The Grand Coulee Dam: worth the trip to Central Washington, trust me.

IT IS THE BIGGEST POWER PLANT IN THE USA!

The Grand Coulee Dam is worth going out of your way to visit just like the Empire State Building, Fenway Park, Golden Gate Bridge, Washington Monument, etc.  It has a museum that makes boring things like hydropower and dam-building interesting, there are bald eagles feasting on the fish at the bottom of the spillway almost all year round, a laser-light show at night for people who like laser-light shows, and it is relatively in the middle of nowhere so you have to take a fun road-trip to get there.  They have tours that take you across the top of the dam, but it is just as impressive from across town as it is from on top.  The Grand Coulee Dam is just huge and historic.

Even if you really don't like dams, you can still enjoy a visit to the Grand Coulee Dam because nearby attractions include Banks Lake (filling up the upper Grand Coulee), Roosevelt Lake (the lake behind the Grand Coulee Dam), Colville Indian reservation (Chief Joseph's grave isn't too far away in Nespelem) and the Columbia River (which flows downstream from the dam for a while before it is impounded by Chief Joseph dam, which is not worth visiting).  All these lakes have ample rural outdoorsy opportunities like fishing, boating, hiking, hunting, etc.

In this photo, the spillway gates are being opened.

I believe the Grand Coulee Dam to be a great example of smart government working with and for the people.  The Dam provides power to the entire region, without using carbon fuels.  The dam enables a thriving agricultural district South of the dam.  The irrigated area is very productive despite the natural shrub-steppe desert ecosystem.  The dam regulates water melting down from the snowpack of the Canadian Rockies and all of the upper Columbia River which has contributed to fewer destructive flooding incidents on the Columbia River.  Most importantly to me, the dam was a monumental project that was larger than anything that existed at the time.  The construction of it put thousands of people to work during a time of economic hardship in the 1930s.  The project continues to provide economic value to the surrounding area by way of tourism, recreation, scientific & engineering research, agriculture, wages, and water...showing how successful a well planned government super-project can be.