--- title: "Astoria Column" url: "https://www.pnwsights.com/place/astoria-column-astoria/" site: "PNWSights" category: "Photogenic" city: "Astoria" state: "OR" latitude: 46.1828 longitude: -123.8183 photogenic_score: 0.52 updated: "2026-04-29" --- # Astoria Column Astoria, OR · Photogenic · Scenic score 52/100 A 125-foot tower atop Coxcomb Hill featuring a spiral frieze depicting regional history and a 164-step interior staircase leading to an observation deck. The summit provides 360-degree views of the Columbia River, Pacific Ocean, Youngs Bay, and surrounding mountains. It was built in 1926 and modeled after Trajan's Column in Rome. ## Photography guide - Best time of day: golden hour - Crowds: moderate - Best seasons: spring, summer, fall, winter - Shot types: wide, landscape, detail - Tags: panoramic views, historic, columbia river, architecture **Practical tips.** Free to visit but a $5 parking fee applies. The observation deck is narrow and can be windy; bring a lens cloth. Clear winter days offer views of multiple Cascade volcanoes. ## Author's comments *The column itself is the obvious subject and I have made that photograph many times. The frieze spiraling up, the white tower against whatever the sky happens to be doing that afternoon, the small figures of visitors at the base for scale. It is a fine photograph and not really why I keep driving up Coxcomb Hill. What I come for is the view from the top, and specifically the view in winter. A clear January afternoon will give you something the summer never does. The haze burns off, the air goes thin and honest, and from that narrow observation deck you can pick out Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier and sometimes Hood, all of them floating above the Coast Range like they have been pasted in. The Columbia widens toward the Pacific and the bar where the river meets the ocean reads as a single long line of broken water. The deck is narrow and the wind moves through it constantly. I have learned to bring a lens cloth and to keep my camera under my jacket between frames. Golden hour is the obvious answer and it is the right one - the light comes in low from the west and the river goes molten and the bridges to Washington stand up in silhouette. But the half hour after sunset, when most people have already started down the stairs, is when the volcanoes hold light longer than anything else in the frame and the town below begins to turn on its lamps. That is the photograph worth the climb.* ## Photos - ![Wide panoramic view from high above Astoria, with the pale green Astoria-Megler Bridge stretching across the Columbia River beyond forested hills and a cluster of homes. The scene is hazy in soft golden light, with distant shoreline and water fading into blue-gray layers.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/0.webp) (Pete Forsyth / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0) - ![Stone steps and a silver handrail lead up a grassy slope toward the base of the Astoria Column, where the sepia-toned spiral frieze wraps around the tower. A small American flag in the foreground contrasts with the pale sky and the dark stonework at left.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/1.webp) (Bobjgalindo / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0) - ![The Astoria Column rises steeply into a pale sky, its cylindrical surface wrapped in a dark spiral frieze of historic scenes and text. A white base anchors the tower in the foreground, emphasizing the monument’s towering height and upward perspective.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/2.webp) (Bobjgalindo / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0) - ![The Astoria Column rises straight up against a pale, cloudy sky, its spiral frieze of sepia-toned historic scenes wrapping the tower above a white pedestal and low green hedge. The composition looks upward from below, emphasizing the monument’s height and narrow observation deck at the top.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/3.webp) (Pablo Galindo / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0) - ![The Astoria Column rises high against a clear blue sky, its dark spiral frieze wrapping the tower beneath the viewing platform. Evergreen trees and a neatly trimmed lawn frame the white base, with bright golden-hour light catching the structure.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/4.webp) (Hedwigg / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0) - ![The Astoria Column rises against a cloudless blue sky, its cylindrical surface wrapped in a spiral history mural with scenes of ships, explorers, and Native figures. The top observation deck and railings are visible above the column, with evergreen treetops peeking in at the bottom.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/5.webp) (Jrozwado / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0) - ![The Astoria Column rises straight into a clear blue sky, its tan surface wrapped in painted history scenes and medallions, with a small observation deck crowning the top. Evergreen treetops edge the bottom of the frame, emphasizing the tower’s height and vertical composition.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/6.webp) (Jrozwado / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0) - ![Looking straight up at the Astoria Column, the tall cylindrical tower is covered in a painted spiral frieze of historical scenes and figures, set against a cloudless deep blue sky. The strong low-angle composition emphasizes the column’s height and ornate crown at the top.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/8.webp) (Jrozwado / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0) - ![The green steel Astoria-Megler Bridge stretches diagonally across the Columbia River, its massive support tower rising from the dark water with forested hills in the background. Soft evening light and a pale blue sky give the wide scene a calm, open feel.](https://pnwsights.localzen.org/places/astoria-column-astoria/9.webp) (Veronika Andrews / Pexels) ## Location 46.1828, -123.8183 · [Open in Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=46.1828,-123.8183) ## Nearby places - [Astoria Riverwalk (Trolley Trail)](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/astoria-riverwalk-trolley-trail-astoria.md) (Astoria, OR) - A 6.4-mile waterfront trail along the Columbia River featuring restored cannery piers, the Astoria Riverwalk Trolley, and views of passing cargo ships and the Astoria-Megler Bridge. - [Astoria-Megler Bridge](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/astoria-megler-bridge-astoria.md) (Astoria, OR) - The longest continuous truss bridge in North America, spanning 4.1 miles across the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington. - [Peter Iredale Shipwreck](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/peter-iredale-shipwreck-astoria.md) (Astoria, OR) - The rusted iron skeleton of the four-masted sailing ship Peter Iredale, which ran aground in 1906, sits partially buried in the sand at Fort Stevens State Park. - [Ecola State Park](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/ecola-state-park-cannon-beach.md) (Cannon Beach, OR) - A state park on Tillamook Head offering elevated views of Crescent Beach, sea stacks, and the coastline stretching south to Haystack Rock. - [Cannon Beach Tide Pools](https://www.pnwsights.com/place/cannon-beach-tide-pools-cannon-beach.md) (Cannon Beach, OR) - The tide pools surrounding Haystack Rock and adjacent Needles rocks form one of the richest intertidal areas on the northern Oregon Coast. --- Page: https://www.pnwsights.com/place/astoria-column-astoria/ · [All photogenic in the Pacific Northwest](https://www.pnwsights.com/photogenic.md) · [PNWSights home](https://www.pnwsights.com/index.md)