Lewis and Clark Trail sign, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

When you think of the National Park System, the first things that come to mind probably are national parks, right? Next, you might think about national monuments, then maybe national historical sites. What about national historic trails? The NPS.gov site lists 19 national historic trails.

Back in the spring of 2021, while driving home from a couple of days photographing within Mount St. Helens Volcanic National Monument (managed by the USDA Forest Service), I noticed signs like the one in the image above periodically marking Washington State Route 14 as part of the Lewis and Clark Trail (aka Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, aka Lewis and Clark Scenic Byway). This highway parallels most (but not all) of the route the Columbia River flows as it rolls between Oregon and Washington to empty into the Pacific Ocean.

So, what, exactly, is the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail?

Map of the Lewis and Clark Trail, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Library of Congress

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their 33-member hand-picked band of hunters, translators, and explorers collectively known as the Corps of Discovery (including Sacagawea, her French-Canadian husband Toussaint Charbonneau, and their infant son Jean Baptiste) set out on what ultimately became a 4,900-mile trek across 16 states, from Pennsylvania to the Pacific coast along Washington and Oregon. During this 2-year trek there and back, the Corps encountered Native Americans (who saved the group from exposure and starvation), illness (fleas, colds, dysentery and other stomach ailments, venereal disease, and what is now believed to be a burst appendix resulting in the only death during the expedition), starvation, snow and freezing temperatures over the Bitterroot Divide, and cold autumn days of extremely stormy weather upon reaching the “wet side” of the Cascade Mountains. These people were tough! And the discoveries they brought back to President Thomas Jefferson and the “civilized” population of the East were scientifically invaluable. Their very presence in the West and Northwest helped claim that portion of North America for the United States (instead of Great Britain, Spain, or Russia).

I would have never been tough enough (or really even want) to accomplish such an expeditionary feat, but with the comforts and conveniences of the 21st century, I could take myself and my cameras on a sightseeing tour of Washington and Oregon portions of this national historic trail (NHT).

Map of the route of Lewis and Clark through Washington and Oregon, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / National Park Service

With any national historic trail, there are many, many sights to see along the route. This can take days, even weeks, to accomplish. My own explorations took place over different months. Now, while I might never see everything along the NHT, I hope this series of articles illustrate what you can see and capture with your cameras if you set off on your own Pacific Northwest journey of this NHT.

A satellite map view of the Horsethief Butte and Columbia Hills Historical State Park areas, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Google Maps

My photographic adventure began with a southerly drive from my central Washington home down to the Columbia River, where I turned to head westward along WA State Route 14 to the basalt outcrop dubbed Horsethief Butte, one of four sites comprising Columbia Hills Historical State Park. In October 1805, the Corps of Discovery camped near a Native American village existing in the area. Note: the village was ultimately flooded with the construction of The Dalles Dam.

Here’s a bit of trivia for you: the site that included Horsethief Butte as well as Horsethief Lake used to be called Horsethief Lake State Park. According to oral reports, as the Army Corps of Engineers developed this area, workers thought the terrain looked similar to the land used as horsethief hideouts in 1950’s western movies. The horses kept there by the local Native Americans bolstered that view.

Oregon to the left, Washington to the right, the mighty Columbia River, and Horsethief Butte in the distance, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

Prior to arriving at the turnoff for the Horsethief Butte parking area, there are several view areas affording grand panoramas of the Columbia River and the steamboat-shaped butte (center right in the image above). Take time to stop and compose a shot or two, using both wide-angle and telephoto lenses or settings. Be warned, though, that it’s extremely windy at these view areas and you’ll need to weigh down your tripods. If handholding the camera, steady yourself as much as possible to prevent too much camera shake blur showing up in your resulting images.

A telephoto look at the Columbia River and Horsethief Butte, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

Mount Hood on a clearer day along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

Horsethief Butte is popular with climbers and there is a trail to the right of the outcrop leading around the butte to a terminus with “sweeping views of the Columbia River and Mount Hood” (on a good day, that is). My early November visit coincided with an overcast, rainy cold day during which Mount Hood chose to hide, but I did manage to photograph this cone-shaped volcano on the way home from a prior spring visit to Beacon Rock State Park (also located along the Lewis and Clark NHT and the subject of next month’s column).

A trail toward Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

A side trail to Horsethief Butte, Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

In addition to the main trail around the butte, there are a couple of other short paths leading to different parts of this basalt outcrop. I made use of my favorite photographic theme and captured leading line shots of these trails.

River and rock, Horsethief Butte and the Columbia River, Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

Once I hiked to the end of the main trail around the butte, I did, indeed, have a sweeping view of river and rock. The trick was to use a wide-angle lens (16-35mm) to show the viewer a part of the butte in addition to the Columbia River. Sure, I also took photos focusing on just the river, but it’s nice to see the location of Horsethief Butte in reference to the river, don’t you think?

A basalt butte with a view, Columbia Hills Historical State Park, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

Sitting in the car while it warmed up, I noticed the silhouettes of three tiny humans standing atop the butte in the distance. The addition of those people created scale and reference with which to compare the size of the basalt outcrop.

Resuming my westward drive, I took the turnoff onto the well-maintained gravel road toward Dalles Mountain Ranch, a historic ranch site also within the purview of Columbia Hills Historical State Park. I did not stop to photograph the buildings, though, since I took a wrong turn and found myself climbing higher in elevation to reach the boundary between Columbia Hills Historical State Park and the Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve. I’m glad I took that wrong turn, because it brought me close enough to photograph the tightly-spaced stands of autumn-hued oak trees dotting golden-grassed rolling hills.

Autumn color on the hillsides, Columbia Hills Natural Area Preserve, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

I framed the composition to reinforce a feeling of loneliness or emptiness of that vast, hilly terrain between one stand of oak trees and another stand in the distance. Remember, a good photo should elicit some sort of emotion from the viewer. It certainly produced a feeling in me of the emptiness that comes with a vast landscape and few items to break up that vast topography.

The ones that got away (from the Thanksgiving dinner table, that is), Columbia Hills State Historical Park, Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail / Rebecca Latson

I also spied a flock of wild turkeys beside the road. Unlike the more-habituated wild turkeys I photographed in Zion National Park several years ago, these gobblers maintained a more-than-socially-spaced distance between themselves and my 100-400mm telephoto lens.

While I’m not completely certain Lewis and Clark ever made it up to what is now the Dalles Mountain Ranch area (although they had to hunt somewhere for their food), I know they saw similar scenery during their trek along the Columbia River and the “dry side” of the Cascade Mountain range. National historic trails, like national historic(al) sites, bring the past alive for modern visitors seeking to observe and feel what it might have been like to travel through and live within particular parts of the U.S. a century or more in the past.

As the morning progressed into early afternoon, the rain and cold grew more pronounced. I loaded up my gear and headed home, determined to continue my trek west to the Pacific Ocean at a later date. Stay tuned for the next installment of my photographic explorations along the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.

Note: to visit Washington state parks, you’ll either need to purchase an annual Discovery Pass for $30, or you can fill out a day pass and pay $10. FYI, if you don’t have a pass and get caught, the resulting ticket can be pricier than the cost of an annual pass ($59 to $99).

References:

Anthony Brandt (Editor), The Essential Lewis & Clark, 2002, National Geographic Partners, LLC

Undaunted Courage | Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, And The Opening Of The American West, 1996 (2005 paperback edition), Simon & Schuster Paperbacks

https://stateparks.com/horsethief_lake_state_park_in_washington.html