Editing Cowlitz County, Washington (section)

==Geography==
Cowlitz County is in the southwestern part of Washington state. According to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|1166|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|1140|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|26|sqmi}} (2.2%) is water.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 22, 2012 |title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files |url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_53.txt |access-date=July 4, 2015 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}}</ref>

Cowlitz County is part of the Puget Sound – Willamette Depression, a geologic formation extending southward from the Puget Sound to the [[Willamette Valley]] in [[Oregon]]. Nestled against the [[Cascade Range|Cascade Mountains]], many of the county's major rivers originate in this range, including the Columbia, Cowlitz, [[Coweeman River|Coweeman]], Kalama, [[Lewis River (Washington)|Lewis]] and [[Toutle River|Toutle]].<ref name=ESD/>

Cowlitz County is one of the state's smaller counties (28 of 39).<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 2004 |title=Region 4 |url=http://www.emd.wa.gov/plans/documents/reg-4-profile.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719120102/http://www.emd.wa.gov/plans/documents/reg-4-profile.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2011 |access-date=September 14, 2009 |publisher=Washington State Hazard Mitigation Plan |format=CSV}}</ref>

===Geographic features===
*[[Cascade Range|Cascade Mountains]]
*[[Columbia River]]
*[[Cowlitz River]]

===Major highways===
*[[Image:I-5.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 5 in Washington|Interstate 5]]
*[[Image:WA-4.svg|20px]] [[Washington State Route 4|State Route 4]]
*[[Image:WA-411.svg|20px]] [[Washington State Route 411|State Route 411]]
*[[Image:WA-432.svg|20px]] [[Washington State Route 432|State Route 432]]
*[[Image:WA-503.svg|20px]] [[Washington State Route 503|State Route 503]]
*[[Image:WA-504.svg|20px]] [[Washington State Route 504|State Route 504]]

===Adjacent counties===
*[[Lewis County, Washington|Lewis County]] - north
*[[Skamania County, Washington|Skamania County]] - east
*[[Clark County, Washington|Clark County]] - south
*[[Wahkiakum County, Washington|Wahkiakum County]] - west
*[[Columbia County, Oregon|Columbia County]] - south

===National protected areas===
* [[Gifford Pinchot National Forest]] (part)
* [[Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument]] (part)

===County parks===
* Catlin Cemetery
* Cougar Wayside
* Finn Hall Wayside
* Harry Gardner Park
* Hog Island Access
* Riverside Park
* SRS Viewpoint
* Woodbrook Park<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2009 |title=Cowlitz County Parks and Recreation Division |url=http://www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/Maintenance/parks/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614092031/http://www.co.cowlitz.wa.us/Maintenance/parks/index.htm |archive-date=June 14, 2009 |website=co.cowlitz.wa.us/}}</ref>