When traveling, it pays to know the quirks of your destination.
In Skamania County, for instance, which includes a large section of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, a law makes it illegal to kill Sasquatch, complete with a $10,000 fine and/or five years in jail.
So don’t even think of stopping for a Sasquatch trophy hunt.
The Washington side of the 80-mile-long river canyon starts just east of Washougal and ends just west of Maryhill. While the west-end drive is pleasant enough, it gets more interesting at Beacon Rock State Park.
Even if you have no hiker’s blood running through your veins, take a shot at the monolith named in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark expedition. Even Elderhostel groups make the effort.
The rock-clinging mile-long trail to the 848-foot summit of the core of an ancient volcano is the most eye-catching of the park’s treasures and has impressive sightlines: Crown Point, Wind Mountain, Dog Mountain, maybe 20 miles on a clear day.
What’s great about this area is that after the physical challenge, pampering rewards are not far away, including upscale Dolce Skamania Lodge and Bonneville Hot Springs Resort, and mom-and-pop Carson Hot Springs.
Less than six miles from Beacon Rock is the Bonneville Dam (1937), with twin powerhouses on opposite shores. In August and September, chinook and coho salmon swim up fish ladders to their spawning grounds.
Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center is a mandatory stop with its wall of glass facing the river and pre-dam history. It has interesting displays including a 37-foot-high replica of a fishwheel and a restored 1893 sawmill steam engine; information on Lewis and Clark’s water route; and a movie on the gorge’s cataclysmic formation.
The world’s largest rosary collection, 4,000 rosaries ranging in size from fitting in a thimble to 16 feet long, resides here.
The county seat is Stevenson, a well-kept small town with galleries, antique shops and a historic waterfront. Officials would regularly waive the standard three-day waiting period for a marriage license, which explains why it was once known as the elopement capital of the Northwest.
While wind and topography around Stevenson do not create the spectacular wind-surfing and kiteboarding opportunities found on the Oregon side, there is ample opportunity for beginners and intermediates to hone their skills.
The main sites close to downtown are Rock Creek Park, which is good for beginners; and two that are better for windsurfers with some experience: Bob’s Beach and Home Valley Park, five miles east of town.
Doug’s Beach State Park, west of Lyle, may be the best site on the Washington side for advanced windsurfers and kiteboarders.
Now imagine a long day on the road or trail followed by a soak in a hot tub filled with natural hot-springs water — on your private balcony. That’s the high-end of what Bonneville Hot Springs and Spa offers.
Or if more active relaxing is needed, there are numerous packages, such as the winery-and-scenery tour or several bath-and-wrap options and mineral aerobics in the pool.
Skamania Lodge, near Stevenson, offers mountain bikes, four miles of trails and the Waterleaf Spa with rejuvenating mud wrap, purifying facial, ultimate spa pedicure and body rock massage. The lodge pipes in mineral water for its pools, hot tub and spa.
While Bonneville and Skamania have a 21st-century approach, nearby Carson Hot Springs still has its baths rooted in the past, which is just fine with its visitors.
This is serious mineral water delivered to men’s and women’s bathhouses, at 126 degrees, hotter and more odiferous than the two lodgings. The Victorian-era St. Martin Hotel still stands but overnight guests are not allowed. Carson has other modest lodgings blending old and the new.
If your budget can’t handle upscale dining at the resorts, have dinner with the locals at proprietor Joe Schlick’s Big River Grill. Schlick said his place was one of the first electrified buildings in town and perhaps the site of a brothel upstairs.
Try Big River’s homemade root beer or other options, including Walking Stick Stout, which is brewed in Stevenson.
Travel writers Maggie Savage and Sharon Wootton are co-authors of “You Know You’re in Washington When …”
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