Cape Disappointment Lighthouse things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, Cape Disappointment Trail, Ilwaco, WA 98624
4.6(409)
Open 24 hours
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The Cape Disappointment Light is a lighthouse on Cape Disappointment near the mouth of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington.
Outdoor
Scenic
Cultural
Family friendly
Off the beaten path
attractions: Deadman's Cove, Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, Waikiki Beach, Waikiki Beach, restaurants:
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KizzieKizzie
📍One Photo to Prove You've Been to Portland | 🚗 Short Coastal Road Trip
Gray AkersGray Akers
As a lighthouse fangirl, I will simply counter many people’s three-word reviews of this lighthouse and say: ɴᴏᴛ a disappointment! You guys aren’t clever!
We visited on a lovely Sunday morning in mid-February. It had been sunny & warm & dry for a few days beforehand, so the primary trail from the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center to the lighthouse was not as treacherous & mucky as other reviews have suggested — that said, it is not a remotely difficult mental leap to believe & imagine the level of mud that could accumulate at countless points on the trail, especially during those Pacific Northwest Winters™︎︎, which I absolutely believe would render the trail significantly less safe & far more difficult.
As others have stated, the trail is indeed labeled as “difficult.” Parts of it are paved, but most of it is dirt. The walk towards the lighthouse is downhill for the most part, so just… be cognisant of your walk back. I’m 31 years old & in some pretty lousy physical shape due to a few compounding factors, but the walk (I wouldn’t even call it a hike!) was still more than manageable for me without having to stop & take any embarrassing catch-my-breath breaks around my boyfriend. The trail is also only 0.4 miles each way. Though it is generally uphill walking back, there is a nice balance of uphill & downhill grades, so it’s really not as daunting as the trailhead sign might suggest.
Unfortunately, the trail to actually access the site of the lighthouse is not handicap-accessible as far as I understand, but there is a nice view of the lighthouse (plus some binoculars) from the paved sidewalk circling the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center.
This is a beautiful lighthouse with some gorgeous panoramic views of various regional waterways & landmarks. Driving south to Cape Disappointment from Seattle along the coastline basically obscures the actual ocean due to, say, the Long Beach Peninsula, etc. along the Washington coast 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 entry into the park, so it’s refreshing to suddenly arrive & be surrounded by a vast berth of beautiful blue ocean, versus the greenish, stationary globs of water to the west if following stupid Google maps the whole way.
𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗨𝗽:
✘︎ Some sources (including my go-to, LighthouseFriends.com) suggest that the trail to the lighthouse was closed in 2020. I see Google reviews from 2021 still indicating that the trail is inaccessible.【︎However, as of February 2022, the lighthouse trail is ᴏᴘᴇɴ.】︎
✘︎ Having visited a very lovely lighthouse in Crescent City, CA several years ago, I luckily hit that spot at low tide, not having known in advance that that particular lighthouse is inaccessible during high tide. Since then, in my lighthouse journeys, I now make an active effort to ascertain whether tides may affect the accessibility of 𝘹-lighthouse. I read a fairly recent Google review for Cape Disappointment which asserted that the trail becomes washed over during high tide, so if one were to successfully walk to the lighthouse but somehow lollygag long enough for the tide to rise, then one would be stranded until the next low tide. I truly don’t mean to sound like a sanctimonious “well, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺” Cheeto-finger Redditor, but 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚. I feel that it is important to distinguish this for folks who may be timing their trip based upon reviews that they may have encountered on Google. A Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center docent, as well as our own walk to the lighthouse at peak high tide, confirmed that the tides have absolutely no bearing on the functionality of the lighthouse trail.
✘︎ Accessibility: There is a large lower parking lot, where the lighthouse trailhead can be accessed directly from one corner of the lot, plus a much smaller parking lot located immediately adjacent to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, which offers a completely paved & handicap-accessible path to the museum & an associated set of binoculars for viewing the lighthouse from there. Please be courteous ♿️
Michailah WilliamsMichailah Williams
We were staying in Long Beach Washington for the night and decided to take a short ride to Cape Disappointments lighthouse.
It took maybe 10 minutes And it was well worth it.
I almost left my car without paying the $10 fee, but when I was looking at the information area where the bathrooms are before walking to the lighthouse, I noticed the fee machine.
As I am buying my $10 ticket to put in the car the park ranger is looking at my car and looking around my car to find the ticket in the window and I let him know that I was just purchasing the ticket.
He was super nice and doing his job, so you may want to make sure that you pay your fee.
It was maybe a half mile easy walk to the lighthouse. The views are beautiful and I'm sure my camera did not do it justice.
Patty who happens to volunteer in the lighthouse happened to catch us outside contemplating if we were going to climb to the top of the lighthouse and said a group just went up and that she could add us to it if wanted.
We paid $3 and we went up the stairs.
I'm guessing there were more than 30 stairs in total.
There were four people at the top of the lighthouse with a gentleman who I forgot his name, but he is Patty's husband and he volunteers the touring part of the experience.
We hung out for about 10 minutes and took a couple of pictures before heading back down.
We then walked back up to the parking lot, there is a loop to walk to and from.
The views were beautiful, there were people on the beach and it was a well worth hour of our time.
Reviews
Reviews of Cape Disappointment Lighthouse
4.6
(409)
5.0
3yAs a lighthouse fangirl, I will simply counter many people’s three-word reviews of this lighthouse and say: ɴᴏᴛ a disappointment! You guys aren’t clever!
We visited on a lovely Sunday morning in mid-February. It had been sunny & warm & dry for a few days beforehand, so the primary trail from the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center to the lighthouse was not as treacherous & mucky as other reviews have suggested — that said, it is not a remotely difficult mental leap to believe & imagine the...
Read more
5.0
1yWe were staying in Long Beach Washington for the night and decided to take a short ride to Cape Disappointments lighthouse. It took maybe 10 minutes And it was well worth it.
I almost left my car without paying the $10 fee, but when I was looking at the information area where the bathrooms are before walking to the lighthouse, I noticed the fee machine. As I am buying my $10 ticket to put in the car the park ranger is looking at my car and looking around my car to find the ticket in the...
Read more
5.0
3yThe trail to Cape Disappointment lighthouse has reopened to the public as of October 2021. The path to the lighthouse starts at the interpretive center parking lot which is a dirt path. Once you reach deadman’s cove trailhead which is labeled by signs the path turns to gravel. Take a right to access Deadman’s cove and go left to continue to the lighthouse. Deadman’s cove has wooden steps so use caution when wet. Currently there are trail improvements happening so take it slow where...
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