Standing a staggering 848 feet tall, an austere rock rises up out of the bank of the Columbia River in Washington State. This fascinating geological feature is a volcanic neck; lava that cooled in the heart of an ancient volcano more than 50,000 years ago. Although the volcano itself is long gone, this tower of basalt remains, still standing tall on its own. Prior to colonization, this monolith was called Che-Che-op-tin, but the exploration team Lewis and Clark renamed it Beacon Rock. At the turn of the 20th century, the first recorded successful climber, Frank J. Smith (accompanied by two unnamed men), reached the summit. Today, however, you don’t have to scale the sheer walls of Beacon Rock with climbing spikes to see the incredible Pacific Northwest views – you can just take the Beacon Rock Hike.