Beacon Rock State Park

Located inside the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, the highlight of this park is obviously Beacon Rock, an 848-foot tall volcanic core rising next to the Columbia River. Even better is that a public trail climbs to the summit. This one mile trail is sometimes built into the cliffs and often requires bridges to make it happen. Overall the trail is safe but keep a hand on the kids. Beacon Rock State Park also offers camping, hiking trails, picnic areas, rock climbing and boating with one boat launch. Hiking Hamilton Mountain takes several hours and is more typical of trail hikes in the Gorge. Another popular hike is to Rodney Falls and Hardy Falls. The day-use facilities have two kitchen shelters with electricity, two sheltered and 53 unsheltered picnic tables. The main campground has 28 standard campsites in a forested setting suited more for tents, open seasonally. RV�s use the Woodard Creek Campground with five full-hookup campsites open year round. There are six electrical hookup sites for boats at the moorage dock. Winter facilities at the moorage area include two tent sites, one shower and one restroom. Overnight moorage and the boat launch are available year-round. There is fishing on the lower Columbia River, below Bonneville Dam, for sturgeon, salmon, steelhead, bass and walleye.

Beacon Rock, the core of a young volcano that erupted around 57,000 years ago, had a traditional cone shape until raging Ice-Age floodwaters scoured away at its flanks. Native Americans knew that it marked the last of the rapids on the Columbia River and the beginning of tidal influence from the Pacific Ocean, 150 miles away. Lewis and Clark camped at Beacon Rock in November 1805 on their journey to the Pacific and also on their return trip in 1806. They noted the rock in their journal and gave it its present name. Henry J. Biddle, a prominent botanist, geologist and engineer, purchased the rock and built a trail to the top between 1916 and 1918, an engineering marvel at the time. In 1935 his heirs deeded the rock to the state for use as a park. The Civilian Conservation Corps established a camp at Beacon Rock in 1935 and developed the park�s facilities. Several of the CCC structures were constructed using advanced stone masonry and woodworking techniques. Most of their work still stands today.