Lava flows, cataclysmic floods and strong winds have shaped the experiences a visitor can have in the Columbia River National Scenic Area.
The 80-mile-long scenic stretch straddles the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. It’s also known as the Gorge, through which flows the second-longest river in the country at 1,253 miles.
Volcanoes laid down lava and mudflows up to two miles thick before the river carved a deep canyon, but a remarkably huge flood about 15,000 years ago was a major factor.
It thundered out of what is now western Montana after a huge ice dam broke, the water and ice sweeping southwest up to 1,200 feet high and moving at 65 mph, reshaping the landscape wherever it went.
Geologists estimate that the wall of water was 1,000 feet deep when it entered the Gorge, scouring cliffs, creating steep walls that rivers tumbled over, then shooting out of the Gorge at up to 90 mph.
More recently, the Gorge, which is as deep as 4,000 feet, awed the Lewis and Clark expedition, provided fish for American Indians, endangered explorers with impassable rapids that required tough portages with canoes and high-prowed bateaus, and inspired Woody Guthrie’s “Roll On, Columbia.”
Now, with a series of dams and locks, the Columbia and Snake rivers make a liquid highway from the Pacific Ocean to Lewiston, Idaho.
There’s so much to see that we’ll concentrate on the western half of Oregon’s side of the Gorge.
Columbia River Highway: One of the great engineering feats of its time, the narrow historic highway grips the wooded hillside hundreds of feet above the river. The first major paved road in the Northwest connected Troutdale in the west and The Dalles.
It was completed when Model T’s ruled the road, but by the 1930s, it was overcrowded. Eventually I-94 was built; now only 22 miles of the original highway remain.
Most of great scenic stops are in the first 15 miles of so.
Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic View Point: The first inspiring overlook is one of the best photographic opportunities.
The breathtaking 30-mile view, mostly upriver to the Vista House perched on the Crown Point promontory, the river (often carrying a heavily laden barge and tugboat), and Beacon Rock, forests and farmlands on the Washington side.
Sam Hill and other visionaries met at Chanticleer Inn on this spot in 1913 and worked out some of the road-building dream details. The highway was built on a campaign of “Get Oregon Out of the Mud.”
Vista House: About 11 miles from the start of Highway 30, the octagonal two-story pioneer memorial in Crown Point State Park sits atop a 14 million-year-old basalt flow that filled a canyon.
Finished in 1918, the 44-foot-diameter gray sandstone building is the German take on Art Noveau built by Italian craftsmen working on the highway.
Inside is U.S. Forest Service information, rare Tokeen Alaskan marble floors and stairs, various exhibits and a gift shop.
Waterfalls: One of nature’s greatest gifts along the Gorge is the highest concentration of waterfalls in North America, 11 that are 100 feet or taller.
It’s an opportunity to see different types: plunge (Latourell), block (Dutchman), fan (Fairy), tier (Bridal Veil), segments (Triple), horsetail (Oneonta), cascade (upper Multnomah) and punchbowl (Punchbowl).
Their variety and accessibility draw 2 million visitors a year, making it Oregon’s most visited scenic destination.
Multnomah Falls is, at 620 feet, the second highest year-round waterfall in the nation. Opposite the falls, walk across the Benson Bridge, built by Italian stone masons in 1914. Or take the moderate trail to the top of the falls, allowing at least 30 minutes.
The Multnomah Falls Lodge, built in 1925, is also the U.S. Forest Service information center.
About 10 trails totaling more than 20 miles can be reached from a trail at the base of Multnomah Falls. Hike 6.8 miles and you’ll go past Weisendanger and Ecola falls and reach the top of Larch Mountain. Or take a popular 5-mile loop from Multnomah to Wahkeena Falls.
Bonneville Dam: The first of several 20th-century locks-and-dams on the Columbia River, Bonneville sits 146 miles from the Pacific Ocean and three miles from the Bridge of the Gods.
Visitor center exhibits cover construction as well as the rapids and the Indian fishing areas that the dam drowned. Dedicated in 1937, a second powerhouse was built in 1981. At the time, it was the largest single-lift lock in the world with a 60-foot lift. Bonneville’s current lock is 86 feet by 275 feet.
It created 48-mile Lake Bonneville to the east, one of a series of navigable lakes that are part of the 465-mile Columbia-Snake Inland Waterway.
But the first lock on the Columbia opened in 1896 a few miles away at Cascade Lock Marine Park to avoid portaging cargo around Cascade Rapids.
Cascade Locks: One end of the Bridge of the Gods rests in a town that’s the homeport to the 145-foot-long sternwheeler Columbia Gorge and the home of two parks, one of which (Marine Park) includes an old shipping canal.
Take a two-hour cruise and listen to the captain’s history and geology lessons. The trip includes the sights of shoreline platforms, dip nets and occasionally Native Americans fishing in the traditional manner.
The $1 toll Bridge of the Gods was named after an Indian legend; it also connects the Washington and Oregon sections of the Pacific Crest Trail.
About 500 years ago, massive landslides blocked the Gorge until it collapsed under the river’s pressure. Look in the distance and see a sliced-off Washington mountain that caused much of the slide.
Windsurfing, kiteboarding: Facing challenging 20 to 50 mph winds is an adrenaline-pumping activity that draws windsurfers and kiteboarders by the thousands to the Columbia Gorge. It’s not bad for spectators, either, as windsurfers catch incredible air and turn 360-degree flips thanks to summer’s strong west winds.
Places to ride or watch on this section of the Gorge are Rooster Rock State Park, Dalton Point and Cascade Locks.
Spend a day or more enjoying the views, waterfalls, hikes, history and cruising thanks to lava flows, cataclysmic floods and strong winds.
Travel writers Sharon Wootton and Maggie Savage are co-authors of “You Know You’re in Washington When …”
If you go …
Directions: Drive south on I-5 and I-205 in Washington before turning east on I-84 in Oregon. Take exit 17 in Troutdale before picking up Highway 30 (Columbia River Highway).
Camping/hiking, parking permits: Northwest Forest Pass ($30 annual, $5 day) at national forest trailheads; Oregon State Parks, $25 annual, $3 day; 800-551-6949, www.prd.state.or.us.
Sternwheeler Columbia Gorge: Cascade Locks, 800-224-3901.
Bonneville Lock &Dam: Tours available; watch marine traffic; 541-374-8820.
Cascade Locks Visitors Center: 541-374-8619.
West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce: 503-669-7473.
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area: 541-308-1700.
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