If you want to make a little excursion while you are in Vancouver (WA)
or Portland area, Beacon Rock may be a good choice which comes with a
stunning scenery of Columbia River Gorge and the interesting history of
the Rock.
The 2 miles round trip up/down of the big rock is 600′ gain. The grade along the trail is gradual with railings all the way up across 17 bridges and 54 switchbacks. Views along the way up/down and the 360 panorama from the top are spectacular.
After Beacon Rock, I also went to the Bridge of the Gods (about 10 min. drive from the Rock) and walked across the bridge (50 cents to walk across each way). The Bridge of the Gods is a section of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) between OR - WA. There is a trailhead (Bridge of the Gods) with a restroom near the bridge. I saw a small farmers market under the bridge and venders were selling locally grown fruits and fresh/smoked salmon!
Here is the history of Beacon Rock from "Friends of the Columbia Gorge":
"Lewis and Clark initially called it “Beaten Rock”, but changed the name to “Beacon Rock” on their return voyage in 1806. During the early 1900’s it was most often called “Castle Rock”.
Geologically the Rock was once thought to be the eroded core of an ancient volcano. However, it is more likely a segment of a large north-south dike where basalt lava oozed up through cracks in the earth’s crust only 50-60,000 years ago. In either case, the softer outer layers were stripped away by massive floods during the last Ice Age to leave the monolith that remains today.
We owe the preservation of the Rock to two far-sighted individuals. Charles Ladd purchased it in 1904. It was a much loved by his family who often traveled there by boat. Ladd’s stewardship thwarted plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to blast it apart and use the pieces to create a jetty at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1915 Ladd sold it for $1 to Henry J. Biddle on the condition that it would be preserved.
The first recorded climb was in 1901, and the climbers left spikes and ropes in place for later climbers. Biddle was attracted by the idea of building a trail “in perhaps the most difficult location in which a trail had ever been built”. From October 1915 to April 1918, Biddle and a helper built the walkway of trails, ramps, stairs and railings to the top. It was later improved by the CCC. In 1935 Biddle’s heirs offered the Rock to the State of Washington to become a state park. Initially Washington refused the offer, but quickly reconsidered after the same offer was accepted by Oregon. Thus, Beacon Rock very nearly became an Oregon State Park!
Beacon Rock once marked the end of the last rapids in the Columbia River before the ocean, and the farthest point upstream where tidal influences can be detected (only in late fall when the water level is low). This is why Lewis and Clark named it Beaten Rock.
Prior to the building of the Bonneville dam a series of major rapids ran from present-day Cascade Locks to a point near the Rock. These were called the “Columbia Cascades” – from which the Cascade Mountains derive their name. These cascades were caused in part by a violent earthquake in 1700, and by earlier quakes. These caused much of nearby Table Mountain to collapse and slide into the river. For a brief time the rubble blocked the flow, creating a lake that stretched 35 miles upstream and an earthen bridge across the river that the Indians called the “Bridge of the Gods”."
The 2 miles round trip up/down of the big rock is 600′ gain. The grade along the trail is gradual with railings all the way up across 17 bridges and 54 switchbacks. Views along the way up/down and the 360 panorama from the top are spectacular.
After Beacon Rock, I also went to the Bridge of the Gods (about 10 min. drive from the Rock) and walked across the bridge (50 cents to walk across each way). The Bridge of the Gods is a section of Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) between OR - WA. There is a trailhead (Bridge of the Gods) with a restroom near the bridge. I saw a small farmers market under the bridge and venders were selling locally grown fruits and fresh/smoked salmon!
Here is the history of Beacon Rock from "Friends of the Columbia Gorge":
"Lewis and Clark initially called it “Beaten Rock”, but changed the name to “Beacon Rock” on their return voyage in 1806. During the early 1900’s it was most often called “Castle Rock”.
Geologically the Rock was once thought to be the eroded core of an ancient volcano. However, it is more likely a segment of a large north-south dike where basalt lava oozed up through cracks in the earth’s crust only 50-60,000 years ago. In either case, the softer outer layers were stripped away by massive floods during the last Ice Age to leave the monolith that remains today.
We owe the preservation of the Rock to two far-sighted individuals. Charles Ladd purchased it in 1904. It was a much loved by his family who often traveled there by boat. Ladd’s stewardship thwarted plans by the Army Corps of Engineers to blast it apart and use the pieces to create a jetty at the mouth of the Columbia. In 1915 Ladd sold it for $1 to Henry J. Biddle on the condition that it would be preserved.
The first recorded climb was in 1901, and the climbers left spikes and ropes in place for later climbers. Biddle was attracted by the idea of building a trail “in perhaps the most difficult location in which a trail had ever been built”. From October 1915 to April 1918, Biddle and a helper built the walkway of trails, ramps, stairs and railings to the top. It was later improved by the CCC. In 1935 Biddle’s heirs offered the Rock to the State of Washington to become a state park. Initially Washington refused the offer, but quickly reconsidered after the same offer was accepted by Oregon. Thus, Beacon Rock very nearly became an Oregon State Park!
Beacon Rock once marked the end of the last rapids in the Columbia River before the ocean, and the farthest point upstream where tidal influences can be detected (only in late fall when the water level is low). This is why Lewis and Clark named it Beaten Rock.
Prior to the building of the Bonneville dam a series of major rapids ran from present-day Cascade Locks to a point near the Rock. These were called the “Columbia Cascades” – from which the Cascade Mountains derive their name. These cascades were caused in part by a violent earthquake in 1700, and by earlier quakes. These caused much of nearby Table Mountain to collapse and slide into the river. For a brief time the rubble blocked the flow, creating a lake that stretched 35 miles upstream and an earthen bridge across the river that the Indians called the “Bridge of the Gods”."
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