Lacamas Creek

Lacamas Creek is located within Clark County, Washington, United States, and flows approximately 12.5 miles from headwaters near Camp Bonneville to Lacamas Lake and Round Lake in Camas, and eventually into the Washougal River. Interestingly, geologists have concluded that the creek used to flow westward through the Burnt Bridge Creek channel. This changed when the Missoula Floods deposited an alluvial fan that diverted the flow into the Lacamas Lake trough. ^{[ [http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/2006/2924/LacamasCrk_text.pdf Evarts, Russell C. "Geologic Map of the Lacamas Creek Quadrangle, Clark County, Washington."] ]} It is fed by numerous streams, but the five largest tributaries are:

* Matney Creek
* Shanghai Creek
* Fifth Plain Creek
* China Ditch
* Dwyer Creek

Water quality

According to the Clark County Stream Health Report:

The observed health of Lacamas Creek watershed streams ranges from good to very poor. Stream healthis best in the upland areas of relatively undisturbed forest, but declines markedly as streams flow through agricultural, suburban, and urban areas. [Clark County Stream Health Report, 2004]

Recreation

Lacamas Creek meanders through public forest and private land before reaching NE Goodwin Road at which point it is paralleled by the Lacamas Heritage Trail until it enters Lacamas Lake. At the southern end of the lake, the stream flows into Round Lake, in Lacamas Park.

One trail in Lacamas Park follows Lacamas Creek for 0.8 miles from the dam on Round Lake, past the Camas Potholes and Potholes Falls before crossing a footbridge at Lower Falls and heading to a small parking lot near Northeast Third Avenue and East First Avenue in Camas.

External links

* [http://64.4.176.28/water-resources/documents/Stream%20Health%20Report/Lacamas.pdf "Lacamas Creek Watershed"] by Clark County Washington Public Works Department
* [http://64.4.176.28/water-resources/documents/Stream%20Health%20Report/L%20Map.pdf "Map of Lacamas Creek Watershed"] by Clark County Washington Public Works Department

Notes