The Historic Columbia River Highway
The best way to see the Columbia River Gorge is to travel the Historic Columbia River Highway.
The highway was built for travel in the Model-T Ford in 1913-1922 and was the first paved major highway in the Pacific Northwest. Even without the spectacular views of the gorge, this is a beautiful highway with stone walls and rest areas where you can pull over and stop. Not all of the highway between Troutdale and The Dalles is open to motorized traffic but there is still enough to travel by car so you can fill your digital camera. Out of 74 miles of highway you can travel 40 miles by car in two separate sections.
The First Part of the Historic Columbia River HighwayThe western section of 24 miles begins at Troutdale. Troutdale is 20 miles east of Portland. You need to travel east on I-84 from Portland. Take Exit 17 into Troutdale where you can follow the signs through town and take a right turn onto Highway 30. You will then travel through the towns of Springdale and Corbet.
Over the next 24 miles you will see Vista House at Crown Point which is open from April to October and has a gift shop and rest rooms. Continue on and you will see Bridal Veil Falls and Multnomah Falls.
From Multnomah Falls you will need to continue eastward on I-84 for five miles to Bonneville Dam. Admission is free to the fish hatchery and you can take tours of the dam. A really fun thing to do is go to where they do the fish count. When fish travel through the fish ladders they have to go through a tunnel which has windows. A person sits at a desk and counts each kind of fish as it goes through the tunnel. You will see some huge salmon during spawning season when the fish are swimming up river from the Pacific Ocean.
The Second Part of the Historic Columbia River HighwayNow to get to the second part of the Historic Columbia River Highway you will need to leave Hood River on I-84 and travel east to Exit 69. From Exit 69 travel to the town of Mosier. In Mosier follow the "Scenic Loop" signs to Highway 30. Drive 6.5 miles and you will come to the Rowena Crest Viewpoint for a breathtaking view of the gorge and the Columbia River.
At Rowena is the Tom McCall Preserve and it is here that you will see an abundance of wildflowers during the months of March through June. The preserve covers 271 acres and there are two trails. The easy one is one mile long and begins at the interpretive sign at the preserve entrance. The other trail is two miles long, gains 1,000 feet of elevation and is only open May through October.
Continue on Highway 30 to The Dalles where you can visit the Wasco County Historical Museum at Crate's Point for a look at the 40-million-year history of the gorge. 
Your tour of the Historic Columbia River Highway is now complete. From The Dalles you can continue east on I-84 or return to Portland on I-84. Another way to return to Portland is to take Highway 35, the Mt. Hood Loop Highway. By doing this you make a complete circle around Mt. Hood where there is a lot more to see. You then return to Portland on Highway 26.
Return to Great Oregon Vacations from Historic Columbia River Highway
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