Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby State Park) is a public recreation area on Cape Disappointment, located southwest of Ilwaco, Washington, on the bottom end of Long Beach Peninsula, the northern headlands where the Columbia River meets the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

. The state park's encompass a diverse landscape of old-growth forest, freshwater lakes, freshwater and saltwater marshes, and oceanside

tidelands Tidelands are the territory between the tide line of sea coasts, and lands lying under the sea beyond the low-water limit of the tide, considered within the territorial waters of a nation. The United States Constitution does not specify whether ...

. Park sites include Fort Canby, the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, and

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse The Cape Disappointment Light is a lighthouse on Cape Disappointment near the mouth of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. History In 1848, a lighthouse was recommended to be located at Cape Disappointment in what was then t ...

. Cape Disappointment is one of several state parks and sites in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

that are included in

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (including the former Fort Clatsop National Memorial), located in the vicinity of the mouth of the Columbia River, commemorates the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Administration of the park, which include ...

History

Cape Disappointment earned its name when Captain

John Meares John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war. Career Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an ...

failed to cross the river bar in 1788. The feat was accomplished in 1792 by American Captain Robert Gray. The

Lewis and Clark Expedition The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the United States expedition to cross the newly acquired western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase. The Corps of Discovery was a select gr ...

arrived at Cape Disappointment in 1805. In 1862, during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, a camp called Post at Cape Disappointment was established and fortifications existed here from that date to protect the northern approaches to the mouth of the Columbia River from possible attacks by

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

raiders or foreign fleets. It was garrisoned by Company A, U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment and Company A,

8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry The 8th Regiment California Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Raised in the last year of the war, it spent its entire term of service serving in posts around San Francisco Bay, and on the ...

in the District of Oregon. In 1863, its mate Fort Stevens was established on the south bank of the Columbia River. In 1864, the post was renamed Fort Cape Disappointment. Some Civil War-era fortifications still exist: the Tower (or Right) Battery, Left Battery, and Center Battery. Fort Cape Disappointment was expanded and renamed Fort Canby in 1875. By 1906, when construction finished under the Endicott program, Fort Canby became part of the three-fort Harbor Defenses of the Columbia River as a subpost of Fort Stevens along with Fort Columbia. The fort was further expanded during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After being decommissioned in the years following World War II, the fort was turned over to the state for use as a state park in the early 1950s. Workers with the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...

helped restore the fort and improved roads and trails during the 1930s.

Facilities

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Cape Disappointment

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center sits on a cliff that overlooks the confluence of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. There are exhibits about the 1803–1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition from

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

to the Pacific coast, the park's later history, including the lighthouses,

U.S. Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...

and military activities, and the area's maritime and natural history.

Activities and amenities

Cape Disappointment State Park offers camping and other overnight accommodations, of hiking trails, stands of

old-growth An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

Sitka spruce, watercraft launch sites, picnicking facilities, and tours of the North Head Lighthouse. Many of the WWII-era military facilities still exist in a ruined state throughout the park and are accessible to the public. North Head Lighthouse, Pacific Ocean

North_Head_Lighthouse_at_Cape_Disappointment

Coast Guard training near North Head Lighthouse

Cape Disappointment State Park’s camping facilities include standard campsites, full hookup RV sites, yurts, cabins, and historic vacation homes. Camp facilities include full-service restrooms with showers and a park store nearby for groceries, wood, and a café.

References

External links

Cape Disappointment State Park
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission
Cape Disappointment State Park Map
Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission {{Authority control State parks of Washington (state) Parks in Pacific County, Washington Columbia River Lewis and Clark Expedition Museums in Pacific County, Washington History museums in Washington (state) Historic house museums in Washington (state) Military and war museums in Washington (state) Biographical museums in Washington (state) Maritime history of Washington (state) Civilian Conservation Corps in Washington (state) 1862 establishments in Washington Territory National Register of Historic Places in Pacific County, Washington