Salt places to visit · Seaside, Oregon

Lewis and Clark Salt Works

By The Salt AlmanacUpdated November 8, 2026

The spot where the Lewis and Clark Expedition boiled seawater for salt through the winter of 1805–06.

Old photograph of a low stone cairn surrounded by a fence, the site of Lewis and Clark's salt works — The Lewis and Clark salt cairn at Seaside, Oregon, photographed about 1914.Photo: Arthur Prentiss. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons · Image source

At a glance

Where	Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Seaside, Oregon
Type of place	Historic site
What you'll see	A replica of the stone salt cairn the expedition built, on the site where its men worked.
Salt connection	Men boiled seawater day and night in five kettles and made about four bushels of salt for the journey home.
Who runs it	Part of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park (National Park Service) since 1978.
Good to know	The Seaside Lions Club built the replica cairn in 1955.

Plan your visit: official information

The salt story

From late December 1805 to 21 February 1806, a small rotating crew from the expedition camped here, about 15 miles south of Fort Clatsop. They made around three quarts of salt a day, which Meriwether Lewis praised as “excellent, fine, strong & white.”

Hours, seasons and prices change. Check with the site before you travel.

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Cite this page

For school projects and reports. Teachers often prefer the original sources too: see the list below.

The Salt Almanac. (2026, November 8). Lewis and clark salt works. https://saltalmanac.com/places/lewis-and-clark-salt-works

Original sources

National Park Service. Salt Works. https://www.nps.gov/lewi/learn/historyculture/histcult-places-saltworks.htm