Maryhill Stonehenge Memorial

Maryhill Stonehenge Memorial is a full-scale concrete replica of Stonehenge, set on a bluff at the original Maryhill town site. It is a compact roadside landmark just off Highway 14, about three miles east of Maryhill Museum. Come for an unusual silhouette, the river setting and a local story; this is a twentieth-century memorial, not an ancient ruin.

Sam Hill conceived the replica as a memorial to Klickitat County servicemen killed in World War I. The altar stone was dedicated on July 4, 1918, and the structure was completed in 1929. Hill mistakenly believed the English Stonehenge was a place of human sacrifice; he wanted his version to remember the men lost in war and what he called the folly of war. The concrete surface has a rough, hand-hewn look, made by lining the forms with crumpled tin. The altar is aligned to the astronomical horizon, not the midsummer sunrise associated with the original.

Take time to look closely at the stonework and the memorial setting. The nearby Klickitat County Veterans Memorial, built in 1995, honors people who died in service after World War I. Samuel Hill’s crypt is a separate short walk southwest, on a bluff overlooking the river. For a photo, stand inside the circle and use an opening between the stones to frame the Columbia below.

This is an easy place to add to a Gorge drive, but keep expectations to a brief outdoor visit. An independent access listing describes firm-gravel parking about 100 feet from a step-free entrance, but lists no designated accessible spaces. Food service and restrooms are not confirmed here, so do not count on them without checking ahead.