Coulee City is a town in Grant County, Washington, located in the central part of the state at the southern end of Banks Lake. With a population of about 550 at the 2020 census, it is a small community whose identity is inseparable from the remarkable landscape that surrounds it: the Grand Coulee, a steep-walled channel carved by catastrophic Ice Age floods that reshaped the Columbia Plateau. The town sits within the Grand Coulee, near the Dry Falls Dam, which holds the southern end of Banks Lake. Banks Lake is a roughly 27-mile-long reservoir formed by two dams—North Dam near Grand Coulee to the north and Dry Falls Dam near Coulee City to the south—and it functions as the equalizing reservoir for the Columbia Basin Project, one of the largest irrigation systems in the United States. The lake stores water pumped from the Columbia River and delivers it to the surrounding farmland. Just beyond the town lies Dry Falls, a remnant of the Ice Age floods and one of the region's defining natural landmarks. The coulee's walls rise hundreds of feet around the town, giving Coulee City a dramatic, enclosed setting unlike the open farmland elsewhere in the Columbia Basin. The community's economy and character are tied to both irrigation agriculture and outdoor recreation. Coulee City serves as a gateway for visitors exploring Banks Lake, Dry Falls, and the Grand Coulee, and its small-town pace reflects its remote, geology-defined location. It suits those drawn to central Washington's stark beauty, water recreation, and a quiet rural way of life.