The Curiously Named Cape Disappointment State Park
Join us at the curiously named Cape Disappointment State Park at the southwest tip of Washington State. It’s a place of lighthouses, rugged coastline, forests, and intriguing ruins.
In today’s video, I’ll share Cape Disappointment State Park’s highlights and why it has that intriguing name.
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Cape Disappointment State Park is on the Washington side of the mouth of the Columbia River. It’s just over two hours’ drive from Portland or just over three hour’s drive from Seattle.
Since it’s a Washington State park, a Discover Pass is required for parking or you can pay a day-use fee on site.
We started out with a visit to one of two Cape Disappointment lighthouses, the North Head Lighthouse. A very short trail takes you along ocean bluffs to the lighthouse itself.
This is the second lighthouse built at Cape Disappointment. I’ll show you the original one later on in the video. Two lighthouses were built here because the area near where the Columbia River reaches the Pacific is extremely dangerous for ships. The original Cape Disappointment lighthouse wasn’t visible enough to ships that were traveling south.
After the North Head Lighthouse, we went a little further down the road and did a short hike called the Cape Disappointment Trail. It starts out near the fantastically named Waikiki Beach and ends near the original Cape Disappointment lighthouse. The trail is about 2 miles altogether, and it’s an out-and-back route. AllTrails map here: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/tra...
There are a few other trails that start from the same area, so I’d recommend downloading the trail map before you go.
The Cape Disappointment Trail starts out as a forested path traveling uphill. It has nice ferns and big old trees. After a while, it opens onto bluffs with views of the ocean below. South along the coast, the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse comes into view.
This place, where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean, was the destination of the Lewis & Clark Expedition’s long journey, so you’ll also find this museum focused on the Lewis & Clark Expedition. In 2022, admission is $5 for adults and $2.50 for kids.
Just after the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, you’ll find overgrown ruins of military bunkers. The military history at Cape Disappointment goes all the way back to the late 1800s.
Keep hiking after the bunkers to reach Deadman’s Cove, a beautiful cove filled with driftwood. From what I can tell from online reports, the cove’s ominous name dates back to an era when shipwrecks were common in the hazardous water near the mouth of the Columbia River, and shipwreck victims would sometimes drift into the cove.
The name of the headland itself, Cape Disappointment, goes all the way back to 1788. An English sea captain named John Meares reached the cape, looking for the Columbia River’s entrance. Somehow he wasn’t able to see it, so he named it Cape Disappointment. It’s a bit of a misnomer, because of course, it is indeed at the entrance to the Columbia River.
Thanks for joining us at Cape Disappointment State Park!
History reference: https://www.parks.wa.gov/486/Cape-Dis...