My wife and I are leaving tomorrow for a weekend at the Columbia River Gorge. We’ll be staying in the suburbs east of Portland, and we have a few key elements of the trip already booked. However, most of Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday are open for spontaneity’s sake, and we don’t have any restaurants picked out in advance.
We are already doing a dinner cruise and will be hiking around Multnomah Falls. Everything else is up in the air.
We’re mostly interested in the nature side of things, but if there are spots in Portland we just can’t miss, let me know. We like doing light hiking, but my wife has an old injury that prevents anything serious.
Hmmm… Maryhill doesn’t look too far, since we were thinking that driving the length of the Gorge would be worth it anyway. (Thanks to sitchensis for confirming that this will be a good idea).
If you’re up for getting a little wet, hike up the stream (waist-deep at times) to Lower Oneota Falls. The Beacon Rock trail that winds up the sides of a 850 foot tower of a rock is a lot of fun.
There’s a nice hike I know of to Falls Creek Falls, on the Washington side, north of Carson. You don’t need to hike the full loop described in the link; to the falls and back is only 3 miles.
I’m a big fan of Full Sail Brewery on the Hood River. It’s where the 84 highway and the Hood River meets. Food there is okay to good but the beers are great and they have a tour.
From there you could do the Fruit Loop and drive to the different farms in the area. There’s an alpaca farm that sells yarn if you or your wife do any knitting.
Good suggestions upthread. As long as you’re going to Multnomah, take the old road from there to Crown Point for a great overlook of the Gorge. Then continue to Larch Mountain Road and thence 14 miles to the Larch Mountain parking lot and hike up to the overlook, where you can see five mountain peaks, including Mt. Hood, Mt. Ranier, Mt. Saint Helens, etc.
How far east up the Gorge are you going? I had a family member who lived there for 8 or so years (Hood River). I can ask her for recommendations about the area, including as far west as The Dalles.
Excellent suggestions everyone… I’m adding them to our list of ideas.
Gray Ghost: We like to leave things flexible so that we can stop and spend more time on one area, or go further if something seems worth it. I think our plan is to drive the whole 80 or so miles that the tour books consider the Gorge area. My wife likes the idea of a replica Stonehenge at Maryhill Museum, which would take us past The Dalles if I’m remembering the maps right.
I’m adding Full Sail to our list of necessities. I’m a beer fan (the darker the better). I found a site that lists two other breweries in the Gorge (Walking Man in Stevenson and Double Mountain, in Hood River). Maybe I’ll do all of them, since my wife will be driving.
I’ll have to see which hikes we want to prioritize. The Oneonta one is definitely more rigorous than my wife would like, but we might just split up for an afternoon - the pictures look amazing. The Overlook sounds excellent, if the weather follows the forecasts. Anything I can’t use this weekend, we may have to keep on file and try out in the future - we’re not all that far away from the Gorge.
They definitely are one of the better pub-fare places, better than Rogue, Deschutes, or Widmer. I think I’m just too spoiled by all the good eats in Portland.
Multnomah also gets insanely crowded on nice weekends. I’d get there a little earlier for ease of parking.
If you have some time, you can also check out the Bonneville Dam and Hatchery.
One caveat. Make sure you have a working radio and watch the weather.
There is a forest fire near While Salmon, WA. Homes are threatened. The fire is relatively quiet. However, Gorge winds and higher temperatures can change that right quick. Be prepared the easterly Gorge winds may not be kind to some spectacular scenic views you may desire.
That said, don’t be deterred from having a great weekend.
You will be bombarded with hiking trail signs, and with historical sites. I haven’t seen them all but what I have they are all top class. Oregon was late to the tourist trade but it only takes so long to figure out you have something special.
Yeah, that’s partly why our current plan is so unstructured. There’s clearly no lack of things to do and most of them don’t require much in the way of scheduling.
I’m about to leave now, but I will be checking in tonight and Saturday night, so if anyone has more ideas, please share.
