See for Yourself

Grab a map and take a day — or just a few hours – to check out some Corps of Discovery landing sites or other points of interest along the Columbia River between The Dalles and Fort Clatsop at the coast. Watch for botanicals along the way. Make a game of it by naming as many Lewis and Clark trees, shrubs and wildflowers as you can. Bring along the plant list (see The 176) and a field guide with plenty of photos to help you identify some of the more obscure plants. And check out both sides of the Columbia River. We take off just east of The Dalles and offer a few stops, and plants, for starters. Some stops are the places they first spotted the plants listed.

1. Celilo Falls
The falls have been gone for almost 45 years, but a riverside park east of The Dalles off Interstate 84 lets you stretch your legs at the site or launch a boat. Out here, the arid climate changes the landscape dramatically, with desert sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) replacing a forest of evergreens.
LOOK FOR: Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium)

2. The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Historical Museum (541-296-8600)
This museum at The Dalles has great views of the gorge and copies of Clark's journal, maps, compasses and telescopes. Gardens filled with Lewis and Clark plants await outdoors.
LOOK FOR: Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum)

3. Bonneville Dam
Popular destination for tourists and fishermen, the dam lures you to the locks to watch boats and tugs make their way through or to marvel as fish climb the ladders. But next time out, survey the flora. Lewis spotted his first big-leaf maple here, and the trees are still plentiful. In autumn, snap up some of the huge, fallen leaves.
LOOK FOR: Big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum)

Oregon sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum) is part of a Lewis and Clark garden at The Columbia Gorge Discovery Center at The Dalles.

4. Beacon Rock State Park
The hiking trail with switchbacks will make you earn the view of the gorge. But it's only about 20 minutes to the top, and well worth the walk.
LOOK FOR: Western wake-robin (Trillium ovatum)

5. Columbia River Highway
The Corps of Discovery didn't travel only on water, and you shouldn't stick just to the Interstate. Escape the trucks and meander along this road, where wildflowers abound.
LOOK FOR: Menzies' larkspur (Delphinium menziesii)

6. Washougal, Wash., across from the mouth of the Sandy River
With wildlife plentiful, the Lewis and Clark party camped here for six days. They hunted and dried elk for the journey home from March 31 to April 5, 1806. Many Native Americans visited the camp as they traveled downriver.
LOOK FOR: Nuttall's dogwood (Cornus nuttallii)

7. Blue Lake Park, west of Blue Lake
Clark passed a small tribal village here on April 2, 1806. He visited the next day and noted the impact of a smallpox outbreak from 30 years earlier. He talked with the people about local geography and bought five dogs to eat.
LOOK FOR: Spring birch (Betula fontinalis)

8. Portland International Airport, near the main terminal
The main party visited a temporary Native American residence while gathering arrowroot or wappato. The corps stopped again on the return trip for breakfast. It's not the best place to eat breakfast today — a bit noisy — but paths let you pedal or stroll alongside the Columbia River.
LOOK FOR: Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)

9. Ryan Point, industrial complex southeast of Fort Vancouver with a stop at the fort
Lewis observed the Willamette Valley in 1806 and estimated that it could support 50,000 settlers. Visit Fort Vancouver today and find an arboretum.
LOOK FOR: Western red cedar (Thuja plicata)

10. University of Portland (actual site may be closer to Cathedral Park near St. Johns Bridge)
Clark explored the Willamette River to near this point in 1806. Today, in a small campus park, a statue of William Clark overlooking the Willamette River is surrounded by plant varieties — and this is no surprise — that he and Lewis introduced to science.
LOOK FOR: Madrone (Arbutus menziesii)

11. Kelley Point Park, confluence of Columbia and Willamette rivers
Clark, seven men and a Native American guide canoed past on April 2, 1806, on reconnaissance of the Willamette River. Mistaking the name of a local tribe for that of the river, Clark called it the Multnomah. This North Portland park is a quiet picnic place today.
LOOK FOR: Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus laevigatus)

12. Sauvie Island
The explorers camped on the north shore Nov. 4, 1805, and landed here again on March 30, 1806. They counted eight towns with 2,500 inhabitants. In 1806 they observed one of the richest villages of the lower Columbia at Reeder Beach. They landed at the outlet of Shillapoo Lake, now drained and farmed.
LOOK FOR: Black cottonwood (Populus balsamifer ssp. trichocarpa)

13. Trojan Nuclear Plant
Take U.S. 30 north along the Columbia River and you'll hit the roomy, little-used parklike grounds.
LOOK FOR: Vine maple (Acer circinatum)

14. Westport/Cathlamet Ferry
Take a 15-minute ride from Oregon to Washington, or vice versa, for a few dollars. Round trip, it takes less than an hour.
LOOK FOR: Hybrid poplars along the shores

15. Astoria
Survey the panorama from the Astoria Column. If you go in spring, you'll see plenty of rhodies in bloom, which Lewis collected here. The column, which depicts scenes of the winter the explorers spent at Fort Clatsop, was built in 1926.
LOOK FOR: Rhododendron macrophyllum

16. Fort Clatsop National Memorial
At this replica of the 1805-06 winter quarters, you can hike through the forest and see the same plants the explorers saw. Stand where the captains worked on diaries, drawings and collections. Nap on Lewis' bunk. The visitor's center has a great bookstore, informative and friendly staff and an herbarium that rangers have collected. It even sets aside a day every July to honor Seaman, Lewis' Newfoundland.
LOOK FOR: Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

17. Seaside
Don't miss the beautiful beach where the corps boiled seawater for salt. A re-creation of the salt works is worth a visit. Clark passed here with Sacagawea to visit a beached whale near Cannon Beach. They climbed Tillamook Head, "the Steepest worst & highest mountain I ever assended," Clark wrote.
LOOK FOR: Oregon wood-sorrel (Oxalis oregana)

18. Cape Disappointment, Fort Canby State Park
At this tip of America, see the Columbia River gushing into the Pacific Ocean. Just off U.S. 101 west of Ilwaco, Wash., the park has an impressive interpretive center. You'll get the best view from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. The Ilwaco Heritage Museum is worth a stop to see the enormous area relief map.
LOOK FOR: Blue huckle-berry (Vaccinium membranaceum)

SOURCE: National Geographic's Guide to The Lewis & Clark Trail, by Thomas Schmidt

THE LEGACY GROWS reproduced courtesy of the Oregonian.
These stories originally ran May 24, 2001
© 2001 The Oregonian
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