Beacon Rock State Park - Hamilton Mountain — Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA

My older daughter wanted to go for a hike today so we picked her up in Portland and headed up the gorge. In less than an hour we were at Beacon Rock State Park. The first driveway to the park is on the right. Skip that one and keep going just a bit further. Next you will see the Park Headquarters building on the left. The road to the trailhead is just past the headquarters on the left. If you drive past the bathrooms on the right side of the hiway you've gone too far. The trail is in good shape. The bridges by the waterfalls are intact and there is evidence of hard work where eroded trails have been repaired. A little mud here and there but nothing that would slow you down. The trail climbs 2000 feet in 3.2 miles. There are some steep spots and some flat-ish spots but mostly a steady climb. Pretty yellow flowers and trillium. Waterfalls, brown squirrels and pine trees that creak in the wind. Rocky crags and views that remind you that you just did something really cool. Four of us each gave this hike 5 stars. That's twenty stars or eight out of eight thumbs up. Check this one out... you won't regret it.