And now I present the 100th park in this series! Cape Disappointment did not disappoint. As it turned out, good friends of mine formerly from Bainbridge Island were manning the visitors’ center. So we took a Saturday afternoon to visit them and explore the park.

We started with the Cape Disappointment Trail, which leads to the visitors’ center and to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, which first went into service in 1856.

It turns out one lighthouse was not enough for this region. Poor visibility for some routes led to the construction of a second lighthouse a few miles north. The North Head Lighthouse entered service in 1898 to protect ships arriving from the north.

Today’s trail starts near the keeper’s residence for that lighthouse, which can now be rented as a vacation home:

For more information:

• State Parks web site