Sign In

My Timeline

GuRoute

Discover Your World

Share your Experiences

Record your Life

beta

Discover Your World

  1
   

Top Attractions in Columbia River Gorge

Cascade Locks

Cascade Locks is a city in Hood River County, Oregon, United States. The city took its name from a set of locks built to improve navigation past the Cascades Rapids of the Columbia River. The U.S. federal government approved the plan for the locks in 1875, construction began in 1878, and the locks were completed on November 5, 1896. The locks were subsequently submerged in 1938, replaced by Bonneville Lock and Dam, although the city lost no land from the expansion of Lake Bonneville behind the dam some 4 miles downstream of the city. The city population was 1,144 at the 2010 census. The 2007 estimate is 1,075 residents. Cascade Locks is just upstream from the Bridge of the Gods, a toll bridge that spans the Columbia River. It is the only bridge across the Columbia between Portland and Hood River. Cascade Locks is also a few miles upstream of Eagle Creek Gorge, a popular scenic area that doubles as an alternate route for the Pacific Crest Trail. Cascade Locks is used frequently by hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail to cross the Columbia River. Cascade Locks is the lowest point along the trail, which runs from the Mexican border in California to the Canadian border in Washington. Since 1999, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have been pursuing an off-reservation casino to be sited in Cascade Locks. Since 2008, city officials have been pursuing an arrangement that would allow them to trade city well water for state-owned spring water and to sell it to Nestlé for bottling.

Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls is a waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, located east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet and a lower falls of 69 feet, with a gradual 9 foot drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet . Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon. It is credited by a sign at the site of the falls, and by the United States Forest Service, as the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States. However, there is some skepticism surrounding this distinction, as Multnomah Falls is listed as the 137th tallest waterfall in the United States by the World Waterfall Database . Underground springs from Larch Mountain are the year-round source of water for the waterfall, augmented by spring runoff from the mountains snowpack and rainwater during the other seasons. A foot trail leads to Benson Footbridge, a 45-foot long footbridge that allows visitors to cross 105 feet above the lower cascade. The trail continues to a platform at the top of the upper falls where visitors get a birds-eye view of the Columbia Gorge and also of "Little Multnomah", a small cascade slightly upstream from the "upper" falls, which is not visible from ground level. The Mark O. Hatfield Memorial Trail starts at the falls and continues through the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge to Starvation Creek. The footbridge is named for Simon Benson, who financed the bridges construction in 1914 by Italian stonemasons. Benson soon gave Portland land that included most of the falls as well as nearby Wahkeena Falls. The Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company gave Portland land at the base of Multnomah Falls contingent upon their agreement to build a lodge at the site. A few years later architect A.E. Doyle, who designed the Meier Frank Building, was commissioned by the city to design the lodge, which was completed in 1925. The lodge is now on the National Register of Historic Places. In contrast to other falls along the Gorge, the Multnomah area is also reachable via a stretch of I-84 east of Troutdale, Oregon. The rest area and tunnel under the road allow Interstate travelers from either direction to stop and visit the falls. On Labor Day in September 1995, a 400-ton boulder, loosened by erosion, fell 225 feet from the face of the waterfall into the upper cascade pool, above Benson Bridge. It caused a 70-foot splash of water and gravel to wash over the footbridge, causing minor injuries to twenty members of a wedding party that happened to be on the bridge posing for photos at the time. On January 9, 2014, a falling rock damaged a portion of the bridge walkway and concrete railing, leading the Forest Service to close the bridge until repairs are made. The bridge is now repaired.

Oneonta Gorge

The Oneonta Gorge is in the Columbia River Gorge in the American state of Oregon. The U.S. Forest Service has designated it as a botanical area because of the unique aquatic and woodland plants that grow there. Exposed walls of 25-million-year-old basalt are home to a wide variety of ferns, mosses, hepatics and lichens, many of which grow only in the Columbia River Gorge. Oneonta Gorge has been described as "one of the true dramatic chasms in the state." There are four major waterfalls on the Oneonta Creek as it runs through the gorge. Middle Oneonta Falls can be seen clearly from a footpath and is very often mistaken for the upper or lower falls. The lower gorge has been preserved as a natural habitat, so there is no boardwalk or footpath through it as such. Thus, Lower Oneonta Falls can only be seen by walking upstream from the creeks outlet at the Historic Columbia River Highway. To get to a vantage point where the entire lower falls is visible can require wading through water that in some places can be chest-deep, depending on the season and the relative amount of snow-melt. The upper falls are about 1 mile upstream from the middle falls and require scrambling up the creek or climbing down a canyon wall to view. The fourth falls which is "Triple falls" can be seen from a vantage point on the upper trails in the canyon. The trail has some issues due to some natural as well as human impacts. In the late 1990s, the stream was partially occluded when three large boulders tumbled into the stream. Subsequently, a log jam has formed along the trail. This has created a hazard for hikers, which led to a fatality in 2011. The Oneonta Gorge was first photographed by Carleton Eugene Watkins, a native of Oneonta, New York, who had traveled west during the time of California Gold Rush of 1849. Watkins named the Oneonta Falls after his hometown.

International Museum of Carousel Art

The International Museum of Carousel Art is a museum in Hood River in the U.S. state of Oregon focused on carousels. The museum claims to be the largest such collection in the world. It has 8,000 to 10,000 visitors per year. The museum was founded in 1983 as the Portland Carousel Museum after the founders, Duane and Carol Perron, helped restore a 1914 carousel in the late 1970s. It is a non profit organization. The Hood River museum opened October 17, 1999 and attracted about three thousand visitors in its first year. The collection contains about 110 carved animals, an operational Wurlitzer band organ, chariots, and other artifacts. The exhibits feature European animals, major American carvers, armored horses, and the restoration process. As of late 2010 the museum is closed for relocation from 304 Oak Street.

Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum

The Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum is located in Hood River, Oregon, United States, adjacent to the Ken Jernstedt Memorial Airport. WAAAM is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization committed to the preservation of, and education about aviation, automobile, and other historic transportation related relics. WAAAM is open to the public every day 9:00-5:00 except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. WAAAM has special activities the second Saturday of every month. The museum features flying demonstrations, auto demonstrations, and restoration demonstrations, though events vary month to month. The museum's biggest event is the annual Hood River Fly-In held the first weekend after Labor Day every year, and features antique aircraft and automobiles from throughout North America. As of May 2011, the museum is second-highest rated attraction in Hood River according to Trip Adviser.

Coopey Falls

Coopey Falls is a waterfall on Coopey Creek in the Columbia River Gorge, on the Historic Columbia River Highway in Multnomah County, Oregon. The falls is a horsetail waterfall with a drop of 150 feet . The falls was named after Charles Coopey, who once owned the land adjacent to the falls. Simon Benson bought Wahkeena Falls from Coopey, an English tailor who had wanted to use the water from Wahkeena Falls to power a woolen mill for spinning and weaving, and for wool scouring. Coopey Falls is on private property behind a convent owned by the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist. The sisters invite visitors to view the falls by following a path leading from the parking lot in front of the convent, after first asking permission. A view of the falls is also accessible from the Angelss Rest trailhead half mile west of the convent. The falls are located one mile east of Bridal Veil Falls.

Wahclella Falls

Wahclella Falls is a waterfall along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. The Columbia River Highway splits around exit # 40 that leads to the Bonneville Dam. The parking and access area for Wahclella Falls is slightly down the hill and to the right of the entrance to the dam. Wahclella is at the midpoint of the well maintained trail number 436 loop that forms a 1.8-mile roundtrip. The falls are divided into upper and lower segments with a combined height of 350 ft, the upper section is not completely visible while the fully visible lower segment stands 60 feet in height as it thunders out of a narrow gorge carved through dark gray basalt. The plunge pool has a picturesque quality due to the surrounding natural walls that form a semi-circular rotunda extending from the falls to the main vantage point. As with most waterfalls, Wahclella does exhibit some seasonality of water flow. However, because Tanner Creek is sourced primarily by an underground spring, the flow is never dramatically affected by adverse weather. Wahclella Falls was named after a nearby village of Native Americans by the Mazama mountaineering club in 1915. Although Wahclella Falls is its officially recognized name, the United States Geological Survey still records the waterfall as Tanner Creek Falls. The United States Forest Service charges a fee or requires a pass for parking at the trail head.

Wahkeena Falls

Wahkeena Falls is a 242-foot waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge in the state of Oregon. The waterfall is unlike nearby Multnomah Falls in that the water does not directly plunge to the ground. Wahkeena Falls, rather, has a more subtle cascading flow. These falls have been featured in numerous travel guides and in photography books. Spellings of this name are dubious because the word is an English transliteration of a Native American phrase meaning most beautiful. Wahkeena Falls is along the Historic Columbia River Highway, about 13 miles east of Troutdale, Oregon. A 0.2-mile hike from the parking lot at the base leads to the stone bridge that crosses the main part of the falls. That trail continues on east to Multnomah Falls, the next falls to the east. This waterfall is visible directly from the Historic Columbia River Highway.

Viento State Park

Viento State Park is a state park in north central Hood River County, Oregon, near the city of Hood River. The park, named for the former Viento railroad station located there, is administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The park is on the south bank of the Columbia River in the Columbia River Gorge. Interstate 84 and the Union Pacific Railroad pass through the park. It offers a seasonal, full-service campground, access to gorge hiking trails beyond park boundaries, a day-use area and river access for windsurfing and kiteboarding. The park is in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. The name Viento was constructed using letters from the names of Henry Villard of the Northern Pacific Railroad; William Endicott, a Boston banker; and a contractor named Tolman.

Butler Bank

Butler Bank is a historic bank building located in downtown Hood River, Oregon, United States, built during Hood River's second major phase of urban development. It was designed by Portland-based A. E. Doyle , one of the Pacific Northwest's most celebrated architects of the early 20th century, during the later years of his career. It is one of only two commercial buildings he designed in the Columbia River Gorge region, and his only Egyptian Revival-style commission in Oregon. It was erected in 1924 for Butler Banking Company, which was led by Leslie Butler . Butler and his son Truman opened the Butler and Company Bank in 1900 as Hood River's first bank, and incorporated it as the Butler Banking Company in 1905. Despite early commercial success, it fell victim to the circumstances of the Great Depression and failed in 1932. The Butlers were regarded as blameless in the failure and continued as respected businessmen. In addition to his prominent role in business during the early years of Hood River's development, Leslie Butler was very active in voluntary and philanthropic activities throughout Oregon, especially in the area of public health. The bank building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

Martin and Carrie Hill House

The Martin and Carrie Hill House, also known as The Gorge White House, is a historic residence located on rural orchard land near Hood River, Oregon, United States. It may be the finest and most ornate example of the Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style in the vicinity of Hood River, incorporating a large array of the distinctive features of the style. Characteristic elements include a gambrel roof, symmetric, rectilinear form, fanlights, dormers, dentils, balconies, window keystones, fluted columns, and others. The house also displays a very high degree of historic integrity on both the exterior and interior, with only minor alterations since its construction in 1910. Martin Hill and his orchard property surrounding the house were prominent in the development of the apple industry in the Hood River Valley. He was active in business and community affairs, including service as a Hood River County Commissioner and Oregon state legislator. He built this elaborate house in 1910, several years after purchasing his orchard land in 1901, in order to reconcile his wife Carrie to their relocation from Iowa. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It was opened to the public as an agricultural tourism business that same year.

Columbia Gorge Hotel

The Columbia Gorge Hotel is a historic hotel in Hood River, Oregon, United States. It was built by Simon Benson, who was involved with the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. Benson envisioned a hotel at the end of the highway, and completed the Mission style hotel in 1921. The new hotel was built on the site of the previous Wah Gwin Gwin Hotel, built in 1904. Between 1925 and 1952, the hotel went through several changes of ownership. The then-48-room hotel closed in 1952, when it was sold to the Neighbors of Woodcraft, a non-profit fraternal benefit society based in Oregon since 1905, and converted into a retirement home. It was sold again in 1978, with the new owners planning to reopen it as a hotel. After a $1-million renovation, the now-42-room hotel reopened in September 1979. In January 2009, the landmark hotel closed its doors again, due to foreclosure. The foreclosing bank later re-opened the hotel before selling it to Vijay Patel's A-1 Hospitality Group in October 2009 for around $4 million. Between 2009 and 2012, the hotel underwent a major renovation. The Columbia Gorge Hotel is recognized as one of the Historic Hotels of America by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Guests of the hotel have included Burt Reynolds and Shirley Temple, among others.
♥

This attraction is located in

This is a private property. Please enjoy respectfully and do not disturb the occupants.

Edit Categories
Add Tours

This attraction is not part of any tours

Add Collections

This attraction is not part of any collections

 

Some of the attractions we imported from Wikipedia are not perfect. Send us an email detailing what's wrong and we'll look into fixing it.

GuRoute is all about Gurus sharing their local knowledge. If you feel up to fixing this problem yourself, why not adopt it. You will become the owner and can fix whatever problems you see.

We've copied a link to this attraction into your clipboard so that ou can paste it into an email or text message...

More Info... ✔
You can add your friends to the visit yourself, or, send them a link and let them add themselves...

The visit will appear on both your timelines and on your Shared Timeline.

Click below and we'll email you a link that you can send on to friends or post on your group's Facebook page.

If your friends aren't members of GuRoute yet, this is a great way to get them started.
Recent
Recently used Collections will appear here...
Recent
Recently used tours will appear here...

Where is this?

GuRoute likes to place attractions inside other attractions. So, maybe it's in a city, or maybe it's inside a particular park in that city. Maybe your attraction is a huge park that spans half the county, or multiple counties.

Determining where this attraction is gives it context - if it's in a park, you'll be able to see it alongside all the other attractions in that park. And that helps define the park.

GuRoute will automatically calculate a parent region for this attraction. You can change it if there is something more appropriate.

This attraction is currently located in .

Change

This attraction does not yet have any reviews

Please login to write a review...

Reviewed by
Record new Visit

Add this location to your timneline?

  • If there's an existing attraction open it and add it to your timeline...
  • If not, enter a title and we'll create a new attraction for your memories...
Create new Attraction

Create a new attraction at this location?

  • We rely on Gurus like you to share your local knowledge...
(Give a name for this location)

+
Add this to your timeline instead...

Imagine having a record of all the cool things you've done in your life!


Using our timeline you can keep track of everywhere you visit in your lifetime...

But, you'll need to sign in first...

Add contacts so that you can share your travels and record places that you visit together...

Family
Favorites
Family
Favorites

Profile TimeLine Our Visits Edit Accept Decline Invite

If you have any more friends that visited this place with you, feel free to add them to the visit. We'll write it to their timeline and once they confirm it, they too will have this memory for a lifetime.

If they're not already registered, you just need their name and email address and you can add them and we'll send them an invite on your behlaf.

Add a tour comment

Add some extra information for when this attraction is viewed as part of your tour...

Next Stop Instructions

Add some instructions for what to see/do on the way to the next stop...

Next Stop Instructions

Add some instructions for what to see/do on the way to the next stop...

If you're visiting an existing attraction, open it and add it to your timeline. If there is no attraction for the place you are visiting...

  • Click 'Add My Location' below
  • Or right-click on the map to mark a different location
  • Or long-press if you have a touch screen
You can even add locations while you're offline....
  • Load up the map when you're online and we'll keep track of your locaiton
  • You can add locations to your timeline
  • When you are online again we'll sync them with the cloud

We can't connect to the internet right now. The following attractions are saved locally and can be uploaded when you're online...

GuRoute would like to access your current location so that we can pin you on the map and show you nearby attractions

Add friends so that you can share your experiences with each other...

Add tour to What's Next?

Go...

Either for yourself or someone else...

  1. Do your trip research in GuRoute
    Add all the places that you think might be worthy of a visit into a trip-plan
  2. Add your trip-plan to your "What's Next" timeline
    (or a friend's "What's Next" timeline)
  3. When you're on vacation you'll have all your research at your fingertips
  4. Share your timline with your friends
    They can enjoy your vacation with you, seeing not only where you've been, but where you're going next...
  5. Add/remove attractions if things change

It also makes a great souvenir of your trip

Collections

Go...

Create a home page for a collection of attractions

  • Add an image and description to display on the homepage
  • Start adding content
    Add existing attractions to your collection or create new attractions of your own
  • Collections can be:
    • Public (Anyone can add attractions to your collection)
    • Shared (Only yourself and Gurus you nominate can add content)
    • Private (The collection will only be visible to yourself)

Uses

  • Local business or hotel
    Showcase local attractions that you endorse
  • Clubs
    Showcase attractions that members have created (eg. local historical society)
  • Special Interest
    If GuRoute does not have a category for your special interest you add your attractions to your own collection instead

Examples

Walking/Driving Tours

Go...

A guided tour where GuRoute will direct you from stop to stop and narrate a description of each attraction you arrive at

  • GuRoute uses your phone's GPS to guide you from stop to stop
  • GuRoute automatically detects when you arrive at the next tour-stop and narrates the description of the attraction (Chrome Only)
  • It then sends you on to the next stop

Tours are great to attract people to your town. Even places with no significant points of interest can be lots of fun when part of a tour


Cater tours to your Audience

  • Kid-friendly Tours
    • Focus on what will keep kids interested
    • Instead of parents having to drag their kids around they'll be struggling to keep up
    • Let the kids navigate and they'll get more fun out of finding that historical plaque than they ever would from reading it
  • Accessible tours
  • Short and long tours of the same location

What you need to do...

  1. Click 'Go...'
    Enter a title, description and location for the tour
  2. Add existing attractions OR create new ones and add them to the tour
  3. For existing attractions you can add more information specific to the theme of the tour
  4. You can also add instructions on what to do or see en-route to the next tour-stop
  5. Try out your tour and see how it works...

Mystery Tour

Go...

Create a Mystery Tour

Create a series of clues to show people around a city, neighborhood or whatever place you like...

  • GuRoute will show people clues to get them from attraction to attraction
  • When they reach each stop GuRoute will tell them about the place and give them the next clue
  • Take as long or as you like and explore each location at your leisure

Scavenger Hunt

Go...

Create a Scavenger Hunt

Create a series of questions that people have to answer. The answers can all be discovered by walking aroung the area, looking for clues.

  • How many beers are on tap at Michael Collin's Irish Bar?
  • What's the name of the oldest building on main streeet?
  • Show a picture of some public art and ask them what it is called
  • Clues can have numeric or multiple choice answers