Cape Disappointment State Park, formerly Fort Canby State Park, encompasses 2,023 acres in southwestern Washington where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. Fort Canby, officially activated in 1864, was one of three major defenses on the lower Columbia River and one of Washington's earliest forts, designed to protect settlements and shipping traffic. Named in 1875 for General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, the historic site features diverse landscapes of old-growth forest, freshwater and saltwater marshes, and oceanside tidelands. The park includes not only Fort Canby but also the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, North Head Lighthouse, and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, constructed in 1856 and recognized as the oldest functioning lighthouse on the West Coast.
