Fort Columbia State Park is a 593 acre day-use historical park located at the Chinook Point National Historic Landmark and along 6,400 feet of freshwater shoreline on the Columbia River. Within the park are original U.S. Army Coastal Artillery fort buildings and batteries, active from 1896 to 1947. This area was also home to the Chinook Indian Nation and their famed Chief Comcomly, and explored by Robert Gray and the Lewis and Clark expedition. The park is one of several state parks and sites in Washington and Oregon that make up the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks.
The park provides beautiful views of the Columbia River estuary. An interpretive center, observation station, historic officer’s house and five miles of hiking trails through mature forest are additional features of this park. (The Fort Columbia Interpretive Center and Commanding Officer's Historic House are closed until further notice.) Wildlife viewing and picnicking are also popular activities. Two of the historic buildings are available for vacation rental.
As one of the few intact coastal defense sites in the U.S., Fort Columbia has the most intact collection of historic buildings of all Washington state parks. Fort Columbia was built from 1896 to 1904 as one of the harbor defenses of the Columbia River and constructed on the Chinook Point promontory because of the unobstructed view of the Columbia River. It was off this point that Robert Gray anchored and named the river for his ship, "Columbia Rediviva." Nearby the point was the Chinook Indian Nation village of Nose-to-ilse, and later the station camp for the Lewis and Clark expedition bivouacked on the point during the Corps of Discovery exploration. For the duration of three wars, Fort Columbia was fully manned and operational. Declared a surplus at the end of World War II, the fort transferred to the custody of the state of Washington in 1950 and was then designated as a state park. Twelve historic wood-frame buildings and four coastal defense batteries still stand on the premises.
This cache is located across from, but out of sight of, Scarborough House. You're looking for a nicely sized small Lock 'n' Lock type container. You must access the cache from inside the state park. Please, do not park along Hwy 101 and try to bushwack up.
Park hours:
8 a.m. to dusk
Vacation houses are available for rent year round.
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- This geocache has an approved Permit to be placed at this location on property managed by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Visitors are responsible for acquainting themselves with policies and rules pertaining to State Parks areas.
- The following items may not be placed in the geocache: food, illegal substances, medications, personal hygiene products, pornographic materials, hazardous materials, or weapons of any type.
- By searching for the cache, visitors agree that they are responsible for their own actions, and acknowledge that neither the State of Washington nor the cache owner is responsible for any loss or injury that may occur in relation to such search.
- Report any incident, problem, or violation to State Parks staff.
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In memory of Laurie Freeman aka geocache reviewer "Wizard of Ooze", aka geocacher Half-Canadian and Scooter the Wonder Dog. This geocache was originally placed by her for the enjoyment of the geocaching community.