Troutlake, Washington

Welcome to Troutlake, Washington

The Trout Lake valley was a summer home for Yakama and Klickitat Indians for thousands of years. Travelling to the huckleberry fields, they camped in the valley to fish and to gather tule reeds that grew in the lake. The first Euro-Americans to visit Trout Lake were following Indian trails. The first visitor we have record of is John Work, a Hudson’s Bay Company clerk who was traveling from The Dalles to Fort Vancouver in May of 1830. He hired several Indians from The Dalles to guide him on an inland route, to avoid high water on the Columbia, and this route passed through the Trout Lake valley.George McClellan, who later became known for his service as Commanding General of the Union Army in the Civil War, traveled parts of this same trail in 1853, while seeking a route for a transcontinental railroad. He camped on Cave Creek in the southwestern part of the valley. We can only imagine how the future of the valley would have changed had this railroad been built here.