River to Rock Trail Day Hike

Trail Name: River to Rock Trail

Enter/Exit: Beacon Rock State Park

Trip type: Out and Back (Can be point to point if you have two cars)

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 1.5 miles Round Trip (.75 if point to point)

Elevation: 200 feet

Guide: https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/river-to-rock-trail?gclid=CjwKCAiA5Y6eBhAbEiwA_2ZWIaMc16saeGj8gDRs2FmhQTlJ71xuKfWFSr0GZVDSgsaHbKo8dW1CZRoCpe0QAvD_BwE

Review: I have passed by Beacon Rock dozens and dozens of times but never had the Discovery Pass needed to park there. After seeing a handful of pics on Instagram I decided it was finally time. I picked up a new Discovery Pass and hopped online to figure out the details. Sadly, I learned that the Beacon Rock Trail was closed due to downed trees and poor trail conditions. Thankfully I discovered a fairly new trail departing from the same parking lot. When I hiked the trail, the western trailhead was closed as the bridge that began the trail was washed out. However, you can hike down from the parking lot off of SR14 near the main Beacon Rock Trail. The hike begins in a heavily forested area and gently climbs for a few hundred feet before descending down toward the Columbia River. On the day I hiked it fog and rain were near constant but with a rain jacket it was a perfectly pleasant trail to have almost entirely to myself. After about the .5 mile mark you see two ponds as you continue to zigzag your way through the trees. The final descent takes you toward the rail road tracks and a creek where you can see where the bridge was washed out. At this point I turned around and began the easy climb past the ponds and through the woods. There are stone steps in a handful of places that make it easy to navigate and although there were a handful of small downed trees that required some ducking and navigating it was a very pleasant and easy hike worth checking out if you are ever in the Beacon Rock area. Cheers!

Rating: Hike it!

Rating Guide:

-Gram it: Check out the pictures on Instagram because this one is not worth seeing in person.

-Hike it: It’s short and sweet. Might as well knock it out in a day.

-Bag it: Pack a bag and spend the night.

-Bring a friend: Easy enough to bring a friend. Maybe this is where you can introduce someone to backpacking.

-Come Back: I will keep doing this trip it is so good!