In case you don’t know or you’re an Oregon coast newbie (like me), Astoria is a cute little beachside town in Northern Oregon. My family and I spent a day here before we headed to iconic Cannon Beach, which is a short 40 min drive away. There is so much to do in Astoria that we will definitely be back to explore more, but here’s what we did with our one day in Astoria with our 3 boys.

If you’ve read any of my other blog posts about coming to the area, I have been dreaming of visiting the Oregon coast for YEARS. So the fact that we could just do a quick weekend trip here and only have to drive an hour and a half to go somewhere so beautiful was mind-boggling. Are we really living in this cool place?! I did lots of research on things to do before we went, but knew that while I wanted to see as much as possible we would realistically only be able to do a couple things. So we narrowed it down to eating fish n chips, the Astoria Column, Cathedral Tree Trail, and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Museum.

Woman in pink dress on stairs of Bowpicker in Astoria — My son after being told no silly faces-he really was happy to be there. ;)

Fish n Chips at Bowpicker
Holy yum! Multiple posts mentioned the Bowpicker, as well as some friends here in Vancouver, so we knew we had to go. It’s served out of a boat, so definitely not your typical dining experience. The fish was SO GOOD. They really have perfected it-super crispy outside, tender inside, with the best tartar sauce. I didn’t think the fries were super amazing, but the fish was well worth it. Know before you go: They open at 11 am and cook up whatever they caught that day so once they’re out, they’re out. They’re also cash only so make sure you have some cash on hand!

2. The Astoria Column

This was on almost every post I read while researching so I figured we had to do it. It was actually really cool! The column has the history of Astoria in artwork on the outside of the column so it’s neat to see, and then you can climb the spiral staircase all the way to the top for an incredible view. Know before you go: It costs $5 to park right by the column, but the pass lasts all year. They also have $1 little airplanes that you can buy for the kids to fly off the top, which I didn’t see until after! There are picnic tables with an incredible view of the bridge.

Our family with the seaside in the background

3. Cathedral tree Trail

This trail leads to a huge sitka spruce on this tree that’s 8 ft wide and has roots so big its looks like there’s a hole in the base of the tree-so cool! There are two entrances to this trail-you can either start at the bottom and hike uphill to the column, or you can park at the column and go downhill towards the cathedral tree. We decided to go downhill from the Column since we were already there. You guys, we searched and searched for this magnificent tree. We never found it, BUT we were on the trail with someone who did and told us afterwards where it was. So I can tell you where NOT to go and hopefully that’ll narrow it down for you so you can have more success than we did. (P.S.-Even though we never found the tree it was still a gorgeous trail and we had a lot of fine hiking it!)

Tips for finding the tree: The entrance to the trail is clearly marked, and you’ll go down a set of wooden steps at the very beginning. After hiking for a short while you’ll see a branch to the left. If you look up, there’s a wooden sign nailed to a tree that says “V-Tree.” That path is cool to explore, but just leads down closer to the road, so do NOT take that path to see the Cathedral Tree. If you stay on the main path you’ll eventually come to this little boardwalk bridge type thing. There’s an unclear path to the right before the boardwalk that we tried, and we came across another sign for “Big Spruce.” Do NOT take that trail either. You’ll cross the boardwalk and either take a trail that veers to the right after that boardwalk, or it might be after an elevated bridge. Repeat, from the column you’ll veer to the right AFTER the boardwalk or elevated bridge. That’s as close as I can get you! (Comments on the AllTrails app are very vague, but that’s what I gleaned from them and the kind stranger we met on the trail also looking for the tree).

Know before you go: If weather has been wet recently the trail will be muddy so make sure you have good gear for that. The trail is not too hard, but there are some big roots in places. We had a 4, 8, and 12 year old and they all did just fine.

Beginning of the Cathedral Tree Trail from the Astoria Column

Three boys walking across boardwalk on Cathedral Tree Trail

Wooden sign nailed to a tree that says V-tree

Little boy posing by large tree with big roots in forest

Boy in blue sweater walking on a forest path

Two boys sitting on tree stump by Fort Clatsop

3. Lewis and Clark National Historic Site

We love crossing as many National Parks off our list as possible, so this was a must for our family. It was really interesting to learn about the Fort where Lewis and Clark stayed for awhile, and my kids loved going through all the rooms and remarking on how hard the beds were, ha! Another thing they did while we were there was they had presentations throughout the day on different subjects. We stayed and watched one on the fur trade during that time and it was really interesting! I’ll take a presentation over reading a display any day. We were there on a Friday so I’m not sure if they only do the presentations on weekends or if they’re everyday, so if that interests you make sure you check that out before you go.

Woman in pink dress and three boys walking into Lewis and Clark NHS

Two boys smiling while sitting on tree stump

Two boys walking along paved path by sea in Astoria

4. Walk along the Waterfront

We had some time to kill before dinner so we decided to walk along the waterfront. If you head towards Pier 39 and park somewhere on the street before the bridge to get to businesses on the pier, there’s a cute little walking trail right along the water. There were tons of berries along the path as well, which my boys and husband were all over.

5. More fish n Chips at Ship Out

We decided to try another fish n chips place so we could compare to the Bowpicker. The fish was not as good in my opinion, but the fries were better! If you had to pick just one place to try, I’d definitely pick the Bowpicker.

6. Next time

After that we were all pretty tired and hung out at our Airbnb for the rest of the evening. Things that we didn’t get to but that my kids were interested in were the Flavel House, the Maritime Museum, and the shipwreck at Fort Stevens State Park. We also considered driving 30 min north to see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, so we will definitely have to make another trip out.

Have you been to Astoria? What would you recommend doing?