2.5 hr
Overview
The mouth of the Columbia River, from the Spanish-American War until the end of World War II, was defended by three forts: Fort Stevens in Oregon and Fort Canby and Fort Columbia in Washington. Fort Columbia became surplus in 1947 and was transferred to the Washington State Park system. Before the U.S. Army arrived, this area at Chinook Point saw the arrival in 1792 of Captain Robert Gray, who named the Columbia River after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva . The Lewis and Clark Expedition camped near here, at Station Camp, for several days in November 1805, before shifting to the site of Fort Clatsop . Fort Columbia is now one of the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks. You can walk the gun emplacements and buildings here (some of them are sometimes open as a museum and interpretive center) and then take the leafy trail up Scarborough Hill , where you’ll get few views but find solitude among the giant Sitka spruce and dense salal and salmonberry thickets. Note that windstorms in the past decade have destroyed some of the trail system on the hill; longer loop options shown in older guidebooks are no longer possible.
Trail Stats
6.9 km
287 m
250 m
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Photos
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