October, 2025
Obviously, Beacon Rock State Park was named after Beacon Rock. But what, you might ask, is Beacon Rock? I wondered that too. I found out. Let me show you.
First let me share a Google Earth aerial image of the area. The RED star on the left is my campsite. The RED circle to the right of that is the boat launch area into the off-shoot waterway off the Columbia River. I’m going to drive to that boat launch area in just a moment. And above that boat launch area, the RED arrow points right at Beacon Rock, it’s a huge, tall, very imposing and impressive rock formation.
Ok, I drove to the boat launch area from my campsite which took me less than 2 minutes, and parked at the boat launch area. No one else was there. I do like camping mid-week!
And then I started walking towards the boat launch ramps.
But before I got to the boat launch ramps, I glanced to my left, and there it was … Beacon Rock … sticking right straight up out of the ground … a monolith, 848 feet tall!
There is a small kiosk in the photo above with some descriptive signs, photos of some of the signs are here below.
Wow, the solidified core of a volcano! There are lots of active volcanoes in the mountains here, and lots of inactive volcanoes here as well. But I’ve never seen the old, solidified core of one where the outer part of the volcano has long since been worn away.
I left the kiosk and then walked down the boat launch ramps to the edge of the water.
There are signs, further along on the main highway here, that point to a “trail” up the rock. I can’t imagine a “trail” on this rock! I’ve seen the other side of the rock, too, and still I can’t imagine even rock climbing up the side, much less a trail.
More signage from that kiosk here …
I enjoyed seeing Beacon Rock from that boat launch area. After I got back to my trailer in my campsite, I looked for photos online of the “trail” and found three fascinating photos, below. Theses are not my photos. I had thought I might hike that trail, but I quickly changed my mind. I am terrified of heights. Even just looking at these photos scares the you-know-what out of me.
Photo above … obviously, the word “trail” is misleading. As one of the descriptive signs above states, there are 52 of these constructed switchbacks on the trail, most built out over the rock, above the rock, and above the trail that is underneath, but some built out over thin air.
What a view … looking south at Oregon and a bit east up the Columbia River (above).
And (above) looking south at Oregon and a bit west along the Columbia River. The photo above terrifies me.
After I got home, I started thinking about that “trail” and where it must be located on Beacon Rock. Since there are views from the trail looking south across the Columbia, then I must have been able to see the “trail” from where I was standing on that boat launch ramp, since the boat launch ramp is south of Beacon Rock too. So I took another look at my photos and, at first, I swore there were no trails or switchbacks up there. But look closely at my photo below. When I cropped and enlarged the photo, I was looking right at the “trail”! In the photo below, the two RED arrows point directly at sections of those switchbacks. The section near the top of the rock had about 20 switchbacks on it. What a climb!
There are lots of photos online of Beacon Rock and of the trail. There are also a few videos on YouTube made by people hiking up that trail. Remember the fellow in my last blog post, Nick Zentner, the geology guy? Well, he produced a great little video about Beacon Rock. Take a look … (at time stamp 1:10 in Nick’s video, you can see the boat launch area down by the water where I was standing when I took my photos, and he walks there on that beach too).
Pretty cool huh? More info is online at Wikipedia and on other websites as well.
I sure like to explore and learn. Thanks for coming along. 🙂
I’ve been up there, on top! And yes there are some scary bits, but not so bad. The view from the top is fantastic!!!! And actually, walking down the steep path is more strenuous and your more prone to fall than when walking up the path. Take water, allow LOTS of time for stopping and breathing. I’d forgotten about this, thanks Ann! 🙂
Wow, Steve, you’ve been a lot of places here abouts. Way further off-road, and higher, and further from civilization, than I’ve been. Thanks for your comment, and your advice. Memories are great aren’t they? 🙂
What fun. Nope I wouldn’t be heading up there either. But what a fascinating piece of geology. Love the photos. Thanks. 🙂
You’re welcome, Eileen. Here’s to level ground. 🙂
You include the people. You have it in your blood, in your memory.
All humans do, but some of us seem to have forgotten. I wish they would remember. Thank you Mary.
The pictures of the trails made me queasy. Great pictures!
Oh queasy, indeed! Aack! Thanks Kristin. Nice to hear from you. My best to you and Russ and the pup. 🙂
A young pup, ONLY 57 thousand years old. This world is so amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us.
And yes I almost fell off my chair when “that” photo showed up … nope, I won’t be hiking up there either.
Maybe you and I and a few others here can have a picnic at the BOTTOM of that climb. Thanks Joe. 🙂
You really do love exploring and you really do love the world and everyone in it. We learn so much from you, both about the world and about humans and animals and plants and air … and rocks! I wish others would too. Let’s take care of each other.
Amen … W&S. 🙂 Thank you. Let’s keep spreading that sentiment.
Wow! Looking again at your photos of the rock and realizing there were platform switchbacks up there certainly gives me a better size perspective!
Truly, the rock didn’t look that big to me either at first, Dawn. But the details tell the tale for sure. And an old volcano core to boot. Zounds.
Oh my word, how could someone build those switchbacks and not fall off doing that! That’s spectacular. And yes, in the first photo or two of the rock, it doesn’t look really so big, but when you consider the size of those switchbacks, and look back down at the river from even just part way up, that’s one huge rock!!! Cool beans. 🙂
Jamie, I thought about that too … how did they build those switchbacks?! How did they insert metal rods into the rock walls before they even reached those rock walls?! I’ve looked for videos, no success yet. Thanks for being here. 🙂
Another place I need to go see. I used to think I’d seen everything in Washington. Ha!! 🙂
Oh, you and me both, Paul. See you on the road. 🙂
We just found out that the State of Washington is the 18th largest state in the USA! We always thought it was small. But it’s huge. No wonder you always find such great places to camp, and such special things to show us. And you have volcanoes? We didn’t know that either. Beacon Rock is spectacular. Can’t remember how we found your blog but we sure are enjoying it. Thank you! 🙂 M&M, both of us.
Oh my word, I didn’t realize that Washington State was that large. Now I need to go look up “the list”. 🙂 Thanks M&M.
Really like those videos of Nick’s. Wouldn’t have known about them but for your blog. Thanks. 🙂
I’ve started watching Nick’s videos from the beginning, working my way through them. I’m sure learning a lot that I didn’t even know that I didn’t know.
You are welcome, Susan. 🙂
Brilliant! We must have old volcanoes here in Britain too but don’t know of them. A fascinating adventure.
Ah yes indeed, you are correct Henry, Britain has old volcanoes. There are no “active” volcanoes in Britain today, but there are dormant volcanoes …. Arthur’s Seat in Scotland, Mount Snowdon in Wales, Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. I don’t know of the ones in England but I bet they are there! Careful where you walk! 🙂