At one time my wife’s parents owned a home in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Our children were in elementary school then, and we would go down to visit two or three times a year. Of course to get there we had to pass through the town of Astoria, and that’s what we did, we passed right on by. Occasionally we would drive up to wander through some antique stores, but for the most part we were unimpressed.
It had been a while since we were on the Oregon coast so I convinced my wife it was time to go back. A long weekend in January was the perfect opportunity to revisit the area. However, this time I wanted to make a point to really check out Astoria.
Astoria lies on the southern side of the mouth of the Columbia River. I would say it is technically not on the coast. Nevertheless we discovered some fun and interesting things to do as we spent a day in the area. Coming up from Seaside our first stop was Fort Clatsop which is part of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. National Historical Parks seek to preserve historical sites for future generations. The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park has locations on both sides of the Columbia River.
Fort Clatsop was the place where the Lewis and Clark expedition wintered in 1805-1806. At the visitor center there is a small museum area that tells some of the story of the expedition. The original fort is not standing, but historians have tried to recreate the fort so visitors can get an idea of what it was like. It was a small fort with three small bunk rooms on one side and some larger rooms on the other side. The three bunk room all had an open fireplace so it seemed the rooms would be really smokey. During my visit a squirrel who was gnawing on a deer skull startled me; not something I expected.
The fort is near the Lewis and Clark River, and a trail takes one from the fort along the river to a place called Netul Landing. It’s an easy, level hike along the river. It had been a foggy morning, and water droplets clung to the moss hanging from the trees. The sun had come out and was hitting the water droplets, and they would sparkle. It could be quite beautiful. At one point I looked up and saw a hanging section of moss which looked like a sparkling chandelier.
Arriving at the landing we saw a couple of canoes carved out of wood. At least that’s what it looked like. They were actually made out of concrete so they weren’t going anywhere. The expedition had carved out canoes from logs to use in navigating the river.
After walking back to the parking lot, we headed to Astoria, actually the top of Astoria. High on a hill is located the Astoria Column. Paintings around the column depict the history of the area. To read it all one would literally have to go around in circles as the writing and pictures winds around the column. Visitors can also go inside the column and climb to the top using a metal circular stairway. Don’t ask me how many steps there are because I didn’t count, but there are a lot. However, once we reached the top we encountered amazing views in all directions.
The interesting part about the view was the fog. It kept moving. This was particularly noticeable in looking at the long bridge that crosses the Columbia River. We would look in that direction and see different parts of the bridge covered in fog. Rarely would the entire bridge be visible.
In the on-site gift shop they were selling small gliders for a dollar. This was an interesting activity for the kids who would take their little glider and throw it off the top of the monument to watch it glide down. I saw at least one mom go down to retrieve gliders and then come back up with them so the kids could throw them again. Considering the stair climbing, she was a dedicated mom.
Leaving the column behind we headed down into Astoria. Walking around downtown, we discovered things have changed. It was actually quite a busy place on a Saturday afternoon, and the visitors walking around seemed to be fairly young. While there were still quite a few antique shops around, the number of brew pubs may well have outpaced them. There seemed to be one on every corner, and people sitting at tables enjoying the brew and their companions.
Along the waterfront there is a trail that goes for quite some distance. We walked it for a little ways noting some newer buildings and businesses as well as areas the seemed to still need some help. It is definitely an area in transition, not yet gentrified.
One of the things I have always enjoyed about Astoria is its interesting architecture. In a town known more as a port city, one would not necessarily expect buildings with a lot of interesting details, but Astoria has it. Those details give the town character and a unique style. Thankfully they haven’t been in a hurry to tear down the old to replace it with the new.
Our final visit of the day was to Fort Stevens which is actually near Warrenton just south of Astoria. Fort Stevens was established to guard the mouth of the Columbia River. Today it is a large state park with a major camping area as well as some interesting sites. We had been enjoying a day of sunshine as we went around Astoria, but our luck ran out when we drove toward Fort Stevens. Fog descended. The fog we watched move around from the Astoria Column was now surrounding us.
There were a few things I wanted to do at the park. High on the list was to see the remains of a shipwreck. Along the ocean the Iredale had run aground and got stuck in the sand permanently. It has become an attraction with its rusted hull sticking out of the sand. While I had expected to take a photo of the old hull in sunlight or hopefully with the sun setting behind it, I got fog. I could barely even see the waves in the ocean. However, a foggy photo for an old, rusting ship really wasn’t that bad of a photo. What do you think? Does it work?
We stopped at the military area, Battery Russell, where we saw the bunkers they had built for a couple of major cannons. It’s always interesting to see these and, it reminded me of Fort Flagler on the Olympic Peninsula. One interesting fact about this specific location is that a Japanese submarine fired on this battery in 1942, but hurt no one. This makes the fort the only one to be fired on by a foreign power since the War of 1812.
There is another major military historic area in the park which we were hoping to visit. However we arrived at 4:00 to discover it closed at 4:00. We decided that we could return on Monday, stopping by on our way home. When Monday rolled around, the weather was not much improved. It was not quite as foggy, but still cool and cloudy. Nevertheless we had an opportunity to check out this part of the park.
As the guardian of the mouth of the Columbia River, Fort Stevens has been around for some time. We first checked out Battery Pratt which was built after the Spanish American War. One of the interesting discoveries was they had a mechanized track to get the shells from the bunkers below up to the guns above. It was quite interesting. Right next to them were the West Batteries which were older having been built during the Spanish American War. These bunker we could not enter.
From the batteries we walked farther west where there was another old bunker and two guns sitting on either side of it which looked like they were sitting on tracks allowing them to rotate in different directions. From the top of the bunker there was a nice view of the area although with the cloudy conditions, we couldn’t see as well as we might have liked. One thing we did see were the pilings of an old wooden trestle that crossed over to the jetty. Engineers designed the jetty to help stabilize the river’s mouth. Trains used the trestle to carry out the rocks used to construct the jetty. We were able to walk closer to see some of the old wooden pilings of the trestle.
Back near the parking lot we could see the foundations of the boiler rooms and restrooms near where two story barracks for the soldiers once stood. There are other historical elements in this part of the park and a lot of information to take in. For military enthusiasts this is a great place to visit.
I’m glad to see that Astoria seems to be experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. There are a number of other things to do in the area such as look for movie sites from films like the Goonies or Kindergarten Cop. One can also spend time exploring the Maritime Museum in town and learn about other shipwrecks in the area. All in all I think that if you just drive through Astoria, you will miss some great experiences so next time stop and check it out. The beach will wait.
Have you had a chance to explore Astoria? Do you have any favorite spots or activities. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comments are always welcome.
Good photos. I think the fog gives the Iredale character. We have been there a few times. The last time as we approached from the south we were made to set on the long bridge for a long time due to an auto accident at the end of the bridge. Thanks for letting me revisit the area through your eyes.
Thanks, Les, for sharing your experiences. I can see that an accident on that bridge would create a problem. I hope it wasn’t too long of a wait.
Love the pics at the column. that is something we have never done!
Pam & I did camp at Fort Stevens last summer and walked down to the shipwreck and the gun batteries.
This was the first time we went to the column. It’s $5 to park, good for the year so since we went in January we are good for a long time. 😁