Fort Columbia — Attraction in Astoria

I love visiting the forts and batteries around Oregon and Washington. I have visited a lot of them. History fascinates me, and I enjoy learning about the forts and the events of those days. While I enjoyed Fort Columbia, I was saddened by the state of disrepair it is in. It is a smaller fort, but it was a lot of fun to explore. You are able to access a small beach front there, as well, which was beautiful. Fair warning, this time of year the fort was full of spiders and webs, and I mean they were everywhere. Not a deal breaker, just something to be aware of. The guns there are really neat. There are only 6 left in the world, and 2 of them are on Fort Columbia. The powerhouse is near the housing and down a little hill. The generator there is cool and really old. There is also a little switchboard, but everything is blocked off, so it is hard to see. The fort is definitely worth exploring. It is near the Astoria Megler bridge, and there are a lot of fun shops and places to eat there, so we made a day of it. I hope that they repair some of the structures, although I know it is probably not feasible. I wish more areas of the fort were accessible, or that there was informational signage around the fort. Also, you will need a Discover Pass to visit, or you'll need...

I've loved this place for 45 years. I remember playing in the old rusted catacombs as a small child, loved it every time. Now though I must say it's about the worst emergency bathroom place to stop at. The long 5 mph loop is bad enough but then if you can find a place to park you have to hike around the other side of the building take the long ramp back around the building then if you are lucky to get the door open, to the single stall bathroom with 1 urinal. Like I said, if you're lucky. I was not. Plus it's haunted. That crappie hut was the guard shack for the original military fort that was built and manned by military prisoners at the time. Yes, the fort was also a prison, and a few too many people mysteriously either died or came up missing with no trace. Hmmm. Plus over the 45+ years I've gone there every time I was shaking off the last doo drops from the lily, it shook a couple more times by itself. Seriously haunted. Swarzies! No harm no foul! Love this place still and always look forward to the extra help in my...

We'll drive to Chinook for something as tourists but rarely drive further south. Never knew this fort was here. We decided to do a little sightseeing and saw this on Maps. What an interesting place to walk around and read the interpretive signs. What's even nicer is that they have kept up the maintenance to preserve the historical valve of the buildings. The underground bunkers are overgrown in places so you can't see what it was like in its heyday. Too bad they couldn't have kept a gun in place, like Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, but when the gov't decommissions a facility they don't really think 25 years out. And, I'm sure it's expensive to maintain such places like this anyway (with tax dollars). Being a State Park so you need a Discovery Pass (but we never saw a...