Fort Stevens State Park

May 9, 2015

Fort Stevens State Park & Beach

We found our way up to Fort Stevens State Park which is just outside Astoria, Oregon. It is the largest campground in Oregon – possibly in the U.S. – with almost 500 campsites, some with full hook-ups and some with just water and power. It’s a beautiful park and right now it’s practically empty. It has miles of beach, hiking trails, biking trails and even a lake for fishing! The only drawback so far is that the mosquitos are quite bad! I think It’s a really popular place in the summer and I’d hate to be here when it was full … it’d be like a small city!

Camping at Fort Stevens St Park

We got Bruce out surfing yesterday, but the surf sucked and he didn’t do too well. I stayed on the beach taking photos although it was difficult at times due to – what I call – the ‘clam people’. Dozens and dozens of people drive onto the beach early in the morning and wander aimlessly up and down the beach with their ‘clam guns’ searching for clams. They seem to have no regard for someone standing there taking photos … they’ll walk slowly or stop right in front of you to dig. Did they get any? I have no idea!

Bruce Surfing at Fort Stevens Beach

Using a clam gun

We spent the rest of the day touring through the historic sites of the park. It was constructed during the Civil war and remained active until shortly after WWII. In addition to the various buildings, batteries, guns and tanks etc., there is the wreck of the centuries old Peter Iredale – a British sailing ship en route to the Columbia River to pick up a shipment of wheat when it landed on a sandbar off Clatsop Beach where it stuck fast. There’s not much left now but a bit of the skeleton showing.

Fort Stevens State Park

Cape Meares Ship Wreck on the Beach at Fort Stevens

The weather has been lovely the past couple of days although the wind seems to kick up in the afternoons which at least keep the mosquitos at bay.

Bruce at beach

Astoria itself was a bit of a disappointment … the town seems quite run down and the much anticipated ‘little shops’ had a lot of junky stuff. It could be so much more … as a major cruise ship dock, there are hundreds of people milling about just dying to spend money. There are some neat old buildings at least and apparently a lot of movies were shot here – including Goonies which they seem quite proud of. They do have a nice boardwalk that runs along the beach, no shops or anything tho … just boardwalk.