Soak up gorgeous views of the Columbia River, Oregon’s Mt. Hood, Washington’s mountains, Silver Star and Larch, and see local wildlife year-round. The Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail (Dike Trail) is a multiuse trail paralleling the Columbia River, connecting several points of interest. Travelers can spot majestic ospreys and bald eagles at Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge on the east end, dip toes in the river at Cottonwood Beach, fish at the floating walkway at Steamboat Landing Park, and stroll the ADA accessible Washougal Waterfront Trail on the west end. Captain William Clark Regional Park at Cottonwood Beach is the only park in the U.S. named in his honor. This is the perfect place to pause to enjoy open grassy spaces, sandy beach access to the river, interpretive signage, replicas of Chinookan canoes and Lewis and Clark’s dugout canoes, picnic shelters, restrooms and easy parking. The Corps of Discovery stopped here to camp and “stock the pantry,” loading their canoes with dried elk, bear, and deer meat for their return trip home in spring of 1806. A pedestrian tunnel passes under SR-14 and connects the trail to Washougal’s downtown area. Travelers can shop and tour Pendleton Woolen Mills Factory, visit Two Rivers Heritage Museum for more history and maps of local art and architecture, or visit Captain Meriwether Lewis’s waterdog sculpture, Seaman, near the Campanile in Reflection Plaza. Go to: VisitWashougal.com.
