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The Bonneville Dam was the first of the major dams on the Columbia River. It was one of the northwest’s largest Depression-era New Deal projects, built to harness the river’s might for hydroelectric generation and to improve navigation. Construction began in 1933, and water began to rise in 1937. In a short time, the impoundment drowned the historic Cascade rapids that had been a treacherous obstacle for Native Americans for generations and for European-American explorers and travelers since the arrival of Lewis and Clark. The dam, 2,690 feet long and 197 feet high, is about two miles

Fort Clatsop was the winter encampment for the Corps of discovery from December 1805 to March 1806. The visitor center includes the Fort Clatsop exhibit built by the explorers, an interpretive center offering an exhibit hall, gift shop and an orientation film. The center features ranger-led programs, reenactments in the fort and trailheads for the Fort To Sea Trail and Netul River Trail as well as restrooms and a picnic area. The park is open every day of the year except December 25th. Costumed programs are scheduled during the summer months, beginning mid-june and ending Labor Day weekend.

For millenia, whenever mountain snows melted rapidly or heavy rains drenched the Northwest, the rising Columbia River would top its banks and spread out over its floodplain, weaving a braided network of branches and side channels. Soggy backwater sloughs would rise from their slow-moving slumber and absorb the floodwaters of the pulsing river. Between such events, they provided quiet habitat to a diverse cast of wildlife characters. The Columbia Slough in North Portland has changed dramatically since the arrival of European Americans. The eighteen-mile-long channel once ran from the Columbia

Hall J. Kelley was a New Englander whose heart was in Oregon. In the early 1800s he pushed hard for the establishment of the region’s center of commerce and culture on a soggy point where the Willamette River empties into the Columbia. Several other settlements were vying for the same thing, and Portland, of course, eventually won out. The settlements grew and converged into one large metropolitan area, leaving Kelley’s spit of land to be filled with dredge material from the river and turned into a park by the Port of Portland. It is probably a good thing that Kelley’s dream wasn’t realized

The North Coast Land Conservancy's Blind Slough Swamp Preserve protects the best example of a Sitka spruce swamp remaining in Oregon. Once common in coastal estuaries from Tillamook to Alaska, this habitat type has been mostly lost in Oregon and Washington to logging, diking and other development. The preserve is bordered on three sides by Columbia River sloughs and channels, and it adjoins the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge. Blind Slough Swamp is in an area well known for birding, canoeing and kayaking opportunities. The overstory on the preserve is dominated by Sitka spruce, some

Located in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Beacon Rock is the core of an ancient volcano. The mile-long trail to its summit provides outstanding panoramic views of the Columbia River Gorge. The park has over 20 miles of roads and trails open to hiking, mountain biking and equestrian use. 'Beacon Rock' was originally named by Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean on October 31, 1805. It was near Beacon Rock that they first measured tidal influences from the ocean on the Columbia River. In 1811, Alexander Ross of the John Jacob Astor expedition

Primitive low impact camping along upland open plain on eastern dredge spoils. No facilities or water. Primitive Leave No Trace Camping on very large field protected by sand dunes from dredge spoils. Only camping avaible on Crims Island Complex. All other portions of Crims Island Complex (excluding Gull Island), closed for camping. Moderate Tidal Influence (4ft or less). Please only camp on field portion of the dredge spoils to allow the newer portions to rehabitat.