Historic Columbia River Highway
Vista House, Multnomah Falls, and the basalt cliffs of the Gorge. Slow on purpose. The viewpoints are the point.
- Distance
- 75 mi
- Drive time
- 3h 00m
- Difficulty
- easy
- Start
- Troutdale, OR
- End
- Hood River, OR
- Best in
- Year-round
The route
This is not a driving road. It is a sightseeing road that happens to be paved beautifully. You will be slow. You will be behind tourists. You will not care.
The Historic Columbia River Highway is the original 1916 route through the Gorge - twenty-two waterfalls, basalt walls fifty stories tall, and Vista House at Crown Point looking eight hundred feet straight down to the river. Park, get out, walk to the railing, and try to remember the last time you actually stopped.
Hood River makes for a good lunch turnaround. Pip's River Roasters for coffee, Solstice for pizza, and the marina if you've got time to watch the kiteboarders.
Best driven on a weekday in shoulder season. Multnomah Falls in July is a parking lot.
If you go
- 01Avoid Multnomah Falls on summer weekends - go midweek or shoulder.
- 02Vista House at Crown Point closes its top deck in high winds.
- 03Hood River makes the natural lunch turnaround. Pip's for coffee.
- 04Old Highway 30 has tight corners and tourists - patience over pace.
