Columbia Gorge--WA, Hwy 14

12/4/2020

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What’s to see along the north side of the Columbia River? You can travel Hwy 14 east from Vancouver, WA 180 miles along the Columbia. Also called the Evergreen Hwy, it’s a winding, picturesque road (especially in Fall), used by a number of commuters at the western end. Here are some places to stop/explore:

Vancouver USA
Transit options
Camas-Washougal
Steamboat Landing Park
Capt. William Clark Park
Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Mt. Pleasant
Cape Horn & Prindle
St. Cloud
Franz Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Skamania & Sams Walker Day Use Area & Trail
Beacon Rock State Park
Pierce National Wildlife Refuge
North Bonneville & Dam
Bridge of the Gods (to Cascade Locks OR)
Skamania Lodge & Columbia Gorge Interpretive Ctr
Stevenson
Places further west on Hwy 14 to be added later.

Vancouver USA
I have already posted some about the Vancouver area:

Vancouver City and Esther Short Park https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/esther-short-park-vancouver-wa
Vancouver Waterfront Park, Vancouver Lake Regional Park, Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/saturdays-and-other-days-in-the-parks
Fort Vancouver, w/Pearson Air Field & Museum https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/fort-vancouver-wa

Transit between Fisher’s Landing Transit Center, southeast Vancouver, east as far as Stevenson, Carson, Dog Mountain—WET bus, public Transit 509-427-3990

Camas, WA—14 mi east of I-5, on Hwy 14

Downtown Camas is quaint, with tree-lined streets and public art, lots of little shops, cute little restaurants, and the Liberty Theater, where you can see Classic Retro films for only $5, Ballet/Dance/Stage to Screen for about $15, and (UK) National Theatre Live/Opera about $18.

A friend and I ate at Tommy O’s—their Coconut Crunchy Shrimp was crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, surpassingly delectable; their Buddha Bowl was lovely and luscious; their plate of Island Favorites: pork belly fried rice and Kalua Pork was also good (curry macaroni salad was a bit dry). We had a pleasant dinner at an outdoor bistro table. Tommy O’s is the ground floor of The Camas Hotel, which looks like a handsome historic place for a honeymoon or anniversary, but is not wheelchair accessible. https://www.tommyosaloha.com
Camas has some great parks and connecting trails

https://www.cityofcamas.us/parksfacilities/parkslocate
https://www.cityofcamas.us/images/DOCS/PARK_REC/REPORTS/2015camas_trailmap_hi.pdf
Lacamas Lake (Heritage Park) and Lacamas Park reviewed at https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/saturdays-and-other-days-in-the-parks
Crown Park—15th Ave & Everett St., shady picnic, playground, tennis courts, outdoor swim; see photos

You can travel to Camas-Washougal by bus from Fisher’s Landing transit center in east Vancouver on C-Tran bus #92. https://c-tran.com/routes/92-camas-washougal

Washougal, WA—17 miles from I-5, Hwy 14
Camas and Washougal melt together so that they share the Port of Camas-Washougal.

https://portcw.com/parks-trails/ Picnic & play at the picturesque and thoughtful parks at the port, with great views of Mt. Hood and the sunset, reviewed at
https://www.travelpacificnw.com/accessible-travel-blog/saturdays-and-other-days-in-the-parks

A nice little video to watch about Washougal at http://www.downtownwashougal.com/
“Lewis and Clark camped just down the street in 1806. Pendleton has operated their woolen mill here for over 100 years.” I took the kids on the tour of Pendleton Woolen Mill a few years ago, and it is really worth going. It can be loud, so prepare as needed. The small Two Rivers Heritage Museum is just across the way. See

https://www.pendleton-usa.com/pendleton-heritage.html and
https://www.pendleton-usa.com/mill-tours.html includes a 4 min video.
https://2rhm.com/ (Two Rivers Heritage Museum)

Steamboat Landing Park—about a half mile from Port of Camas-Washougal, Hwy 14
I wanted to check out the fishing pier here, as well as the restroom. The entrance is across Hwy 14 from Washougal River Road. The parking area is rather rough going for a manual wheelchair. From the parking area there’s a small steep hiker’s trail up to the Lewis & Clark Heritage Trail (Dike Trail). Or, you can walk on a paved trail under the highway from Pendleton Woolen Mill and it will take you up to join the variously named trail on the Columbia River dike/levee, from which you can get to a deck overlooking the Columbia River, a part of the park. I’m not sure a wheelchair can get to the deck. The ramp down to the fishing pier can be very steep, so if in a wheelchair, bring a helper.

Capt. William Clark Park—about 18 miles from I-5, Hwy 14; exit south on the roundabout at 32nd St.
This is a great place for a group gathering (group picnic shelters & volleyball standards, grills & charcoal disposal, accessible trails & restrooms, beside fishing). “Both picnic shelters at Captain William Clark Regional Park have four 6-foot picnic tables, a charcoal barbecue grill, spigot with cold running water, a large countertop for food preparation or serving, electrical outlets and a garbage can.” There are also single family picnic sites right along the river, and what looked like an outdoor foot shower to wash away the sands. For history buffs, this is a site the Lewis & Clark, Corps of Discovery, stayed for 6 days on their way home, and it includes some historic canoe replicas.

Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge—about 19 mi from I-5, Hwy 14
Just beyond Washougal is the Steigerwald refuge. Access Recreation has done a great review of this place, including a 5 min video.

https://www.accesstrails.org/Phase_1/Steigerwald_Lake_NWR/Steigerwald_Lake_NWR.html

Although the trail is rated “easy”, when I took the kids on a summer day a few years ago, with my manual wheelchair, I couldn’t make it without their help and really needed an adult pusher. The gravel path just ate up my energy. It takes a long stroll/roll to reach the cottonwoods, let alone beyond. See also:

https://www.fws.gov/nwrs/threecolumn.aspx?id=2147563140
https://www.cityofwashougal.us/273/Steigerwald-Lake-National-Wildlife-Refug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6-yYkT84XI&ab_channel=BlueTurtleProMedia 2 min video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaHriCCHWqE&ab_channel=U.S.Fish%26WildlifeService 2.5 min video w/commentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poESTS1xdio&ab_channel=ClarkCoWa 3 min video w/commentary

Mt. Pleasant—about 4 mi east of Washougal
I’ve been intrigued many times by the sign to Mt. Pleasant, and finally turned off to see the old Grange building. It’s hardly off Hwy 14. It has seen better days and better ways. There’s an historic marker there. Just up the hill part way is the old cemetery. More interesting info:
http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/mount_pleasant.html

A Great Video done by John Williams’ "Accessible Adventures" covers
Steigerwald
St. Cloud
Sams Walker
Drano Lake (fishing) and Little White Salmon Fish Hatchery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLr0Jt8UmAU&ab_channel=ForestService

Cape Horn & Prindle—about 25 miles from I-5, Hwy 14
Hwy 14 barely, narrowly rounds a bend and offers a slim pull-out at Cape Horn, to look east up the Columbia River. It’s a spectacular view both below and beyond, if you don’t miss it and you can fit in, or gaze momentarily as you go by. Below the highway are the Cape Horn Falls and Cape Horn Oak View Overlook, that you can access from the Cape Horn Trail. The trailhead is another mile and a half beyond the pull-out, north on Salmon Falls Rd within sight of Hwy 14 (park at Salmon Falls Park & Ride, a bus stop). It’s not a trail for the disabled.

Less than 2 miles past the Cape Horn trailhead is the old Prindle School on the south side of Hwy 14. It’s a cute little historic one-room schoolhouse you can see from the highway as you pass. “Prindle Park is a county-maintained park with picnic facilities and a playground.” (Wikipedia, Skamania County, WA)

http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/prindle.html
https://roadsidethoughts.com/wa/prindle-xx-skamania-stories.htm for history buffs
http://columbiariverimages.com/Regions/Places/twilight_the_movie.html for “Twighlight” movie fans

St. Cloud—30 miles east of I-5, Hwy 14 (easy to miss, turn south & cross RR tracks)
This is a pleasant place to picnic on a summer day with kids: we took balsa wood planes, balloons, and bubbles. The apple trees provide shade for the picnic tables (apples that are left to their own devices are not that tempting), there’s room to play Frisby, or other running games. A compacted gravel trail leads to blackberry vines (ripen around August). An accessible vault toilet proffers privacy.

Franz Lake Wildlife Scenic Viewpoint—about 2 mi east of St. Cloud, Hwy 14
Literally just a wide spot in the road, this viewpoint is worth making the stop, if you can pull over. It has a very nice accessible deck, interpretive signs, a bench, and a view of the Franz Lake Wildlife Refuge. Bring binoculars if you are a birder. If you have a train lover with you, you almost couldn’t get any closer as it passes by below.

Skamania & Sams Walker Day Use Area & Trail—about 33 mi east of I-5, Hwy 14
Immediately after the Skamania sign, coming from the west, you can take Skamania Landing Road south across the RR tracks a quarter mile to parking and the 1 mi accessible Sams Walker trail. There’s a picnic table, accessible vault toilet, wildflowers, and view of Horsetail Falls across the Columbia River.

Congestion is a relative term, and just before entering Skamania you are cautioned to lower your speed to 45mph. Just past the bridge, after Skamania Landing Road, on the north side of the road is Cape Horn Estate, an event venue with indoor and outdoor facilities, including the renovated 100-year-old Cape Horn Grange.

https://capehornestate.com/

A few feet further east down the road is the Skamania General Store/Beacon Rock Cafe, with picnic tables, repurposed old school bus, mailbox, and bus stop. From Hwy 14 that’s all there is to Skamania, the rest of town is uphill on the local roads, north of the highway.

Beacon Rock State Park—34/35 mi from I-5, Hwy 14
     Take Doetsch Ranch Road about 34 mi from I-5 (abt a mile before the ranger station) for the flat part of Beacon Rock State Park. It’s wonderful for wheelchairs: 6 accessible restrooms, drinking fountains, 1 mile of nice wide paved flat trail (though roots have lifted some ugly bumps), a day-use kitchen shelter with water and electricity, lots of accessible family picnic tables on cement pads, informative signs about Lewis & Clark, natives and native plants, ice age floods, etc. From the trail look up to great views of Beacon Rock. The boat launch/moorage area has tent camping with RV camping near.
     On the south side of the highway, across from the ranger station, is a covered picnic table, then the hiking trail up Beacon Rock (not for the disabled), and the public restrooms with 15 min free parking (cool old CCC architecture), and some interpretive signs. The handicapped stall of the restroom was marked out of order every time we checked, but I measured it from the outside, and it seemed plenty roomy to maneuver with a chair (roughly 60”x68”).
     Up the hill from Hwy 14 is the older picnic area with a playground and restroom, and further up the hill are the upper group picnic shelter and outside tables (the restroom there is not accessible to wheelchairs), the campground, the hiking trails, Little Beacon Rock. Some of the campsites are accessible, but not sure about restrooms there. Drinking water available.
     Group camping and horse trails are up Kueffler Rd just as you get to the ranger station on Hwy 14.

Pierce National Wildlife Refuge—35 to 36 mi from I-5, Hwy 14
Next to Beacon Rock on the east and mostly between Hwy 14 and the Columbia River, is the Pierce Wildlife Refuge, managed by the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It is 329 acres of “wetlands and uplands along the north shore of the Columbia River [a couple miles] west of the town of North Bonneville.” You can only view it from afar (such as from the top of Beacon Rock, possibly the Hamilton Mtn. Trail—a bit too much for my wheelchair to explore) or by arranged group tours.

North Bonneville & Dam—about 38 miles from I-5, Hwy 14; Dam at milepost 39
Saturday the 9th of July, in 2016, I decided to go tour the Bonneville Dam, but as I came to North Bonneville WA I happened upon their Gorge Days celebration (generally the weekend after the 4th)—what a happy accident! Wow! A car show, quilt show, Japanese Taiko drummers performing, food & craft vendors, fun bouncy house & inflatable slide, Bigfoot Scavenger Hunt, library book sale, firemen with a sense of humor . . . wonderful old trees with huge arms branching out, nice wide flat sidewalks. Amazing for a town of only about 1000 population . . I had to drag myself away, but dam I had to go!
A ho-hum photo can be the miserable approximation of an astounding experience in person. Such is the power of a dam. The machinery of the dam dwarfs your presence, then the fish and lampreys right against the window inches from your face, the fish displays and murals, displays and diagrams of the workings of the dam and fish ladders, the Native American exhibits . . . What a Day!

https://northbonneville.net/visitors/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Bonneville,_Washington history of the town, built along with the Depression Era dam

Bridge of the Gods—3 miles east of Bonneville Dam, Hwy 14
Connecting WA State Hwy 14 with I-84 on the Oregon side of the Columbia River, this toll bridge facilitates traffic for recreation, trucking, and commuters. The interesting story of the legendary name of the bridge can be found below:

https://portofcascadelocks.org/bridge-of-the-gods/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_of_the_Gods_(modern_structure)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBs3SzOfRLU&ab_channel=RVerTV 10 min video, Bridge of the Gods at 2.5 min to 9 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGdVhWc82I&ab_channel=CharlieDeanArchives 9 min historic footage of the 1928 construction of the bridge with the rapids below it—before the dams were built in the 1930s. Note the guy in the rowboat in the river 150’ below, just in case a worker lost his footing. Note how different the Columbia River looks . . . not nearly so massive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeuhOoN_4sA&ab_channel=TheWhimsicalWoman 13.5 min video of hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail crossing the Bridge of the Gods, 1st 3 min. On-coming semi—scary!

Stevenson, Skamania Lodge & Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center—45 mi from I-5, Hwy 14
Before you get to Stevenson proper, turn north on SW Rock Creek Drive. Skamania Lodge will be to your left on SW Skamania Lodge Way. Skamania Lodge is an impressive, beautiful building, and the center of quite a complex, including the Cascade Dining Room, Skamania Lodge Adventures, golf, pool, spa, fitness center/loop, lots of trails—175-acre resort. Off-season prices are pretty reasonable. They even have a mobility accessible tree house with roll-in shower (not inexpensive).

Lodge https://www.skamania.com/?utm_source=googlemybusiness&utm_medium=organic
Resort https://www.skamania.com/columbia_river_gorge_hotel/
Zipline, Aerial Park, Axe Throwing https://zipnskamania.com/

Across SW Rock Creek Drive from Skamania Lodge is the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center (not to be confused with the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in The Dalles OR). Drive a little further east to reach the parking lot. There are outdoor exhibits (including a locomotive car able-bodied persons can peer inside, and a toy train toddlers can climb into), picnic tables under the protective shelter of the entrance (most welcome on hot summer days, or wetter ones), and architecture evocative of the Pacific Northwest, the Gorge in particular. Inside are soaring spaces, children’s activities, gift shop, accessible restrooms, wheelchairs to borrow, wifi, 2 theaters, and the exhibits: antique cars, Native American history, the Lewis & Clark journey, model forts of the area, pioneer life, trains, logging, mining, shipping on the Columbia, steam machines, tools, fishing/huge fishwheel, bi-plane, quilts, antique organ & pianos, rosary collection, Chinese furnishings, old schoolhouse items, photos of wildfires, model fire lookout . . . a fulfilling experience.

http://www.columbiagorge.org/

From the parking lot of the Interpretive Center you can walk the quaint Mill Pond Trail around Rock Cove into town and the Skamania County Fairgrounds--Stevenson is the county seat of Skamania County, which includes Mt. St. Helens on the west and a slice of Mt. Adams on the east, Swift Reservoir on the Lewis River, and is bounded on the south by the Columbia River from Mt. Pleasant (across from Vista House, OR) to White Salmon (but not Trout Lake, north of it). Much of the county is part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, with plenty of recreational opportunities.