This 848-foot monolith was bought for a dollar to save it from becoming jetty rock, and Washington almost let Oregon have it
Beacon Rock rises 848 feet straight out of the Columbia River Gorge, and depending on which geologist you ask, it’s the second-largest free-standing monolith in the world — beaten only by the Rock of Gibraltar. Other geologists argue the title doesn’t hold up depending on how you define “monolith.” Either way, it’s an absolute unit of a rock.
Here’s the wilder part: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers once planned to blow the whole thing apart for jetty material. One man stopped them by buying the rock for a single dollar.
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A volcano’s core, stripped bare by floods
Beacon Rock is what’s left of a volcano that erupted roughly 57,000 years ago. The ice age floods that tore through the Columbia River Gorge stripped away everything soft around the lava core, leaving this basalt tower standing alone above the river.
At the peak of those floods, water covered the site nearly 200 feet above where the rock’s summit sits today. Everything around it washed downstream. The hardened lava core just didn’t move.
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Threatened, then bought for a dollar
By the early 1900s, the Army Corps of Engineers had its eye on Beacon Rock as a source of material for the jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River. Locals watched their landmark headed for demolition.
In 1915, Henry Biddle bought the rock for one dollar to stop that from happening. He then spent the next three years building a trail to the summit by hand — 52 switchbacks and 22 bridges cut into a cliff face, financed out of his own pocket for around $10,000.
Washington almost said no
After Biddle died, his family tried to donate Beacon Rock to Washington as a state park. Washington turned the gift down.
Oregon, sitting right across the river, offered to take it instead. That was enough to make Washington reconsider — the rock became a Washington state park in 1935, right where it had always stood.
Hiking to the top today
The trail Biddle built by hand is still the one hikers use today. It’s 1.6 miles round trip with about 580 feet of climbing — short, but the switchbacks stack up fast enough that you’ll feel it in your calves by the top.
The payoff is a 360-degree view of the Columbia River Gorge, water on one side and forested cliffs on the other. A Washington Discover Pass is required for parking at the trailhead, so grab one before you go.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
