Goldendale, WA

Goldendale is a small, sunny city in south-central Washington, serving as the county seat of Klickitat County. With a population of roughly 3,400, the town has the feel of a rural high-desert community, surrounded by rolling ranch land, basalt cliffs, and big open skies on the eastern slopes of the Cascades. It is best known as a gateway to the wider Columbia River Gorge and the surrounding wine country, and for the Goldendale Observatory, which draws visitors from across the Pacific Northwest. Goldendale sits about 110 miles east of Portland, Oregon, and roughly four hours southeast of Seattle, making it a convenient stopover for travelers exploring the Gorge or the Washington side of the Columbia.

One of the area's marquee attractions is the Goldendale Observatory State Park, a hilltop public observatory a short drive north of town that hosts evening star parties and daytime solar viewing. Built in the 1970s and recognized for its historically significant 24.5-inch telescope, the observatory remains a popular draw for families and amateur astronomers, and it gives the town a distinctive identity that sets it apart from other small Gorge communities.

Just downriver to the east, roughly a 20- to 30-minute drive from Goldendale, the Maryhill Museum of Art anchors a cluster of cultural and scenic stops along the Washington side of the Columbia. The museum, an early-20th-century mansion turned art museum, features rotating exhibitions, a collection of Native American artifacts, and works by European and American artists, all set on a bluff overlooking the river. Adjacent to the museum is the Maryhill Stonehenge, a full-scale concrete replica of the English original, built as a World War I memorial and now part of Washington State Parks. Travelers often pair the two with a stop at the adjacent Maryhill State Park, where the river widens and the basalt palisades of the Gorge come into view.

West of town, drivers descend into the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, a roughly hour-long drive that passes waterfalls, windsurfing beaches, and the orchards and wineries of the lower Columbia. The route connects Goldendale to the larger tourist hubs of Hood River and Cascade Locks, while the highlands to the north rise toward the snowfields of Mount Adams, a popular destination for hiking and climbing in the warmer months.

Goldendale's combination of small-town quiet, surprisingly clear night skies, and proximity to some of the most distinctive cultural and natural sites in the Pacific Northwest makes it a natural base for short-term rentals. Visitors who stay in the area tend to use the town as a launching point for a broader Gorge itinerary, taking in observatory star parties, museum visits, river viewpoints, and wine-country drives before returning to a quieter pace at the end of the day.