Stunning Beard's Hollow

by Robert Bales

Title

Stunning Beard's Hollow

Artist

Robert Bales

Medium

Photograph - Photo

Description

Beards Hollow is located at Cape Disappointment on the Washington Coast, south of Seaview, Washington, and north of the North Head Lighthouse. On November 15, 1805, Captain Lewis reached the Pacific Ocean near Beards Hollow. Beards Hollow was named after Captain E.N. Beard whose ship, the bark Vandalia, met disaster off the mouth of the Columbia River in 1853. The crew was lost and Captain Beard's body was found on the beach near the hollow. it is a circular beach in a hollow at the base of a cliff, on Pacific Ocean, 1 mile west of Ilwaco, southwest Pacific County.

In the past two centuries, there have been many changes at Beard's Hollow. Historically, the Chinook Indians visited the tide pools near the water's edge to collect sea life for food and shells to use as tools and decorations. When the Lewis and Clark Expedition explored this area in 1805, the ocean waves reached much further into Beards Hollow. In the early 1900's, a privately owned campground in Beard's Hollow offered access to the ocean for swimming and fishing. Later, basalt from nearby cliffs was quarried for construction materials. After the Columbia River jetties were built (1885-1915), the cove filled in and became a wetland. Washington State Parks has managed the site since 1982.
The boardwalk bridge in Beards Hollow puts you right in the middle of a freshwater wetland. This site is a great bird-watching location, from tiny hummingbirds to the broad-winged Bald Eagle. Several trails leave from the Beards Hollow parking lot:
This is a view of Deadmans Hollow which is a dangerous hollow on the Pacific Ocean, between North Head and Peacock Spit, southwest Pacific County. In 1853, when the bark Vandalia foundered at the mouth of the Columbia River, all hands were lost and some of the bodies drifted into this hollow. Over a period of years, several drowned fishermen have also been found here.

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September 20th, 2023

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