Washington State Parks: The Columbia Gorge and Pacific Coast Regions

The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission oversees a system of 120 state parks that span the state from sandy beaches to the rugged terrain of the Columbia River Gorge.  Included in that number are the sheltered waters of Puget Sound, a unique marine environment that is home to some 40 marine parks. The state’s park system is organized into regions and the more popular websites provide information based on that regional layout.
 
As the Columbia River snakes across the bottom edge of the state, separating Washington State from neighboring Oregon, there are six state parks within the Columbia Gorge Region: Maryhill, Goldendale Observatory, Columbia Hills, Doug’s Beach, Beacon Rock, and Reed Island state parks.  (The Goldendale Observatory is unique among state parks in that it is home to one of the largest public-access telescopes in the United States: anyone who wants to view the starry heavens.)

As it carves its way westward to the Pacific, the Columbia creates a one-of-a-king, sea-level water passage through the Cascade Mountain Range.  Along its 80-mile trek to the ocean, the canyon walls along the way—the south wall in Oregon and the north walls in Washington State—reach heights of 4,000 feet in some places.

The Pacific Coast Region begins at Pacific Beach State Park at its north end and extends southward to Fort Columbia where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.  Fort Columbia is a park with a military history: the fort defended the mouth of the Columbia River from 1896 to 1947.  Nearby at Cape Disappointment— now Cape Disappointment State Park— Lewis and Clark arrived in November 1805 completing the east-to-west leg of their exploration of the lands newly obtained through the Louisiana Purchase.  Today’s park is home to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.