The Columbia River flows westward through the Cascade Mountains near Mt Hood on it's way to the Pacific Ocean. Volcanoes, lava flows, flood waters, and glaciers carved this nearly 100 mile National Scenic Area. The river forms a natural border between states of Oregon and Washington.
Mt. Hood is visible from many points. Towns dot the shores: Goldendale has Mary Hill Museum of Art, a winery, and replica Stonehedge Memorial nearby. The Dalles has an interpretive center. Oregons's hwy 35 entrance to Mt Hood National Forest is in the town of Hood River. Cascade Locks has a marine park, home to a 500 passenger excursion stern-wheeler boat that offers river tours (we saw it paddling upstream). "Bridge of the Gods" toll bridge ($1 per car) crosses the river at Cascade Locks. Besides vehicles, this bridge also has lots of foot traffic as hikers from the Pacific Crest Trail come into town.
Dams have transformed the river into something more peaceful than the raging river first encountered by Lewis & Clark in 1805. But strong winds whipped up waves and brought out windsurfers and kiteboarders the August day when we drove by.
Two highways, I-84 on the Oregon side and hwy 14 in Washington, allow
for a scenic round-trip loop, with different views of the river and it's
bluffs (double tunnels on hwy 14 were interesting: one for autos &
one for trains).
West of Cascade Locks we tried to find Multnomah Falls, a 620 foot double-decker waterfall....but lots of other folks had the same idea and we couldn't even find a place to park!
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