Klickitat, WA

Klickitat is a CDP along the Klickitat River in south-central Washington, about 21 miles west of Goldendale. The river runs through basalt country toward the Columbia, and the town sits where a former rail-and-timber corridor meets a working rural valley. The area’s geography supports fishing, hunting, drift boating, kayaking, and rafting, with the river shaping both recreation and the town’s history. Goldendale is the nearest larger town.

Originally called Wrights, the settlement grew after the railroad reached the valley. The Columbia River and Northern Railway line was completed in 1903, and the first major sawmill opened in 1909. Later mills made Klickitat a timber town until the final mill closed in 1990; the old rail corridor is now the 31-mile Klickitat Trail, following the river and Swale Creek toward the Columbia. Remains of the mill, including a chimney used by nesting Vaux’s swifts, still sit beside the trail. Klickitat is a river town where the railroad, lumber, and trail have taken turns shaping local life.