Beacon Rock State Park
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Beacon Rock State Park is located in the Columbia Gorge natural scenic area on State Route 14 about 35 miles east of Vancouver, Washington.
Across the highway from Beacon Rock is 4482 acres (1813.8 ha) of forested uplands with a 1.25 mile nature trail, 9.5 miles of hiking trails and 13 miles of fire road. Hardy Falls and Rodney Falls are scenic highlights along the trail to the summit of 2,445 foot Hamilton Mountain which has a spectacular view of Bonneville Dam and points east. A new trail has been constructed to Little Beacon Rock.
On October 31, 1805 the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived here and first measured tides on the river, indicating their long journey was nearing an end.
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[edit] Beacon Rock
Beacon Rock, from which the park takes the name, is on the northern bank of the Columbia River at . It was named by Lewis and Clark in 1805, but called Castle Rock until 1916.[1][2]
Beacon Rock is 848 feet tall and is made of Andesite. Henry Biddle purchased the rock in 1915 for $1 and during the next three years constructed a heavily switchbacked trail, handrails and bridges. The three-quarter mile trail to the top, completed in April 1918[1], leads to views in all directions. It attracts many hikers on a sunny day.
The Army Corps of Engineers planned to destroy the rock for a jetty at the mouth of the Columbia and they dug three caves on the rock's south side. During this time, Biddle's family tried to make it a state park. At first Washington refused the gift, but changed when Oregon offered to accept.
It has been variously claimed to be the second largest free standing monolith in the northern hemisphere, or in the world, just behind the Rock of Gibraltar... or Stone Mountain... or Mount Augustus, the latter two being very much larger than either of the first two. The assertion depends on how one defines the term "monolith". For example, America's own Devils Tower National Monument is rather larger than Beacon Rock, but is considered an igneous intrusion rather than necessarily a "single rock".
[edit] Sources
- Mueller, Marge & Ted (2004-09-15). Washington State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide (State Parks). Mountaineers Books, Seattle. ISBN 0898868939.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Historic Photograph Collections: Henry J. Biddle photographs, c.1860s-1925. University of Oregon (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
- ^ GNIS says its decision to rename was in 1915: GNIS entry detail for Beacon Rock (1979-09-10). Retrieved on 2006-10-09.
[edit] External links
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