Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
is approximately 4,900 miles long and crosses sixteen states extending from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to the mouth of the Columbia River, near present day Astoria, Oregon. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as the preparatory section from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Wood River, Illinois.
The efforts of many individuals and groups – among them military men and scientists, a president and a slave, women and men, French-speaking boatmen and American Indians – determined the fate of the Corps of Discovery.
On October 22, 1805, the expedition reached Celilo Falls, where the river “divided into Several narrow chanels which pass through a hard black rock forming Islands of rocks at this Stage of the water, on those Islands of rocks [were] great numbers of Stacks of pounded Salmon.”
Beacon Rock is the core of an ancient volcano, essentially a basalt plug; the Missoula Flood waters eroded away the softer outer material. Captain Clark wrote in his journals, “…a remarkable high rock on Stard. Side about 800 feet high & 400 yds round…” His estimates were exceptionally close. Today, the site is on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail’s list of High Potential Historic Sites.
For more information visit the National Park website for the Lewis & Clark Trail
