This fall, Washougal's calendar moves south and east. October starts on Main Street with a new tea shop and the Chamber's trick-or-treat afternoon. By late in the month it reaches Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just as sandhill cranes and swans come through. It ends in early December on the Port of Camas-Washougal waterfront. Hyas Point's first building, Broadrock, is scheduled for first move-ins on December 1, 2026. That puts people living on the waterfront four days before the Christmas Ships pass Steamboat Landing Park.
For years the waterfront was a place you drove to for a walk. By the end of this season it's also an address. Every date below comes from the City of Washougal, the Port, the refuge or the event organizers.
Main Street opens the season with a new door
Downtown's newest storefront is Savor & Steep, a loose-leaf tea boutique at 1887-B Main St. The Columbian covered the opening on September 30, 2026. Owner Sonya Tuter told the paper she wants customers to linger over a good cup of loose-leaf tea, which she called a completely different experience from tea brewed in a bag. Coffee shops serve the morning rush. A tea shop built around lingering suits the shorter, darker afternoons of October.
The beer side of town has grown too. Shoug Brewing Company describes its off-site taproom, Shoug's Draft House at 2507 E Street, as having a full bar and a kitchen with a wood-fired pizza oven. Founder Rod Edwards started the brewery in 2016 as a small post-retirement project. He spent the next decade getting his beer into restaurants and bars across Southwest Washington, then brought in longtime friends Jon Borth and Jess Cantrell as partners in 2024.
Visit Washougal's 2026 BrewPass treats the draft house as one stop on a local circuit. The Post-Record's May report on the program counts five brewing establishments in the city: Shoug's Draft House, 54–40 Brewing, Recluse Brew Works, Trap Door Brewing and Grains of Wrath Brewing. Finishing the pass earns a keepsake pint glass. A city of Washougal's size with five places to drink something brewed locally is reason enough to fill out a pass card before the weather turns.
October, in the order it happens
October's dated events start in the neighborhoods, then move downtown and toward the river:
- Pumpkin Harvest Festival, Saturday, October 17, noon to 3 p.m. The City of Washougal hosts it at Hathaway Park, 799 25th Street.
- Coffee With Trang, Friday, October 23, 1 to 2 p.m. This is a public conversation with Port of Camas-Washougal Executive Director Trang Lam. The Port held a "Walk With Trang" at the marina on October 2, built around learning about Hyas Point. That makes this coffee the next public chance to ask about the waterfront before move-ins start.
- Fall-migration bird walk at Steigerwald, Saturday, October 24, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friends of the Columbia Gorge and Vancouver Audubon are leading it. Registration is linked from the event page.
- The 11th annual Scary Run, Saturday, October 24, all races starting at 4 p.m. WHY Racing Events lists Washougal City Hall, 1701 C St., as the event location and describes the course at Captain William Clark Park. Check the race page for start and finish details before you go.
- Trick or Treat on Main Street, Saturday, October 31. The Camas-Washougal Chamber of Commerce runs this free event, with participating merchants and activities at Reflection Plaza. The listed times don't match. The Chamber's poster says 3 to 5 p.m., and the City calendar lists the same event at Reflection Plaza, 1703 Main Street, from 4 to 6 p.m. Check with the Chamber before you go. Arriving around 4 p.m. falls inside both windows.
October 24 is the busiest day. You could walk the refuge with Vancouver Audubon in the morning and still make the Scary Run start at 4 p.m.
At the refuge, one loop closes as the birds arrive
Steigerwald changes its trails on a fixed schedule each fall. On October 1, a section of the Wildlife Art Trail closed for the season. That's the same window the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service gives for fall migration, September through December, when ducks, geese, swans and sandhill cranes come through. The trail system is at its smallest during the months the refuge has the most birds.
Here's what's open this fall, according to the refuge's visitor page:
| Trail | Fall 2026 status | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Refuge River Trail | Open year-round | Main route through the refuge |
| Mt. View Trail | Open year-round | No seasonal closure listed |
| Wildlife Art Trail | Partly closed October 1 through April 30 | The section from the Refuge River Trail to bridge 2, the Cottonwood bridge, stays open. The full 1-mile loop around Redtail Lake reopens May 1 |
The Wildlife Art Trail has no interpretive signs. Instead you'll find quotes hidden among stone benches, sculptures, and wildlife cutouts that double as bike locks. It's pedestrian only, so no dogs, horses or bicycles, and it's flat and narrow in places, with two bridge crossings. The open stretch up to the Cottonwood bridge still passes Redtail Lake, which is the part of the refuge birders head for this time of year.
If you can't make the October 24 walk, Friends of the Columbia Gorge also runs free Gorge Morning Walks on October 15 and November 19, 10 a.m. to noon. No registration is needed. These start farther east at Mosier Totem Pole Plaza and cover 3.5 miles.
The waterfront's countdown
Hyas Point is the mixed-use development going up on the Port's waterfront, and its schedule tightened over the past month. On August 31, the developer said Broadrock was in its final punch-list work and expected to open "within the next 90 days." Its development timeline, updated in late September, now gives specific dates:
- December 1, 2026: Broadrock occupancy and first move-ins
- December 18, 2026: Cascara occupancy
- January 18, 2027: Sitka occupancy
- March 15, 2027: Klipsan occupancy, completing Phase 1
The project has been on a visible schedule for a while. It topped out on October 31, 2025, and closed construction financing for Phase 1 on June 25, 2026.
The design plans for Phase 1 include a public splash pad and amphitheater. The August update reported extensive work on the splash pad, along with storefront installation on the ground floors of Sitka and Klipsan. The retail and restaurant space is still being marketed for lease, and no tenants had been named on the developer's pages as of this writing. Plenty about the waterfront's future is still unknown. What's settled is when the first residents arrive.
Smaller Port projects are moving around the development too:
- The Lower Marina Access Road was resurfaced in July 2026. The work covered about 12,000 square feet and replaced two speed bumps.
- Rail repairs at two 35th Street crossings near Index Street are contracted for completion this fall. The Port hasn't posted specific work dates.
- The Port finished phase one of preloading at SE 41st Street in September 2026. The site will be monitored for about 6 to 12 months before phase two builds the road.
The City's 32nd Street Rail Crossing Project is further out. A May 2026 notice puts right-of-way acquisition, final design and utility relocation in 2026, with construction starting in early 2027 and finishing in fall 2029. If you cross the tracks on 32nd every day, this fall is the last season before construction starts.
December lands on the river
The season's last two big events fall in the same week as the move-ins. On Thursday, December 3, the City holds its Lighted Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting at Reflection Plaza, 1703 Main Street, from 5 to 8 p.m. Two days later, on Saturday, December 5, the combined Camas/Washougal/Steamboat Landing Park fleet of Christmas Ships sails from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The Port says you can watch outdoors from its waterfront parks.
Broadrock's first move-ins on December 1 come between the end of the Halloween events and that weekend. For the first time, people living on the waterfront will be able to watch the boat parade from home. Cascara's occupancy follows on December 18, before the year ends.
If the Hyas Point timeline has you wondering what a river-adjacent Washougal address is worth now, I'm glad to talk it through. I've watched this waterfront develop for years, and I can walk you through how the new construction, the Port projects and this fall's activity bear on your own property. Reach out to Louise James for a free home valuation and a conversation grounded in what's actually happening on the river.
