Fort Clatsop served as Lewis and Clark’s winter camp from December 1805 to March 1806, almost four months. The Corps of Discovery spent a fairly mundane existence here as they waited out the damp, cold, dark months. There was trade with the local Chinook Indians, repair of equipment and clothing, food gathering and hunting, and a general impulse to reprovision for the long journey home. Some members of the Corps were deputed to work at boiling sea water to make salt on the beach in what is now Seaside.
You will find a visitor center here, short interpretive trails, and a full replica of the fort as described in the two leaders’ journals. Fort Clatsop is now part of the Lewis & Clark National Historical Park and the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail. During the summer months, reenactors portray the chores of that long, damp winter.
A short distance from the visitor center is Netul Landing Visitor Center. You can walk the mile long trail along the Lewis and Clark River to it or dive. It has a kiosk with more information about the Corp of Discovery’s journey an a good place to view the river.
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