Washougal River

Our database's coordinate for "Washougal" lands on the lower Washougal River near Camas, in Clark County, Washington — a stretch that's mostly private and residential. The documented moss agate and amethyst collecting on this river is a few miles upstream, in Skamania County, where the Washougal enters Gifford Pinchot National Forest: mindat specifically records amethyst from the "Rainbow" locality in the Washougal Mining District, Skamania County. So think of this as one river system with two very different stretches — the lower reach near Camas isn't a documented collecting site, while the upper reach in the national forest is. If you're chasing agate and amethyst here, head upstream toward the forest boundary, not to the coordinate pin itself.

From Vancouver, WA, take SR-14 east to Washougal River Road, then Skamania County Road 1200 (Sunset Falls Road), following forest roads 41 and 4109 toward the Gifford Pinchot National Forest boundary. This is upstream of and distinct from the DB coordinate, which sits near Camas in Clark County.

Surface/float collecting in river gravels and forest terrain once you're inside Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Best worked when water is low, typically late summer.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest explicitly requires a free-use permit from the local ranger district before recreational rock collecting — this is a stricter rule than the "no permit needed" policy on many other national forests. Confirm current permit requirements at the Gifford Pinchot NF minerals and rocks page before collecting. The lower river near the DB coordinate (Camas, Clark County) is largely private land — don't assume access there without checking ownership first.