Difference between revisions of "Fort Stevens Military Loop Hike"
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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Revision as of 18:39, 16 January 2018
- Start point: Military Museum Trailhead
- End point: Battery Clark
- Trail log:
- Hike Type: Double loop with spurs
- Distance: 2.6 miles
- Elevation gain: 20 feet
- High Point: 25 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Sometimes
Contents |
Hike Description
You can begin or end this short historical walk with the Military Museum, which opens at 10:00 a.m. This tour takes you through most of the fortifications of Fort Stevens, first constructed during the Civil War to protect the mouth of Columbia from Confederate invasion. The last emplacements, at Battery 245, were built during World War II. Battery Russell lies south of here and can be visited on the Fort Stevens Loop Hike.
From the parking area, check out the Parrott Rifle next to the Museum, and then walk north on the Jetty Trail to the Clatsop Longhouse, which exhibits a typical dwelling of the Clatsop Indians. Here there is a junction where you can go left for Battery 245. Head along a grassy path under alders and Sitka spruce. The Columbia River appears like an inland sea behind a breakwater. There are views of the old wooden trestle leading across Trestle Bay to the South Jetty on Clatsop Spit. The trestle was used by railcars involved in the construction of the jetty. The Jetty Trail curves to the left and rises through Scots broom to the gun emplacements at Battery 245. The battery, which is lit inside, was built in 1945. After exploring the emplacement, take a gravel track past the rifle range and head across a field with a fenceline to the right. Pass through a picnic area in an alder/sedge bottom and then back through a tall fence by some restrooms. West Battery and Battery Mishler can be explored past the Steam Plant to the left and Battery Pratt is ahead. After spending time here, go right and back past the museum.
To continue exploring the military area, continue to the large open area of former barracks southeast of the museum. Here also is the Battery Clark Commander’s Station. At the end of this area, go right past the Central Power Plant to Battery Clark. Also down here is the Bakery. Through the fence, but on state park property, is the brick Guardhouse. Turning back and heading northeast, you can go to the Mine Cabel Storeroom and then continue along the exit road to a junction. To the left is the reconstructed original Civil War era earthwork of Fort Stevens (Battery Freeman). Going straight, a road leads down past Battery Smur, the Mine Loading Building and to the Torpedo Loading Room at the end and a fenceline. Return to Battery Smur and take the path up past the Coal Yard to the junction by the Clatsop Longhouse. Return from here to the museum.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Sky Island Graphics: Oregon Coast Area Trails
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- $5 day-use fee
- Dogs on leash
- Campground, day-use areas, museum, interpretive signs
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Fort Stevens Military Loop Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Fort Stevens Military Loop Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Hiking Oregon's History by William L. Sullivan
- 100 Hikes/Travel Guide: Oregon Coast and the Coast Range by William L. Sullivan
- Oregon Campgrounds Hiking Guide by Rhonda & George Ostertag
- Hiking the Oregon Coast by Lizann Dunegan
- Best Easy Day Hikes: Oregon's North Coast by Lizann Dunegan
- 120 Hikes on the Oregon Coast by Bonnie Henderson
- Day Hiking: Oregon Coast by Bonnie Henderson
- Trips & Trails: Oregon by William L. Sullivan
- Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide by Jan Bannan
More Links
- Fort Stevens State Park (Oregon State Parks)
- Fort Stevens (National Park Service)
- Fort Stevens State Park Master Plan (Oregon State Parks)
- Fort Stevens (Oregon) (Wikipedia)
- "Fort Stevens, Oregon" (The Columbia River: A Photographic Journey)
- 1919 - Fort Stevens Oregon (Arleigh's World)
- Fort Stevens State Park (Friends of Old Fort Stevens)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)