Hike - Beacon Rock, WA

Beacon Rock should be a bucket list hike for anyone who lives near SW Washington or is visiting the area and wants to see some amazing scenery. The rock is an 848 foot (258 m) basalt volcanic plug located in the Columbia River Gorge on the north shore of the Columbia River 32 miles (51 km) east of Vancouver, WA. It's about a 30 minute drive from Vancouver, WA but feels like you're miles and miles away from civilization.

The hike to the top is rated as moderate and takes about 60 minutes depending on your condition and need for speed.

The view from the top is amazing and well worth the hike. According to Wikipedia, Beacon Rock was purchased by Henry J. Biddle in 1915 for $1. During the next three years, Henry constructed a trail to the top of the rock with 51 switchbacks, handrails and bridges. The three-quarter mile trail to the top was completed in April 1918.

Later, the United States Army Corps of Engineers planned to destroy the rock to supply material for the jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River Bar, and 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 its position when Oregon offered to accept. Beacon Rock State Park was established in 1935 as a geologic preserve and public recreation area. The park is located on Washington State Route 14 in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. On October 31, 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived here and first measured tides on the river, indicating that they were nearing the ocean.

Beacon Rock 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, 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, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming is larger than Beacon Rock, but is considered an igneous intrusion rather than a "single rock." 

The sign at the top of Beacon Rock gives the following description >> "If you were standing here during the largest of the Ice Age floods, you would see icebergs floating in a churning mass of muddy water a mere 150 feet below you. During the floods, water shot through the Columbia River Gorge with incredible force again and again. Their great erosive power scoured the sheer cliffs of the gorge. After exiting this narrow passageway, the floodwaters spread out and slowed, dumping huge amounts of sand and silt. Parts of Portland and Vancouver sit on a series of floodbars deposited by Ice Age floods."