McKenzie Head
Visitors can follow the old Civilian Conservation Corps road to the summit of this historic highpoint. The trail to the top of McKenzie Head is steep but it's short, just 0.5 miles one way. It was named after Donald McKenzie of the Pacific Fur Company. At the top, enjoy spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and explore Battery 247, a former World War II gun emplacement. Also, imagine the history of the location. On November 18, 1805, after crossing Cape Disappointment, Captain William Clark and eleven men finally stood on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They walked north, following the beach, to the base of this hill. William Clark described it as "a high open hill projecting into the ocean, and about one mile in Circumference." Always exploring, Clark and his party climbed to the top. When Captain William Clark and his party climbed to the top of this hill, they sought more than a spectacular view. They needed to record observations of the mouth of the Columbia River for President Jefferson. Clark wrote, "the water appears very shallow from off the mouth of the river for a great distance, and I cannot ascertain the direction of the deepest Chanel....a large Sand bar lies within the mouth nearest to point Adams...." That evening on November 18, 1805, the group camped a few hundred feet north of McKenzie Head.
Washington State Parks - Cape Disappointment
Clark described the headland as a "bald hill covered with long course grass." John Ordway said, "went over a bald hill where we had a handsom view of the ocean." Today, the coarse grass is still here, but the hill is no longer bald. Trees now grow over much of the hill, obscuring some of the views the men enjoyed. Looking to the west, they could have seen as far as 16 miles out to sea. To the north Clark described the coast as "open for a short distance back then it becomes thick piney country interspersed with ponds. Looking south, Clark described the sight from Cape Disappointment to a high point of a Mountain which he called "beares S.20 deg. W." That "high point" is today's Tillamook Head in Oregon.
What did they see?
The low, flat stretch of land below and toward the ocean is new land, accreted after the jetties were completed in 1917. The rocky cliffs have changed very little in two hundred years.
Views of McKenzie Head
Trailhead
Trail up McKenzie Head
Top of McKenzie Head
McKenzie Head Lagoon
Battery entrance
Inside the battery
Lewis & Clark Monument
Building on the backside of the summit
Coastal Artillery Mount
Looking out to the North Jetty and Benson Beach
Left: Before the North Jetty, McKenzie Head was almost an island
McKenzie Head from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Below on left: McKenzie Head from the North Head Lighthouse
Topo map showing McKenzie Head (trail in red)