Cape Disappointment State Park
Mouth of the Columbia River at the Pacific Ocean
Ilwaco, Washington

"We start where Lewis and Clark's journey ended at the mouth of the Columbia, where the river meets the sea, holding up a mirror to reflect back upon Lewis and Clark's journey."

—Maya Lin

Here, where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean in Ilwaco, Washington, Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery reached the end of its westward passage. This is where the Confluence Project's work began, with an installation that sums up Lewis and Clark's journey and evokes the Chinook people's movement through this same site, 200 years ago and today.

At Cape Disappointment State Park, Maya Lin has drawn together the two areas of the site—the bay side and the ocean side—into a single, steadily unfolding experience. Contemporary in character but deeply sensitive to its environment, Lin's installation is a subtle yet powerful arrangement of indigenous materials and natural forms, Native American words and symbols, and texts from Lewis and Clark's journals, which leads visitors into a new relationship with this landscape and its ongoing story.

On the bay side of Cape Disappointment State Park, where visitors previously found little more than an asphalt parking lot, an industrial sink and some view-blocking hedges, there are now restored wetlands, an open platform that invites you out to the waters of Baker Bay and a massive, elegant fish-cleaning table made of polished native basalt inscribed with a Chinook origin legend.

The artwork

Boardwalk

Near the ocean side of Cape Disappointment, an existing amphitheater has been redesigned to provide views of the Pacific. From there, visitors may pass along divergent trails. One, along a boardwalk, leads to Waikiki Beach. This trail is inscribed with texts from Lewis and Clark's journals summarizing their entire westward journey of 4,133 miles, from St. Louis to the Pacific.

Cedar Circle

Within the grove, Maya Lin is in the process of erecting a circle of seven carefully chosen pieces of silvery driftwood, found nearby. Six cedar columns will surround a cedar tree trunk that is older than the history of Lewis and Clark. Together, the driftwood elements will evoke the seven directions of Native American tradition: north, south, east, west, up, down and in.

Fish-cleaning Table

Near the viewing platform, Maya Lin has installed a massive fish-cleaning table, formed out of a single, polished block of native columnar basalt. Inscribed into the top surface is a Chinook origin legend, relating the interdependence of the people and the river's salmon. This table, which is fully functional, replaces an industrial sink that once stood on the site.

Amphitheater Trail

The second trail from the amphitheater is a pathway of crushed oyster shells. Inscribed along this path is a Chinook praise song, which was recited on this site on November 18, 2005, the 200th anniversary of the arrival of Lewis and Clark. This trail does not end at the Corps of Discovery's goal—the ocean—but leads instead to a secluded grove.

Interpretive Trail

Connecting the bay side and ocean side of Cape Disappointment is an interpretive trail, now being developed by Washington State Parks. The trail will reveal to visitors the teeming life and incalculable importance of one of the world's great saltwater estuaries.

Viewing Platform

On the bay side of Cape Disappointment, where visitors previously found little more than an asphalt parking lot, it is now possible to pass over restored wetlands to the very edge of Baker Bay. Here, an elegantly simple, curved viewing platform offers an unimpeded experience of the setting—while text from Lewis and Clark's journals, cut into the surface, notes the arrival of the Corps of Discovery at this spot.

Timeline

Confluence Project's Cape Disappointment site is complete. The park is open to visitors from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. in the summer and from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the winter.