The final paving of Discovery Trail
I’m so disappointed. The sun was out today; a gorgeous day, really, and I didn’t get a chance to head out for a ride on Discovery Trail.
The trail, 8 miles through beach, dunes and hillside, from the north end of Long Beach to the port marina in Ilwaco, began construction in 2002 as a part of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial commemoration. It is dotted with view-worthy monuments, from the 18-foot bronze tree bearing William Clark’s carved initials, to a re-articulated gray whale skeleton, a bronze of Captain Clark with a sturgeon, a basalt monolith, Maya Lin’s fish cleaning station at Cape Disappointment and many more.
A life-size sculpture of a California Condor is being placed at the southern terminus of the trail, at the Port of Ilwaco, in just a few days. I believe this is the last of the bicentennial commemoration monuments planned, but I’ve been surprised before.
The very exiting news came from the Long Beach City Council meeting this week: paving has begun for the final piece of trail. This connection will allow cyclists, those in wheelchairs and others simply needing a smooth, solid footing, to traverse the entire 8-mile length. For those of us watching the trail’s development since inception, this is momentous!
At the tender age of ten, on a family vacation, my brothers and I discovered the joy of roads made just for walkers and bicyclists. Oh, how we flew over the rolling slopes and took joy in pretending we knew the rules of the automobile driving roads. We had such fun on those rides. When I take my bicyle out on Discovery Trail, those memories come flooding back.
There are rolling slopes that cause you to pedal quickly at the bottom of the curve so as to make it to the top–but not sooo quickly that a no-longer-ten-year-old body can’t easily do so. Down into the dune grass we go, all but hidden from sight, and then up to a panoramic view of ocean and beach, surf and sand. Whoosh! Under the boardwalk! Over the bridge! It’s always a grand adventure.
That’s the thing; this place is still the beach of my childhood. And my inner child is very happy here.
I hope to meet you out on the trail.
How do you get a bike up the hill around the lighthouse? I’m just wondering if that area is very bike friendly. This is going to be a great new ride for everyone and should be a fantastic tourist attraction to those in the know. Speaking of which…how will visitors know to bring their bikes for this finished, unique attraction?
This is great news the beach trail is the best place to ride alone or with my children. When I lived in Portland the spring water trail was fine until you got to the portion that was parallel to 205 hwy, gasp. To answer Roger’s question Mt Tabor was another spot popular with cyclists at 650ft. elevation I and the other average cyclist would ride as far as we could then push the rest of the way. If you decide to walk up the trail I suggest you watch out for the bikes on the down hill pay off.