Netul River Hike

Overview

In their search for a winter camp in December 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition paddled up a wide tidal river the locals called the Netul. They found a good landing spot for their large canoes at Netul Landing, and established Fort Clatsop on higher sheltered ground about one mile north. The Netul River is now the Lewis and Clark River, and Netul Landing is the terminus for the 146-mile Lower Columbia River Water Trail, which begins at Bonneville Dam. An easy, flat universal access trail leads from Fort Clatsop to Netul Landing along the bank of the Lewis and Clark River. Look for ducks and bald eagles as well as swimming nutria and mink in the adjacent South Slough. Log pilings attest to the area's former use as a "wet sort yard", where log were assembled into rafts and floated downriver. There's a large display on the Lewis and Clark Expedition at Netul Landing. After paying your entrance fee and enjoying the Visitor Center, walk out to restored Fort Clatsop. You'll pass a bronze statue of Sacagawea. This one is a replica of the statue that once stood at Netul Landing. Thieves stole the original statue in January 2008 and broke it up in order to sell the metal. At the fort itself, there are often reenactments and volunteers dressed in period costumes ready to answer your questions! Then continue south under shady Sitka spruce and hemlocks to a junction. Keep left to begin a boardwalk. Take a spur left to a view over the Lewis and Clark River that extends to Saddle Mountain. Interpretive signs tell the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Continue on the twisting boardwalk through a sedge swamp, and look north to get a view of the Astoria Column atop Coxcomb Hill. Pass a large spruce as the trail runs close to Fort Clatsop Road and the recently restored South Slough. Cross the wide South Slough Bridge to continue south along the river bank under an arbor of red alder. Pilings in the river date from the time that Netul Landing was a busy lumber yard. Stronger steel pilings supplemented the 60-foot Dou

Trail Stats

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