Lewis and Clark Trail Maps: From the Rockies to the Pacific

This article has been relocated to http://lewis-clark-trail.us/History/ClarksMap5.php.

Hiking Trail Improvements at Beacon Rock State Park

Beacon Rock State Park is a 5,100-acre year-round camping park located on the Washington State side of the Columbia River Gorge. The park is famous for the historical 848-foot rock, and boaters value the Columbia River moorage and boat ramp. It was near Beacon Rock that Lewis and Clark first measured tidal influences from the Pacific Ocean on the Columbia River.

The park's largely unappreciated value lies in thirteen miles of old fire roads and twelve miles of hiking trails. The State Department of Natural Resources logged the area in the early 1960s, leaving a network of old roads.

A connection between fire roads on the west and east sides evolved in the mid to late 1990s by adventurous hikers, and that informal path has just been improved. Working in partnership with the Washington Trails Association, Backcountry Horsemen of Washington and others, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has created a 1.6-mile connecting route that offers hikers easy access to spectacular views from both the east and west sides of the rock.

Source article, containing more information
Hardy Ridge a hiker haven in the Gorge | The News Tribune - Northwest

More points of interest near Beacon Rock State Park

Mt. Hood National Forest
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Ainsworth State Park
Hamilton Island Boat Ramp
Fort Cascades Historic Site
Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge

The Old Celilo Falls

This article has been relocated to http://lewis-clark-trail.us/History/celilo-falls.php.

A Drive Along the Columbia River Gorge

"Bert's Bus" just posted an excellent series of photos taken while touring the Columbia River Gorge, you can see them on this blog post. Photos show the Vista House, the Latourel Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, Multnomah Falls, a huge (as usual) sturgeon, and the vicinity of Mount St. Helens.

To find points of interest throughout the Columbia River Gorge vicinity, you can take a look at The Lewis and Clark Trail Today: The Columbia River Gorge, and click through to the Google Map that it links to.

Visiting Stevenson, Washington

Kathika Travel Website published an article today covering things to do and places to stay in Stevenson, WA. The article also mentions a few sites in the surrounding Columbia River Gorge vicinity. Receiving prominent mention are the hiking trails at Beacon Rock State Park.

In Captain William Clark's "blog entry" dated October 31, 1805 he mentioned Beacon Rock, writing "a remarkable high detached rock Stands in a bottom on the Stard Side &about 800 feet high and 400 paces around", calling it "the Beaten rock".

A Two-Wheeler Tour of Wine Country

The New York Times "Frugal Traveler" takes a bicycle tour of the Washington State side of the Columbia River Gorge, visiting a few wineries along the way. Wines produced on the Oregon side of the Columbia River are more well-known and expensive, so the frugal traveler searched the Washington side for undiscovered value.