But travel inland a couple hours, and Sauvie Island has its own unique lighthouse: Warrior Rock Light. (At least that’s its official name).
This is Oregon’s smallest lighthouse at 28 feet.
Most coastal lighthouses have parking lots pretty close to them or are just a sandy stroll away. Not Warrior Rock.
You can get to it either by a short boat ride from downtown St. Helens or drive out to Sauvie Island and head down Reeder Road until it ends, then hike three miles.
We opted for the latter.
Along the drive out, it rained cotton-looking puffs from Poplar trees as we passed the clothing-optional Collins Beach. The road finally ended, and without much signage instructing us how to get to the lighthouse, we ambled on down the beach.
It was about 5:35 once we stepped foot in the gray sand that lines the mighty Columbia and headed north. We soon learned this is the wrong time of day to make the trip.
Within the first few minutes we spotted a friendly, two-foot long garter snake relaxing on a piece of driftwood.
After a couple hundred yards, we ran out of beach to walk along. We ran into a couple heading back our way and they told us they’d made it a little past the lighthouse.
Our confidence grew.
Onto the grassy trail… and with the trail, mosquitoes. Lots and lots of mosquitoes. A later bite count revealed upwards of 40.
With the mosquitoes, though, you get to see plenty of birds. There were bright yellows, burnt oranges, woodpeckers and hummingbirds. Unfortunately, they move far too quickly for my slow camerahands.
We also came across a plethora of fauna varieties. I wouldn’t have noticed, personally, but I was with a pair of plant-junkies. Erin has a master’s degree in a plant-related field and Sam works for a nursery. They were on a mission to describe all the varieties we encountered.
They pointed out the native Oregon blackberries, identifiable by their bluish stems. My friends were both amazed by the enormous snowberries, or symphoricarpos albus, stretching eight to 10 feet in the air. Their leaves didn’t bear any berries, which is good, because they’re poisonous to humans.
About an hour or so after we started, we’d circled around the lighthouse and came up on the backside of it.
Just as we were making our break for Warrior Rock Light, a guy down the bank was reeling in a good-sized salmon. Apparently not good enough, though, as he had to let it go.
Sadly the lighthouse didn’t have a ladder to the top and there was no way to get in. But we stopped to soak in the surrounding boats, bald eagles and beauty from our perches on a piece of driftwood.
We scared off most of the birds on the way back, when our conversation loudly drifted to He-Man and Thundercats and our walk turned into a run to escape the wrath of the mosquitoes.
It didn’t work. I gave them a ginger Thanksgiving.
We tore down some of the ribcage-high grass to turn into mosquito swatters. This provided a bit of relief.
A cutaway to the water offered a chance to see another bald eagle nesting atop a tower in the water.
Once the path led back to the beach, we were treated to the quintessential American sight, just in time for Independence Day. A bald eagle dove into the water, grabbed a salmon, flew around a bit with the fish dangling in its talons and then swooped into the trees for a fresh-caught feast.
Sam and I had a brief javelin contest, putting driftwood back into the river, and then it was back to the car.
All told, we made the gorgeous seven-mile hike in about two-and-a-half hours. But we each lost about a pint of blood.
So when you go, make sure to bring plenty of bug spray. Or go earlier in the day.
For those who are more strapped for time or energy, there’s a half-scale replica of the original lighthouse in Columbia View Park. And if you walk up the courthouse steps, you can see the fog bell that was installed at Warrior Rock in 1889. It was cast in Philadelphia in 1855.
The bell was removed from the tower after a barge struck the lighthouse in 1969, disabling the light and bell.
The current concrete tower replaced the original wooden house in 1930.
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