Fort Columbia Historical State Park, at the mouth of the Columbia River near Astoria, is a post Civil War and WWII site that guards the Columbia River port area. During the WWII coastal scare (Japanese submarines), it was a very active base with big four inch and six inch guns — and mines in the bay. Today, it sports hiking and biking trails that allow you to explore spruce and hemlock forests, wetlands, dunes, shore pine areas (including a historic shipwreck), and Coffenbury Lake. It is also fun climbing into the batteries, gun turrets, and ammunition bays to play Army (like I did as a child)!
