Hotel at a Glance: Best Western Lincoln Inn

The Best Western Lincoln Inn is a newly renovated Best Western right on the Columbia River in Astoria, complete with sweeping views of the water.

• Free hot breakfast that includes eggs, sausage, and pastries
• Comfortable rooms featuring refrigerators and microwaves
• Make a splash in the open 24/7 indoor heated pool and hot tub.
• Walk to dinner: You'll be less than two miles from several shops, breweries, and local restaurants.

Astoria, Oregon: Frontier Port with Scenic Hikes and Naval Museums

Tucked away in the northwestern corner of Oregon, the town of Astoria juts into the mouth of the Columbia River, the body of water that separates Oregon and Washington. Astoria has a storied past as one of the oldest US settlements west of the Rockies. The town is named after John Jacob Astor, the entrepreneur who founded the Pacific Fur Company and established Fort Astoria in 1811. A few years earlier, in 1805, Lewis and Clark spent a winter camped out at Fort Clatsop; today, a replica fort commemorates the expedition with a visitor’s center and ranger-led programs. Fort Clatsop is also the trailhead for the popular Fort to Sea Trail, a 3-mile hike that wends through forests and across beach dunes en route to the Pacific Ocean.

The area's rich nautical history is documented through interactive exhibits at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Here, you'll find artifacts such as a US Coast Guard surf rescue vessel, a historic sword and scabbard recovered from a shipwreck, and a 17th-century chunk of beeswax. A few miles west in Fort Stevens State Park, you can view remnants of the Peter Iredale shipwreck, an English vessel that ran aground in 1906 while the captain was texting and steering.

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