Washougal, WA

Washougal's two rivers give residents two distinct kinds of waterfront. On the Columbia, the Port-managed Washougal Waterfront Park wraps a twelve-foot-wide concrete trail for just under a mile around viewpoints, interpretive signs, picnic areas, water-access paths, and a nonmotorized boat launch. On the Washougal River, Hathaway Park provides swimming and fishing access alongside trails, ball courts and fields, pickleball, a playground, picnic facilities, and a community garden. The city warns that neither river has lifeguarded swimming. These spaces place river access inside ordinary recreation rather than leaving it only as scenery. Washougal had 17,039 residents in 2020 and an estimated 17,944 in 2024. Census estimates covering 2020 through 2024 put owner occupancy at 71 percent, the median owner-occupied value at $552,300, monthly costs at $2,373 for mortgage holders, and median gross rent at $1,701.

Median household income was $106,368, poverty was 11 percent, and workers averaged about 25 minutes of travel to work. C-TRAN Route 92 continues to serve Camas and Washougal. Downtown's weekly rhythm is more modest in scale: the 2026 Community Market occupies Reflection Plaza on Friday afternoons for nine summer weeks, mixing farm goods and prepared food with artisans, authors, and musicians. The Washougal Community Library opens six days a week in a 2,300-square-foot space within the city administrative complex, offering computers, printing, a seed library, and programs from storytimes to creative workshops. Plans call for a 14,000-square-foot replacement downtown, with construction expected to begin in late 2026 and an opening targeted for 2028.