Family weekend at Long Beach and wanted to get a short hike in. Pulled into Columbia State Park and try out this trail. Discovery Pass is required or pay the day use fee at the main lot. Spend time exploring the park if you have time. There's a small historical museum, old military bunkers and displays, as well as some Columbia River frontage to explore.
The hiking trial starts in the north eastern side of developed park. The trail is made up of an old access road so plenty wide for families/groups. Most of it is well maintained but can have muddy spots depending on the season/weather. Mostly gradual uphill, nothing to challenging on the way to the hill.
The best views are from the trail early on as it switch backs up side of the hill above the old fort looking out over Columbia River toward Oregon. The summit of the hill is never reached from the trail. It comes close and then skirts around the north side and dead ends. The top is also covered in trees limiting views from the top. Another stretch of trail will bring you back creating a short loop through the trees. Total length between 2 and 3 miles round trip. A nice couple of hours outside.
An old map I found online showed additional trails leading west from the main park parking lot but I found these to be overgrown and abandoned after lengthy searching. They also are no longer shown on maps at the park.
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