Discovery Trail on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula brims with discoveries (video)

TR.IlwacoCondor.JPGView full sizeThe condor sculpture at the Port of Ilwaco, Wash.

One of the most pleasant urban paths around is the

on Washington's

.

Besides being a paved bike/pedestrian route through the dunes, the trail has been lined with impressive pieces of art for nearly a decade.

By comparison, the

in Seattle, perhaps the most famous bike path in the Pacific Northwest, is only now getting some trailside art. The city of Seattle recently announced that it is looking for an artist to create outdoor art along the trail in north Seattle, between Kenmore and Ballard. The budget is $80,000 for art at two to five sites. (Speaking of the Burke-Gilman Trail,

which would finish the trail all the way to Golden Gardens Park.)

But why wait? You can see trailside art now between Long Beach and Ilwaco. And there's plenty to discover for hikers and cyclists on the Discovery Trail, the 10-to 12-foot-wide path that connects Long Beach with Ilwaco.

Parts of the 8.5-mile trail through the dunes had been in use for a number of years before the trail was completed and formally dedicated in September 2009.

The last pavement, except for a quarter-mile section, was laid two years ago at Seaview and on the outskirts of Ilwaco. A steep, unpaved section in Cape Disappointment State Park is surfaced with packed and rolled gravel to deter skateboarders.

Road bikers can either walk their bikes in this section, or bypass it on the U.S. 101 highway loop.

Decorated with a variety of public of art, the trail is one of the most scenic urban trails in the Pacific Northwest.

The Discovery Trail's northern terminus in Long Beach is near the Breakers condominiums at North 26th Street, in the dunes fronting the Pacific Ocean.

The trail runs alongside the wooden boardwalk in the heart of Long Beach, stretching south to Ilwaco on the Columbia River.

Traversing a scenic landscape of coastal dunes and cliffy headlands, the trail nevertheless draws the eye strongest to public art along the way.

Bronze sculptures commemorate moments from the Lewis and Clark expedition, whose members explored what would become Pacific County more than 200 years ago.

A bronze statue at the trail's north end depicts a 20-foot-tall tree, used by Clark to carve his initials. Another bronze in Long Beach shows Clark examining a 10-foot-long sturgeon. A bronze near the trail's southern end in Ilwaco shows a life-size California condor, a species that expedition members found nearby.

Other art includes an inscribed basalt monolith, a preserved skeleton of a Pacific gray whale, dolphins carved from a gnarled tree stump and several salmon-shaped bicycle racks.

A sign on the Long Beach Boardwalk tells of a French ship that sank nearby while carrying 3,000 tons of cement. What a way to go!

If you go:

Join the trail from any of several places (North 26th, Bolstad or Syd Snyder streets in Long Beach, 38th Street in Seaview, or at Beard's Hollow (in

). Be sure to have the new

if you visit Cape Disappointment by vehicle.

From the condor sculpture at the Port of Ilwaco, follow the promenade west to Howerton Avenue, which curves right and becomes First Street. Take First to Main, turn left and follow Main up the hill until it turns into the trailhead.

Print a trail map at

.

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