A trail in Ilwaco, Washington, commemorates Lewis and Clark
Autumn amble
Pete Stone

Warm weather and lack of crowds make the Discovery Trail on Washington’s Long Beach Peninsula a great destination this month.

Lewis and Clark, who reached these parts 200 years ago, are memorialized by Clark’s Tree, a 20-foot bronze statue at the trail’s north end, as well as a gray whale skeleton and other trailside monuments.

In 2006 city officials hope to complete paving the 8.2-mile trail through dunes, wetlands, and woods to Ilwaco’s Main Street (currently gravel covers the trail’s north and south ends). ―Bonnie Henderson

INFO: Get maps from Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau ( www.funbeach.com or 800/451-2542).

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