Beacon Rock State Park preserves a striking basalt volcanic plug and surrounding Columbia Gorge landscape along Washington’s north shore of the Columbia River. Beacon Rock entered recorded American history on October 31, 1805, when the Lewis and Clark Expedition first measured tides here on the Columbia, confirming the Pacific was near. Renamed over time, the rock gained lasting public importance after Henry J. Biddle bought it in 1915, built a dramatic summit trail completed in 1918, and helped save it from quarrying by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Established as a public park in 1935, it now protects shoreline, uplands, waterfalls, trails, climbing areas, boating, and camping.