Columbia Park in Kennewick, Washington, USA
Super-Park Has Boating, Biking, Jogging, Golf, Nature Trails
Apr 22, 2009
The park stretches several miles along the banks of the mighty Columbia River. Highway 240 runs along the south edge. Columbia Park Trail runs through the middle of the park. The park is very popular on summer weekends and hot nights when people come to the park to cool off.
Columbia Park Has Much to Do and See
In between are 400 acres of park with a mind-boggling array of things to see and do:
- An 18-hole municipal golf course and driving range.
- Wide open spaces which are good for playing Frisbee or soccer matches.
- Bicycle and jogging paths.
- A short nature trail.
- A family fishing pond, a catch-and-release pond stocked with game fish for fishermen under the age of 14 or disabled persons with a reduced-fee license.
- A “playground of dreams” which has separate play areas for children ages 2 through 5 years old and 6 through 12 years old.
- A skate board park.
- A regional veterans war memorial, honoring those who served in all branches of the military.
- Plenty of picnic tables to enjoy a meal on a sunny day.
- Plenty of benches to sit and watch the Columbia River roll by.
- A pond just for geese, ducks and seagulls which love the bread snacks thrown out by visitors.
Columbia Park Is Site of Hydroplane Racing
But the fun doesn’t stop there. Between 50,000 and 60,000 people descend on the park the last weekend in July for two days of unlimited hydroplane racing. The Lamb-Weston Columbia Cup is on the American Boat Racing Association’s summer race circuit. Other activities that weekend include a golf tournament, an outdoor art show at another park, and an air show.
Other special weekend activities include classic car shows, soccer tournaments, and commercially-sponsored RV, boat and lawnmower shows.
Kennewick Man Discovered Here
Columbia Park also has historical aspects. The skeleton of a Native American who lived 9,200 years ago was found in the park. The skeleton, named “Kennewick Man,” was found in 1996 in mud along the river bank.
More recently – in 1805 – members of the Lewis & Clark expedition traveled up the Columbia to the confluence with the Yakima River. A statue of Sacajawea and her baby mark the spot at a viewpoint overlooking Bateman Island, another good place for nature hikes. The expedition camped both going to and coming from the Pacific Ocean a few miles south near the confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. That campsite is now known as Sacajawea State Park.
Columbia Park opens at 6 a.m. and closes a half hour after sunset each day, though the Columbia Park Trail road is open to vehicle traffic around the clock.
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