Editing Clark County, Washington (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|656|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|629|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|27|sqmi}} (4.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{Cite web |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_53.txt |access-date=July 4, 2015 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref> It is the fifth-smallest county in Washington by land area.

Clark County is surrounded on two sides by the Columbia River and on the north by the North Fork of the [[Lewis River (Washington)|Lewis River]]. The East Fork of the Lewis River and the [[Washougal River]] cut across the county. The largest stream arising solely within the county is Salmon Creek, which terminates at [[Vancouver Lake]] before eventually flowing into the Columbia River.

Like most of Oregon and Washington south of [[Puget Sound]] into the [[Willamette Valley]] the landscape and climate of Clark County are determined by its placement between the [[volcanic]] [[Pacific Coast Range|Pacific Coast]] and [[Cascade Range]]s, where [[glaciation]] helped form a U-shaped valley which meets the river valley of the Columbia River as it leaves the [[Columbia River Gorge]]. Volcanic [[andisols|andisol soils]] are common, with fertile [[mollisols]] in the lower areas. The central and southwest areas of the county are generally flat floodplains, sculpted by torrents of prehistoric [[Lake Missoula]]. A series of dramatic floods known as the [[Missoula Floods]] took place 15,000–13,000 years ago, as several ice dams melted, forming a series of low steps such as the "Heights", "Mill Plain", "Fourth Plain" and "Fifth Plain". Clark County's [[Köppen climate classification]] is "Csb".

Many lakes border the river in the lowlands near [[Ridgefield, Washington|Ridgefield]], including Vancouver Lake. Eastern and northern Clark County contain forested foothills of the [[Cascade Mountains]], rising to an elevation of {{convert|4,000|ft}} on the border with Skamania County. [[Larch Mountain (Clark County, Washington)|Larch Mountain]] is the county's highest free-standing peak.

[[Mount Hood]], [[Mount St. Helens]] and [[Mount Adams (Washington)|Mount Adams]] are all visible from Clark County, and cold winter winds through the Columbia River Gorge often bring [[freezing rain]] and a coating of [[glaze ice]] or [[clear ice]] known locally as a "silver thaw", especially in southeastern areas of the county closest to the gorge. The counterpart to this are warm winds from the southwest known locally as the "[[Pineapple Express]]".

===Climate===
Spring thaws can often swell county waterways, with two of the more destructive floods being those of the Columbia River in June 1894 and May 1948. The 1948 [[Memorial Day]] flood almost topped the Interstate Bridge's support [[pier]]s and completely destroyed nearby [[Vanport, Oregon]]. Construction of [[The Dalles Dam]] and destruction of [[Celilo Falls]] are credited with a decrease in such floods.

Significant windstorms in Clark County include the [[Columbus Day Storm of 1962|Columbus Day windstorm]] of October 12, 1962, and [[1972 Portland-Vancouver Tornado|an April 6, 1972, tornado]] which rated F3 on the [[Fujita scale]], striking a local school. A "[[Friday the 13th]]" storm in November 1981 brought winds up to {{convert|70|mph}}, with other storms including the [[inauguration day]] storm of January 20, 1993, the [[Our Lady of Guadalupe|Guadalupe Day]] storm of December 12, 1995 (with winds up to {{convert|95|mph}} at [[Washougal, Washington]]) and small tornado on [[Tornado outbreak sequence of January 7–11, 2008|January 10, 2008]], which destroyed a boathouse at Vancouver Lake and caused damage to buildings in [[Hazel Dell, Washington|Hazel Dell]] before dissolving near [[Hockinson, Washington|Hockinson]].<ref>"Region has long history of damaging windstorms," by Don Hamilton, ''The Columbian'', January 11, 2008, p. A5.</ref>

===Ecology===
Flora and fauna of the region include the normal [[ecological succession]] from lowland [[Acer macrophyllum|big leaf maple]] and [[Thuja plicata|western red cedar]] through [[Quercus garryana|Garry oak]] on up through fire-dependent species such as [[lodgepole pine]] and [[coast Douglas-fir|Douglas fir]], as well as [[grand fir]], [[Abies amabilis|silver fir]] and other species common to [[Gifford Pinchot National Forest]]. In addition to a wide variety of birds including [[great blue heron]], [[Bird of prey|raptors]] such as [[barred owl]],  [[osprey]], [[red-tailed hawk]] and [[bald eagle]], [[corvid]]s ([[common raven|raven]], [[Northwestern crow|crow]], [[California scrub jay|California scrub]] and [[Steller's jay]])  and others, the native streams are home to various species of [[salmon]] and the Vancouver Trout Hatchery. Larger mammals include [[black-tailed deer]], [[coyote]], [[raccoon]], [[skunk]] and invasive [[opossum]]; with sightings of lynx, bobcat, black bear, cougar and elk not uncommon, especially in the northern parts of the county. Common foods used by the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous people]] such as the [[Klickitat tribe]] and [[Chinookan|Chinook]] included salmon, [[Vaccinium parvifolium|huckleberry]] and ''[[Camassia quamash]]'' (after which the city of [[Camas, Washington]] is named).

===Geographic features===
{|
|-valign=top
|
*[[Cascade Range|Cascade Mountains]]
*[[Columbia River]]
*[[Vancouver Lake]]
*[[East Fork Lewis River]]
*[[Lacamas Creek]]
|
*[[Lacamas Lake]]
*[[Battle Ground Lake State Park|Battle Ground Lake]]
*[http://www.bgwa.com/moulton_falls.htm Moulton Falls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831064346/http://www.bgwa.com/moulton_falls.htm |date=August 31, 2019 }}
*[http://www.bgwa.com/lucia_falls_park.htm Lucia Falls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831070711/http://www.bgwa.com/lucia_falls_park.htm |date=August 31, 2019 }}
*[[Larch Mountain (Clark County, Washington)|Larch Mountain]]
|
*[[Silver Star Mountain (Skamania County, Washington)|Silver Star Mountain]]
*[[Green Mountain]]
*[[Lewisville Park]]
*[[Daybreak Park]]
*[[Vancouver Lake Park]]
*[[Klineline Park]]
|}

===Major highways===
*[[File:I-5.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 5 in Washington|Interstate 5]]
*[[File:I-205.svg|23px]] [[Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washington)|Interstate 205]]
*[[File:WA-14.svg|20px]] [[Washington State Route 14|State Route 14]]
*[[File:WA-500.svg|23px]] [[Washington State Route 500|State Route 500]]
*[[File:WA-501.svg|23px]] [[Washington State Route 501|State Route 501]]
*[[File:WA-502.svg|23px]] [[Washington State Route 502|State Route 502]]
*[[File:WA-503.svg|23px]] [[Washington State Route 503|State Route 503]]

====Former major highway====
*[[File:US 99 (1961).svg|23px]] [[U.S. Route 99 in Washington|U.S. Route 99]]
*[[File:US 830 (1961).svg|23px]] [[U.S. Route 830]]
*[[File:WA-120.svg|23px]] [[Washington State Route 120|State Route 120]]
*[[File:WA-140.svg|23px]] [[Washington State Route 140|State Route 140]]

===Adjacent counties===
*[[Cowlitz County, Washington|Cowlitz County]] - north
*[[Skamania County, Washington|Skamania County]] - east
*[[Multnomah County, Oregon]] - south
*[[Columbia County, Oregon]] - southwest

===National protected areas===
* [[Fort Vancouver National Historic Site]] (part)
* [[Gifford Pinchot National Forest]] (part)
* [[Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge]]
* [[Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge]]