The Columbia River Gorge is a spectacular river canyon, 80 miles long and up to 4,000 feet deep, that meanders past cliffs, spires, and ridges set against nearby peaks of the Pacific Northwest's Cascade Mountain Range. Shaped by ancient volcanoes and floods, the Gorge is also rich in culture and history, and home to 75,000 people. It's also a vital transportation and communication corridor where trains, barges, and highways support an interstate commerce, and natural forces generate wind and hydrologic power.