WASHINGTON
LEWIS & CLARK TRAIL

An island park on the Snake River where the expedition camped shortly after entering present-day Washington on October 10, 1805. The Listening Circle, designed by renowned artist Maya Lin (creator of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial), is one of six Confluence Project installations along the trail commemorating the Nez Perce nation whose guidance and aid carried the Corps through the Bitterroots. From the overlook here, visitors can glimpse the vast Nez Perce homeland — the Snake and Clearwater Rivers, Hells Canyon, and on a clear day, the distant Bitterroot and Wallowa Mountains.

The expedition paddled down the Snake River about 18 miles north of this park in mid-October 1805 on their outbound journey. On the 1806 return, unable to paddle against the strong spring current, the Corps bartered with local Indigenous people renowned for horse breeding to purchase mounts and hire two guides for the overland route home. A disagreement between the guides on May 1, 1806 over the best path forward — valley floor versus high plateau — reflects the constant navigational uncertainty that defined the entire expedition.

Metal statue silhouettes mark the site where the expedition camped during their 1806 return journey through the Touchet River Valley. A simple but evocative roadside stop that lets visitors stand at the precise location where Lewis and Clark navigated this stretch of southeastern Washington while racing to reach their guides and horses cached further east.

One of the most significant sites on the entire Washington trail — the exact confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, where the expedition camped for two days on October 16, 1805, after a journey of six dangerous days through the Snake's rapids. That night, around 200 Yakima and Wanapum people entertained the Corps with singing and drumming; Lewis responded with his standard diplomatic speech. Today's 267-acre park features the Sacajawea Interpretive Center with interactive exhibits, plus Maya Lin's Confluence Story Circles — stones etched with Lewis and Clark journal entries alongside tribal stories of the Sahaptin-speaking peoples who lived here for over 10,000 years.

A paved, scenic 23-mile trail connecting communities across the Tri-Cities along the Columbia River shoreline, beginning at Sacajawea Historical State Park. The trail honors the only woman to join the permanent party of the expedition — Sacagawea, the Lemhi Shoshone woman whose diplomatic presence, language skills, and knowledge proved repeatedly invaluable. A pleasant, accessible way to experience the river landscape the Corps documented in October 1805.

The premier cultural destination in southeastern Washington, providing essential context on the natural and cultural significance of the Mid-Columbia region — including the ancient Ice Age floods that shaped the dramatic landscape the expedition paddled through. Exhibits and educational programs deepen understanding of the geological and human history surrounding the Snake-Columbia confluence.

A soaring, dramatic gap in the basalt cliffs that the expedition camped near on October 18, 1805, formed by a prehistoric ice dam and glacial lake that broke free thousands of years ago, carving and smoothing the entire Columbia Gorge as the floodwaters roared to the sea. One of the most visually striking geological features the Corps documented on their journey to the Pacific.

Perched on basalt cliffs above the Columbia River, this park preserves one of the most diverse fossil forests in North America, including Washington's official state gem — petrified ginkgo wood. While not a direct expedition campsite, the park sits along the broader river corridor the Corps traveled and offers a compelling detour into the deep geological history of the landscape they were passing through.

A beautiful riverside camping park near the spectacular Maryhill Museum of Art — a Beaux Arts mansion housing over 80 Auguste Rodin sculptures, European and American paintings, and a renowned collection of miniature post-WWII French fashion mannequins. A surprising cultural detour along the historic river corridor, offering world-class art in an unexpected high-desert setting overlooking the Columbia.

Site of the famous Tsagagalalal ('She Who Watches') petroglyph, one of the most significant rock art sites in the Pacific Northwest, located near where the expedition camped by Horsethief Lake in October 1805. Hiking trails at Crawford Oaks climb high above the river, offering sweeping views of the Gorge — the same dramatic landscape Clark documented as the expedition pushed toward the coast.

Once the location of the thunderous Celilo Falls — a continuously inhabited salmon-fishing destination for regional Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, featuring more than 20 lodges near the falls when Lewis and Clark passed through in October 1805. The falls were submerged in 1957 by the construction of The Dalles Dam, permanently altering one of the most important Native fishing sites on the entire Columbia River. A sobering reminder of how dramatically the landscape the expedition documented has changed.

Clark's journal called this towering basalt monolith 'the Beaten rock' — and it marks the spot where the expedition first detected tidal influence in the Columbia River, confirming they were finally approaching the Pacific. A challenging but rewarding switchback trail climbs to the 848-foot summit, offering views of the Gorge much as they appeared 200+ years ago — though the dammed modern river runs deeper and calmer than the rushing whitewater the Corps actually navigated.

Originally named by the expedition on their return journey, this was 'Provision Camp,' where the Corps stayed nearly a week in spring 1806 gathering and preparing food for the long eastward journey ahead. Today the day-use park offers four miles of hiking trails along the Columbia River, with the same riverside setting the exhausted but increasingly hopeful expedition used to restock before tackling the Gorge and mountains on their way home.

A striking 40-foot-wide earth-covered pedestrian bridge — another Confluence Project installation — spans Highway 14, featuring a welcome gate designed by Native American artist Lillian Pitt and an ethnobotanical walkway showcasing native plants from the region's forests, prairies, and wetlands. A modern artistic tribute to the deep Indigenous heritage of the lower Columbia River corridor that the expedition passed through on their final push to the sea.

A brutal six-day ordeal: a violent November storm trapped the miserable, soaked expedition in this small cove, which Clark named 'that dismal little nitch' in his journal — writing that 'it would be distressing to a feeling person to see our situation.' The men were drenched, half-starved, and their canoes were nearly destroyed by pounding waves. A short trail leads to the approximate campsite from the rest area, one of the lowest points of morale on the entire 4,900-mile journey, just days before reaching the Pacific.

On November 15, 1805 — one year, six months, and one day after departing St. Louis — the Corps of Discovery finally reached the mouth of the Columbia River and established Station Camp, spending ten days exploring the area. From here, Clark led a party to Cape Disappointment, a landmark already well-known to maritime traders. The site also overlaps with Middle Village, a historic Chinook settlement, reflecting the deep Native presence at this critical river mouth long before the expedition's arrival.

The climactic site of the entire outbound journey. On November 18, 1805, the expedition finally glimpsed the open Pacific Ocean from the top of nearby McKenzie Head — the goal of 4,000-plus miles and a year and a half of travel achieved at last. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center sits 200 feet above the pounding surf between two historic lighthouses, with mural-sized timeline panels guiding visitors through the entire westward journey using sketches, journal quotes, and artifacts. Named by a disappointed British captain in 1788 who failed to find the Columbia's mouth, the cape ironically marks one of American history's greatest triumphs.

One of the most intact historic coastal defense sites in the United States, built between 1896 and 1903 directly on Chinook Point near the mouth of the Columbia — the same strategic location the expedition recognized as critical a century earlier. While a later military installation rather than a direct Lewis and Clark site, the park's location underscores the lasting geographic and strategic significance of the river mouth the Corps finally reached after their historic crossing.