The Long Beach Peninsula is an arm of land in western Washington state. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the south by the Columbia River, and the east by Willapa Bay. Leadbetter Point State Park and Willapa National Wildlife Refuge are at the northern tip of the peninsula, Cape Disappointment State Park, formerly known as Fort Canby State Park is at the southern end, and in between is Pacific Pines State Park.
Cape Disappointment, part of the Lewis and Clark National and State Historical Parks west of Ilwaco, was the westernmost terminus for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and a monument designed by Maya Lin as part of the Confluence Project was dedicated there in 2005.
The Long Beach Peninsula is remarkable for its continuous sand beaches on the Pacific Ocean side, 28 miles in extent, claimed to be the longest beach in the United States and the world's largest drivable beach, however is second to Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh. Because of the fine beaches, it is a popular vacation destination for people from Seattle, Washington, 165 miles distant, and Portland, Oregon, 115 miles distant.
The peninsula is located entirely within Pacific County, Washington.
Read more about Long Beach Peninsula: Economy
Famous quotes containing the words long and/or beach:
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“We often love to think now of the life of men on beaches,—at least in midsummer, when the weather is serene; their sunny lives on the sand, amid the beach-grass and bayberries, their companion a cow, their wealth a jag of driftwood or a few beach plums, and their music the surf and the peep of the beech-bird.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)