The Unique Cliffside Hike and Curious History of Beacon Rock in the Columbia River Gorge
In today’s video, we’ll share the highlights of hiking Beacon Rock in the Columbia River Gorge. The history of Beacon Rock is equally curious, so tune in to learn about its first sighting by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, its later purchase for $1, and how both the State of Washington and the State of Oregon ended up in discussions over which state would claim it as a state park.
Beacon Rock is an enormous, 848-foot high basalt rock formation on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. It’s actually the core of a volcano that erupted 57,000 years ago! A short trail (about 1 1/2 miles altogether if you hike out and back) switchbacks all the way up the cliff face to the top, offering spectacular views of the Columbia River. It’s pretty cool to be able to hike up the core of a volcano.
The trailhead is about 50 minutes’ drive from Portland or 40 minutes’ drive from Vancouver, on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
Here is the link to the Beacon Rock trail entry on AllTrails, which we recommend checking out before you do the hike so you can read recent trip reports: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/wa...
It’s a pretty popular stop, but parking is easier to come by than at the neighboring Hamilton Mountain trailhead. A Discover Pass is required for parking, or you can pay a day-use fee.
Since this trail is pretty short, we do recommend hiking Hamilton Mountain afterward (it's just a couple minutes' drive up the road). Here is a video guide to the highlights of Hamilton Mountain: • Hamilton Mountain Hike via Pool of the Win...