Mount Hood Loop

This Drive Comes From...

National Geographic Driving Guide: Pacific Northwest

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Packing a suitcase for this drive is a pleasurable problem. Travelers may want presentable clothes, perhaps even evening wear, for the symphony, museums, and fine restaurants of Portland. But when the route heads to the wilds around Mount Hood, hiking boots, wool shirts, and ski outfits—even in summer—are de rigueur. Down in the Columbia River Gorge, you’ll want casual clothes for visiting the fruit orchards, waterfalls, dam, and historic sites; and a wet suit for this windsurfing capital. CONTINUED

- Mount Hood Information Center
- Timberline Lodge
- Hood River
- Bonneville Lock and Dam
- Crown Point State Scenic Corridor

(Continued From Top)

Mount Hood Information Center
Continue 14 miles [23 kilometers] to the Mount Hood Information Center(+1 503 622 7674), which provides advice on everything from climbing the peak to huckleberry picking. The hiking and picnicking can begin just east in the pretty woods of the Wildwood Recreation Site (+1 503 622 3696. Mid-May-mid-Oct.). Three miles [five kilometers] east in Zigzag, travelers can turn north on Lolo Pass Road and take a 7-mile [11-kilometer] side trip to the Ramona Falls Trail. This popular path leads to cool Ramona Falls, where the Sandy River splits into a multitude of falling ribbons as it pours over a series of terraces. A short spur from Zigzag goes to the Green Canyon Camp ground (Salmon River Rd. off US 26. +1 503 622 7674. Call for conditions), where the Old Salmon River Trail winds through old-growth forest along the Salmon River, a designated wild and scenic river where you may see salmon spawning in season.
As you cruise farther on US 26, look around at the mountainous terrain and imagine crossing this chunk of the Cascades in 1846. That's the year Sam Barlow opened his toll road to serve as the last leg of the Oregon Trail. The Barlow Road largely ran along the same route as US 26, but it was just a rough dirt track. As you whiz up the steep grade at Laurel Hill, about 8 miles [13 kilometers] east of Zigzag, picture pioneers straining at a rope wrapped around a tree, laboriously lowering their wagon down the mountainside.

Timberline Lodge

Timberline Lodge Lobby, Mount Hood

Photograph © Phil Schofield

Drive east on US 26 another five minutes—it would have taken the pioneers all day—and take the Timberline Road turnoff to Timberline Lodge (+1 503 272 3311), on the southern flank of Mount Hood.You'll have seen Oregon's highest mountain (11,235 feet) [3,424 meters] on and off since the beginning of the drive, but now it's time to get up close and personal by proceeding 6 miles [10 kilometers] north to the ski area at the end of the road.

Timberline is noted for its year-round skiing—access to some high slopes allows summer skiing. Ski-less summer visitors can ride the Magic Mile Chairlift (fee) up to the 7,000-foot [2,134 meter] level for a grand view of Mount Hood and the Cascades. But Timberline is much more than a ski area. Climbers flock to Timberline to launch their assaults on the mountain; this perfect snow-cone peak attracts huge numbers of climbers each year. Hikers can find excellent trails at Timberline, including the 40-mile [64-kilometer] path that circles the mountain. Most of all, people come to seethe lodge.
Dedicated in 1937 by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Timberline Lodge was a flagship project of the Depression-era Works Progress Administration. The lodge was built on a grand scale to mirror the grandeur of the mountain. Ceilings soar dozens of feet overhead. The stone fireplace in the lobby is 92 feet [28 meters] around. The front stairway leads to a half-ton [500 kilogram] door, which opens onto a balcony with fine views of Mount Jefferson. Everywhere there is evidence of old-fashioned craftsmanship. The ripples on the massive timbers reveal that someone shaped them with broadax and adze. The andirons, light fixtures, and other ironwork are the creation of skilled blacksmiths. Newel posts shaped like owls and eagles are among the many hand-carved details that come out of the woodwork.

Mount Hood rising beyond Oreg. 35 south of Hood River

Photograph © Phil Schofield

On US 26 a few miles [approximately 5 kilometers] past the Timberline Road turnoff, this drive turns north on Oreg. 35. Following the East Fork Hood River through 25 miles [40 kilometers]of mountains and forest, the highway enters the Hood River Valley, a renowned fruit-growing area. Slow down and savor the vast pear, apple, cherry, and peach orchards. If it's springtime, feast on the sights and smells of the sea of blossoms. If it's summer or fall, ogle the fruit on the trees and watch the harvest. Browse the roadside stands and country stores, searching for old favorites, such as bing cherries and Anjou pears, or exotic varieties such as winter banana apples and Flemish beauty pears. For a different perspective of this idyllic valley, take the Mount Hood Railroad (110 Railroad Ave. +1 541 386 3556 or 800 872 4661.April-Dec., call for hours; fare). The four-hour, 44-mile [71-kilometer] round-trip ride on the historic train not only takes in the orchards but presents terrific views of Mount Hood and Mount Adams.

Hood River

Farm east of Hood River

Photograph © Phil Schofield

Oreg. 35 ends in Hood River (Visitor Center, 405 Portway Ave. +1 541 386 2000 or 800 366 3530), a town of about 4,500 on the Columbia River. Life in Hood River revolved around the orchards for decades (pick up a "Fruit Loop" map at the Visitor Center), but since the early 1980s another growth industry has heavily influenced the town: windsurfing, a.k.a. boardsailing. The outstanding conditions on the Columbia draw windsurfers from around the world. The demographics of boardheads can be deduced from Hood River's proliferation of espresso bars, upscale cafés, and shop windows featuring mannequins draped in garish wetsuits. To watch boardsailors whisking across the water or to look into windsurfing for yourself, head down to the river at Columbia Gorge Sail Park (Call Visitor Center for more information).

Hood River sidewalk cafe

Photograph © Phil Schofield

Hood River marks this drive's entry into the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (+1 541 386 2333). Drive west on I-84 and you'll soon be gazing up at the towering basalt cliffs on your side of the Columbia, and across the river to the forested mountains and verdant plateaus on the Washington side.
About 20 miles [32 kilometers] out of Hood River is Cascade Locks (Visitor Center +1 541 374 8427. March-Nov.). A hundred years ago, ships passed through here to evade the forbidding rapids. The completion of Bonneville Dam a few miles [approximately 5 kilometers] downriver created a reservoir that buried the rapids, and put the locks out of business. The story of the locks and the area is explored at the Cascade Locks Historical Museum (Cascade Locks Marine Park +1 541 374 8535. May-Sept.), housed in the old lockkeeper's house. Also at the marine park is Cascade Stern wheelers (+1 503 223 3928. Mid-June-mid-Oct.; fare), offering passage on a 145-foot [44-meter] copy of the stern-wheelers that used to ply the Columbia.

Bonneville Lock and Dam

Windsurfing the Columbia River, near Hood River

Photograph © Phil Schofield

A few miles west [approximately 5 kilometers], tour the huge structure that rendered the locks at Cascade Locks obsolete: Bonneville Lock and Dam (+1 541 374 8820). Dedicated in 1937, it was the first of the many federal dams that tamed the Columbia over the ensuing 40 years. Here travelers can watch locks that still operate, raising and lowering enormous barges.
To escape the car for one of the Columbia River Gorge's premier hikes, backtrack just east on I-84 and, after passing through a tunnel, take the first exit to the Eagle Creek Recreation Area (+1 541 386 2333. Call for trail conditions) to hike the 13-mile [21 kilometer] Eagle Creek Trail. It's steep in places and can be as long as hikers want to make it (after 13 miles [21 kilometers] it connects with the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail at Wathum Lake), but many people go up just a few miles [approximately 5 kilometers] to sample the wildflowers, the narrow gorges sparkling with white water, the burly basalt outcroppings, and the waterfalls. About 6 miles [10 kilometers] up, the trail actually goes behind Tunnel Falls.

Historic Columbia River Highway and the Columbia River Gorge

Photograph © Phil Schofield

Some 6 miles [10 kilometers] west, experience the antithesis of an interstate: the Historic Columbia River Highway. The 17-mile-or-so [27 kilometer] stretch between here and Troutdale is the longest remaining portion of this scenic route, built between 1913 and 1917. Its purpose, in the words of its supervising engineer, Samuel Lancaster, was "to find the beauty spots, or those points where the most beautiful things along the line might be seen to the best advantage...." In addition, the slow, twisting road itself augments the beauty of the gorge with stone guardrails, arched bridges, rock walls, and lookout points that are testaments to the fine art of stone masonry.
The land along the highway is loaded with waterfalls, lush forests, state parks, hiking trails, gorge overlooks, and picnic areas. About 3 miles [5 kilometers] from Warrendale is the Oneonta Gorge, a split in the cliff that rises hundreds of feet overhead and averages about 20 feet [6 meters] across. In the summer, when Oneonta Creek is low, visitors willing to get their feet wet can hike a short way up this enchanting fissure to the waterfall at its end. Mosses, ferns, and other plants that thrive on the gorge's perpetually cool, moist conditions thickly coat the basalt walls. Some are rare, and a few are unique to Oneonta Gorge, so the Forest Service has designated the gorge as a "special botanical area."

Crown Point State Scenic Corridor

Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area

Photograph © Phil Schofield

Multnomah Falls, at 620 feet [190 meters] the highest waterfall in Oregon, does its cliff dive 2 miles [3.2 kilometers] west of Oneonta. A trail goes up to a bridge that spans the lower falls, and those with good knees can continue up steep switchbacks to a lookout above the falls. From Multnomah, the road passes one waterfall after another until it rises to the 733-foot [223 meter] promontory at Crown Point State Scenic Corridor (+1 503 695 2261). To capitalize on the point's grand views, the highway's builders erected Vista House (+1 503 695 2230. Mid-April-mid-Oct.), which Lancaster called "an observatory from which the view both up and down the Columbia could be viewed in silent communion with the infinite." Inside are exhibits on the highway and the gorge. From here the route winds down to Troutdale, where it rejoins I-84 and returns to Portland.