Geologist Nick Zentner, who host the series Nick on the Rocks, describes the geology of Steamboat Rock in this video. Zentner has also described nearby Dry Falls , and many other features of the Pacific NorthWest. Check out this video, and also read an article about a lecture he gave at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center here.
These clever fellows, who make a comedic web series titled “The Marvelous M”, have an episode featuring the Grand Coulee Dam including footage of the dam, a scene at the visitor center, and more coulee locations.
Mini golf at Sunbanks Lake Resort is one of many free activities for kids this weekend.
There’s a bull ride and wild horse race on Friday, then fireworks on Saturday night may be enjoyed from a park or from the waters of Banks Lake. That comes after Saturday’s Koulee Kids Fest with plenty of activities for the kiddos, and a traveling show going around Eastern Washington.
The Ridge Riders Rodeo Grounds in Delano on Alcan Road will host the bulls and wild horses at 6 p.m. on Friday June 15. Read more about it here
Koulee Kids Fest takes place on Saturday, with free activities, treats, and a show for the kids, all going on around town. Call the chamber of commerce for more info at 509-633-3074. Read more about it here
Fireworks will be launched on Saturday, June 16, from North Dam, and can be seen from the nearby Banks Lake Park, North Dam Park, Coulee Playland, and from the waters of Banks Lake. Read more about that event here
A traveling Chautauqua will be making stops in nearby towns such as Coulee City and Nespelem this week, with juggling acts, education, parades, music, and more. Read more about that here.
