Explore Astoria, Oregon, a nationally significant historic region at the western end of the Lewis & Clark Trail. The oldest American settlement west of the Rockies – Astoria’s architecture is dominated by hundreds of Victorian homes clinging to steep wooded hillsides and a revitalized 1920s era downtown... set against a backdrop of tremendous natural beauty in the temperate rain forest at the mouth of the Columbia River.

Visitors have an opportunity to escape into an appealing, intriguing past. Unspoiled and generally uncrowded, Astoria has several fascinating interpretive attractions including Fort Clatsop, the Columbia River Maritime Museum, the Flavel House, Fort Stevens State Park, the Astoria Riverfront Trolley and the Astoria Column.

Attractions

• Astoria Aquatics Center – The Astoria Aquatic Center offers four pools and almost 200,000 gallons of water. The main pool is a six lane, 25 yard lap pool, maintained at 84 degrees. The shallow end is 3-1/2 feet deep and the deep end is eight feet deep. The second pool is a warm water pool (88 degrees) with depths from 1-1/2 feet to five feet. This pool has a water play feature, a 105 foot open slide with a 20 foot drop, and it features Oregon's first lazy river. The spa pool holds 10 adults and the temperature is a steady 100 to 102 degrees. A Kiddies Pool offers a variety of interactive features. The fitness room includes an In-Shape multi-station gym, an assortment of dumbbells with benches, a treadmill and recumbent bike. The Aquatic Center has locker and changing rooms, a Food Bar and Concession Stand. Programs include: Lap Swimming, Open Family Swim, Water and Land Exercise, Therapy Swim, Learn to Swim Parties, Birthday Parties, Scuba Lessons, Open Kayak, and Pool Rentals. For more information, call (503) 325-7027 or visit www.swimastoria.com.

• Liberty Theater – The Liberty Theater in downtown Astoria, Oregon, is one of the best examples of the 1920s vaudeville-motion picture palace in the Pacific Northwest. Liberty Restoration, Inc., a private, non-profit organization, is restoring this magnificent structure to its original elegance and equipping it to be a state-of-the-art performing arts center. Clatsop Community College and Portland State University are institutional partners committed to the restoration of the complex. The Liberty Theater is one of 12 Save America's Treasures sites that was featured in Home & Garden Television's year-long promotion "Restore America: Salute to Preservation. For events booking and information, call (503) 738.0313 or visit www.liberty-theater.org.

• Duncan Law Seafood Consumer Center – Duncan Law got it built and now they come. Professor Law's long-time vision has become a reality. The Seafood Consumer Center (SCC), a 9500 S.F. facility located adjacent to Oregon State University's (OSU) seafood laboratory, first opened its Seafood School in 1998, and over the past four years has taught thousands of consumers and culinarians how to buy and prepare seafood. Duncan Law Seafood Consumer Center offers seasonal seafood demonstrations, culinary tours and guest chef appearances. Throughout the year, seafood cooking classes, product demonstrations and tastings, culinary tours, education workshops, conferences, meetings and private parties pack the calendar, each designed around the needs of the client. Check the Website at www.seafoodschool.org for the class calendar plus links to free recipes and seafood sites. For more information call Donna Stone at the Seafood Consumer Center at 503-338-4485.

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Parks & Forts

• Fort Astoria Park – This small park with a partial replica of Fort Astoria is located at the intersection of 15th and Exchange streets, where John J. Astor's fur traders originally constructed a small fort. A mural re-creates the vista from the Fort in 1813 as a backdrop to the re-created stockade building on the Fort Astoria Park property. www.el.com/To/Astoria/Recreation.html.

• Fort Clatsop National Memorial – Located seven miles south of Astoria, this site commemorates the 1805-06 winter encampment of the 33-member Lewis and Clark Expedition. The facility includes the reconstructed fort, a visitor center/museum, historical exhibits, a canoe landing, a spring and a picnic area joined by trails through the wetlands and rainforest. During the summer months, living history demonstrations depict fort activities. The 1955 community-built replica of the explorers' 50'x50' Fort Clatsop is the focus of the park. Furnished with hand-hewn wooden bunks, tables, benches and chairs, the authentic fort serves as an "outdoor museum" for over 200,000 visitors a year, providing real life experiences. The fort, historic canoe landing, and spring are nestled in the coastal forests and wetlands of the Coast Range as it merges with the Columbia River Estuary. Park rangers dress in buckskins, make candles, smoke meat, carve dugout canoes and fire flintlock rifles and muskets to reenact what life was like for the explorers. The Salt Works unit commemorates the expedition's salt-making activities. Admission: $2 each person; $4 a carload. Open daily: Summer 8-6; Winter 8-5. Call (503) 861-2471; www.nps.gov/focl.

• Fort Columbia State Park – Located two miles west of the Astoria Bridge on Hwy. 101 in Chinook, Wash., Fort Columbia State Park is a 593-acre day-use historical park with 6,400 feet of freshwater shoreline on the Columbia River. The park celebrates a military site that constituted the harbor defense of the Columbia River from 1896 to 1947. The fort was fully manned and operational through three wars. The area was also home for the Chinook Indians and their famed Chief Comcomly. One of the few intact coastal defense sites in the U.S., the park provides beautiful views of the Columbia River estuary. An interpretive center, an observation station and five miles of hiking trail through mature forest are additional features of this park. Two historic buildings are available for vacation rental. The park offers an interpretive trail with information on various fort features. An interpretive center, open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, focuses on fort history and Chinook Native American culture. A Commander's House Museum, filled with era-appropriate furnishings, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Both buildings are open to the public May 26 to Sept. 30.

• Fort Stevens State Park – Fort Stevens State Park is Oregon's largest campground and one of its loveliest parks. Visitors can enjoy miles and miles of pristine ocean beaches, the wreck of the "Peter Iredale", freshwater lakes, picnic facilities, nature trails, boating, camping, biking, horseback riding, and swimming. Coffenbury Lake provides two swimming areas, a restroom, picnicking and a boat ramp. Creep, Crawl and Crabapple Lakes are small, but have boat ramps for fishing or canoeing. Fort Stevens has over six miles of hiking trails and nine miles of winding bike trails, and is the beginning of the Oregon Coast Trail traversing south to California. Over 100 years ago, young soldiers dressed in Union blue stood watch over Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River. Originally commissioned as a Civil War fortification in 1863, Fort Stevens was deactivated as a military fort shortly after World War II. Its museum features military artifacts, guided tours, interpretive displays, movies, and living history demonstrations. www.oregonstateparks.org/park_179.php.

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Museums

• Columbia River Maritime Museum and Lightship Columbia – Founded in 1962, the Columbia River Maritime Museum is one of the finest museums on the West Coast and the official maritime museum of Oregon. Six galleries, the Great Hall, and the Lightship Columbia interpret the Pacific Northwest’s rich maritime history. Visitors of all ages will experience what it is like to pilot a tugboat, participate in a Coast Guard rescue on the Columbia River Bar, and live in Astoria during the height of salmon fishing. Huge windows make the Columbia River a living backdrop for exhibits that are interactive and touchable, many accompanied by interviews with people involved in the events depicted. Explore marine transportation from the days of dugout canoes, through the age of sail, to the present. Watch a dramatic 12-minute film introducing the history of life and commerce on the Columbia River and the dangerous work of the Bar and River Pilots. Walk the bridge of a World War II warship, marvel at the 44-foot motor lifeboat plowing through a wave in a rescue mission. Participate in interactive and hands-on exhibits, including taking the helm in a tugboat wheelhouse. You can board the Lightship Columbia, a National Historic Landmark, which once guided ships to safety at the mouth of the Columbia River. For information, call (503) 325-2323 or visit www.crmm.org.

• Flavel House Museum – Experience the luxury and elegance of the late Victorian period by touring the Captain George Flavel House. As one of the best preserved examples of Queen Anne architecture in the Northwest, the Flavel House survives today as a landmark of local and national significance. The Flavel House has been restored to accurately portray the elegance of the Victorian period and the history of the Flavel family. The 1886 Queen Anne Victorian home features original Eastlake style woodwork interiors, and exotic hardwood fireplace mantels. The interior showcases 14 foot ceilings, inlaid hardwoods, faux finishes, and finely crafted woodwork. Enjoy a walk through the park-like grounds and visit the Flavel's Carriage House, which houses the admissions desk, orientation center, museum store and administrative offices. The Flavel House and Carriage House are significant architectural and historical treasures for not only Clatsop County but for the entire Pacific Northwest. The Captain George Flavel House, Carriage House, and surrounding landscape are described in the National Register of Historic Places as "one of the most widely-known and best-preserved of the state's grand residential properties of the late 19th-century.” http://www.clatsophistoricalsociety.org/Pages/flavel.html

• Heritage Museum – Built in 1904, as Astoria's City Hall, this building now houses the Clatsop County Historical Society's regional museum, a research center and archives. Galleries feature changing and permanent exhibits about natural history, geology, industries and commerce, occupations and pastimes, logging, and the people of this historically rich area. There are also displays on Native American artifacts and logging tools/equipment. http://www.clatsophistoricalsociety.org/

• Uppertown Firefighters’ Museum and Children’s Museum – This museum houses an extensive collection of fire fighting equipment dating from 1879 to 1963. Featured are hand-pulled, horse-drawn, and motorized fire engines, as well as fire fighting memorabilia and photos. The Astoria Children's Museum, housed on the second floor, provides hands-on activities and educational experiences for children of all ages. Visit www.clatsophistoricalsociety.org.

• U.S. Coast Guard Fishermen’s Memorial Lighthouse Park – Lighthouse Park is a memorial to the men and women who worked in the deep-sea fishing industry, and is easily found at the main intersection in downtown Warrenton. Among the historic items complementing the little lighthouse at the park are a huge rusty anchor used in the 1860s, netted by a fisherman 12 miles off of Tillamook Head, and a mid-20th century mounted harpoon gun rescued from the scrap heap of a local business. Artifacts, photos and artwork chronicling decades of sea fishing off the mouth of the Columbia River fill the interpretive center. Lighthouse Park is open from May 15 through Sept. 15, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (503) 861-7225.

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Lighthouses

• Astoria Column – In a wooded park and towering above Astoria’s highest hill, Coxcomb Hill, the Astoria Column presents spectacular panoramic views of the city, the Columbia River, surrounding bays, forest, and mountains in Oregon and Washington, and the Pacific Ocean. Known as the symbol of Astoria, the 125 foot tower has 164 spiral stairs that you can climb for a grand view of the Columbia River, the volcanic cone of Mt. St. Helens and the Pacific Ocean. Built in 1926 by the Great Northern Railway, Astoria Column commemorates the westward sweep of discovery and migration. A favorite of kids, the first words of most visitors are, “Oh, Wow!” Patterned after the Trajan Column in Rome, the Astoria Column is the world's only large piece of memorial architecture made of reinforced concrete with a pictorial frieze in sgraffito technique. The column artwork illustrates the discovery of the Columbia River by Captain Robert Gray in 1792, the establishment of American claims to the Northwest Territory, the winning of the West and the arrival of the Great Northern Railway. Open dawn to dusk. $1 per car donation requested. http://www.oldoregon.com/Pages/AstoriaColumn.htm.

• Cape Disappointment State Park (formerly Fort Canby) – Located on North Point Island, Washington, on the Columbia River, Cape Disappointment was constructed in 1856. One of three to survive among eight original lighthouses built on the West Coast, the lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, the historic lighthouse is still an active aid to navigation. www.cr.nps.gov/maritime/light/capedis.htm.

• North Head Lighthouse – Owned and managed by the U.S. Coast Guard, North Head Lighthouse is located inside Fort Canby State Park on the Long Beach peninsula, north of the mouth to the Columbia River, and three miles north of Cape Disappointment Light. The light is open to the public, but there’s a $3 fee for a trip up to the lantern room and hurricane deck. The light guards one of the windiest spots on the Pacific coast, with winds sometimes exceeding 150 mph. North Head still serves as an active navigational aid. Established in 1898, North Head Lighthouse was erected where Cape Disappointment was meant to be. Because Cape Disappointment was mistakenly placed three miles south, shipwrecks were still occurring in the area around where North Head Light now stands. The First Order Fresnel was removed from the Cape Disappointment lighthouse and installed in North Head. Later, it was replaced with a weaker Fourth Order Fresnel. The First Order lens was put on display at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.

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Outdoor Activities

• North Coast Beaches (Warrenton, Gearhart, Seaside, and Cannon Beach) – The beaches of Warrenton, Gearhart, Seaside and Cannon Beach offer treasures to the careful beachcomber, and the rewards are greatest just after a blustery North Coast storm. Popular beach activities include walking, kite flying and, when the tide and season are right, clamming. The Pacific Ocean is too cold on Oregon’s North Coast for most swimmers and there are dangerous currents. There are public swimming pools in Astoria and Seaside. For those willing (and properly equipped) to brave the cold waters – surfing, windsurfing, boogie boarding and skim-boarding all are available.

• Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge – Accessible only by boat, the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 313 acres of islands and sand bars in the Columbia River estuary in the lower Columbia River in Oregon. The refuge boundary is 35,000 acres of mostly tidelands and open water. The Refuge provides wintering and resting areas for estimated up to 1,000 tundra swans, up to 5,000 geese and up to 30,000 ducks. Other species include shorebirds and bald eagles. Estuarine waters provide vital food resources for juvenile salmon as they pause to become acclimated to salt water before entering the Pacific Ocean. The Refuge provides opportunities for wildlife observation, study, and photography; waterfowl hunting (Oregon State regulations); fishing for salmon, trout, sturgeon, and warmwater fish. Boat launch facilities are located at John Day Point and Aldrich Point in Oregon and at Skamokawa, Washington.

• Cullaby Lake – Cullaby Lake is the North Coast's best waterskiing destination, and a great spot for beginning kayakers, canoers and sail boarders. Picnic shelters, volleyball, fishing, hiking, horseshoes and a boat dock are available. Rental shops in Astoria and Warrenton provide gear and accessories for a day at Cullaby Lake.

• Youngs River Falls – Relax near a 65-foot waterfall with picnic areas. The Youngs River Falls site was discovered by members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and later used by the director of "Free Willy" to shoot a scene for the movie. Interpretive panels at the site tell the story of the Corps of Discovery. The trail to the waterfall has improved with the addition of steps.

• Boating – The North Coast offers a variety of water sports like off-shore fishing in the Pacific Ocean, sailing on the Columbia River, water skiing on Cullaby Lake, or paddle-boating and canoeing on Coffenbury Lake or the Necanicum River. There are boat ramps on the John Day River, at Astoria’s East Mooring basin, at the Astoria Yacht Club on Youngs Bay, at the Warrenton and Hammond mooring basins, and at Coffenbury and Cullaby Lakes. The mooring basins in Astoria, Warrenton and Hammond offer berths for visiting boats by the day, week or month.

• Fishing – There are charter boats in Astoria, Warrenton, Hammond and Ilwaco for fishing salmon, sturgeon, halibut or crab. Experienced charter operators will take care of everything, including fishing licenses.

• Clamming – Razor clams are plentiful on Northern Oregon beaches. The best digging is at extremely low tides. Some diggers prefer to use either a narrow shovel or a hollow tube called a clam gun. These tools are available at most sporting goods stores. Check to make sure the season is right and the clams are legal to dig and safe to eat.

• Hiking – There are numerous hiking trails, ranging from the short climb from the campus at Clatsop Community College to the Astoria Column to the rugged but rewarding trail to the top of Saddle Mountain, which offers 3-4 hours for hiking and spectacular views at the top (3,283 feet). The Oregon Coast Trail begins with a flat, 17-mile stretch from the South Jetty of the Columbia River to Seaside. Follow in the footsteps of the Lewis & Clark Expedition on the six-mile hike across Tillamook Head between Seaside and Cannon Beach and enjoy the forest and periodic ocean views. From 28th and Irving in Astoria, Oregon, you can hike a forest trail that passes the lofty Cathedral Tree and emerges at the Astoria Column.

• Cycling – Astoria is the terminus of the Bicentennial Trail, which starts in Williamsburg, Virginia, and it's the starting point for many rides to California or even Mexico. Two loop roads southeast of Astoria, Youngs River Falls and Walluski Loop, offer road circuits of 18 and 88 miles. More than seven miles of paved, well-maintained bicycle trails wind through Fort Stevens State Park.

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Events & Festivals

• Crab and Seafood Festival – Renew your love affair with crab and fish at the annual Astoria-Warrenton Crab and Seafood Festival, held every April at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds in the Wallooski River Valley. The festival features a variety of seafood, dozens of outstanding Oregon wines to taste and buy, hand-crafted Oregon beers, live music and upwards of 150 arts and crafts booths. Festival booths sell crab fritters, crab cakes, shrimp and crab cocktails, oyster shooters, crab melts and the traditional crab dinner served by the Astoria Rotary Club. Spectacular views of Saddle Mountain and Youngs Bay provide picturesque surroundings for the traditional crab dinner and the feast of seafood. Admission to the festival is $5 general, $3 for those older than 62 and $1 for kids 12 and under. There’s a frequent shuttle service to the festival from the hotel, or you can travel by jet boat from Astoria's West Mooring Basin.

• Astoria Farmers Market – Started in 2000, and taking over three entire city blocks in historic Astoria, the Astoria Farmers Market combines fresh produce, local arts & crafts, food, and music in a lively downtown street market atmosphere each Sunday. Many additional nearby stores and shops in downtown Astoria remain open for the Sunday event to provide even more shopping possibilities. There's lots of nearby parking lots and street parking, and parking meters are free on Sunday! The nearby Waterfront Walk and the recently refurbished Astoria Trolley allow you to extend your stroll to other parts of Astoria. Open every Sunday from May 11 through October 5, 10am to 3pm. www.astoriasundaymarket.org.

• Scandinavian Midsummer Festival – The Astoria Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is held annually in June at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds. The festival features authentic Scandinavian food, exhibit booths with delicacies and crafts, a plethora of fantastic entertainment, music and dance, and the Troll Stroll, a 5-mile run/walk event. For information, visit www.astoriascanfest.com.

• Astoria Regatta Festival – The Astoria Regatta Association invites you to visit Astoria for the 110th Astoria Regatta Festival August 11th to August 15th. The festival offers five fun days of activities for all ages, including concerts, boat tours, sailboat races and the US Bank Astoria Regatta Grand Land Parade. Visit Regatta Square, on Duane Street between 16th and 17th for vendor booths, music and fun. Visit www.astoriaregatta.org.

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