1 min
Overview
There's a lot of history crammed in the narrow area of the Columbia River Gorge just west of the Bonneville Dam. When the Table Mountain Slide (Bonneville Landslide) occurred in late prehistoric times, it created the Cascades of the Columbia River. Native American people used the Cascades as a fishing area and also became trading partners with later Euro-American travelers. Lewis and Clark mention an Indian village on this site. In later years, when Europeans began to settle in the area, the Cascades became a natural transportation bottleneck. The first road was built by the US military in the 1850s. In 1855, the military established a blockhouse at Fort Cascades to protect the portage from Native American raids. Peace soon returned to the area, and the military abandoned the fort in 1861, when the soldiers were called back to fight in the Civil War. Settlers soon claimed the fort and outlying buildings, creating the town of Cascades. Cascades became the first county seat of Skamania County, with the old Quartermaster's Office functioning as the first court house. By 1893, Cascades had been eclipsed by Stevenson as the county seat and social center of the area. In 1894, a large flood swept through the area destroying the townsite. It was never rebuilt. Today, there are no visible remains of the town itself. Extensive archaeological work has found many relics and some of the larger items are displayed on the hike. This hike starts at the Fort Cascades Trailhead, maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A paved trail leads to a covered kiosk with information about the history of the area. Be sure to print out or pick up a brochure detailing the self-guided hike. Then you'll pass picnic tables and get a view of the Bonneville Dam. After you pass the site of an old fishwheel, come to a fork and angle left. The leafy canopy here is composed of Douglas-fir, Oregon white oak, serviceberry, and hazel. Mossy boulders from the landslide are capped with licorice fern. When another trail crosses yours, take a qui
Trail Stats
0.0 km
4 m
18 m
0 m
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Photos
400px-FortCascadesMap2
400px-FortCascadesMap2
250px-FCStore
250px-FCStore
250px-FCPetroglyph
250px-FCPetroglyph
400px-FCRailroad
400px-FCRailroad