Kapowsin, WA

Kapowsin sits at the north end of Lake Kapowsin, about 25 miles southeast of Tacoma, where an ancient Electron Mudflow from Mount Rainier dammed Kapowsin Creek and drowned a forest. The lake is now a Washington aquatic reserve, with wetlands, wooded shorelines, fishing, boating, and submerged stumps that still show the lake's unusual origin. The community itself grew with the region's early lumber economy and once had stores, trades, and a high school. These days the water does most of the introducing: bass, trout, coho, and a shoreline managed for habitat as much as recreation. Kapowsin is Pierce County foothill country with a working lake and a geologic story under the surface.