⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ Driving Historic Columbia River Highway from Multnomah Falls, OR to Ainsworth State Park, OR

August 27, 2023 - 3:50 PM
86°F / 30°C

Dashcam view of driving eastbound on Historic Columbia River Highway (Historic US Route 30) in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon, from the Multnomah Falls parking area to Ainsworth State Park.

Highlights:
4:33 - Oneonta Gorge and Tunnel
5:07 - Horsetail Falls
6:21 - Entering Ainsworth State Park

From Wikipedia:
"The Historic Columbia River Highway is an approximately 75-mile-long (121 km) scenic highway in the U.S. state of Oregon between Troutdale and The Dalles, built through the Columbia River Gorge between 1913 and 1922. As the first planned scenic roadway in the United States, it has been recognized in numerous ways, including being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, being designated as a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, being designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and being considered a "destination unto itself" as an All-American Road by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. The historic roadway was bypassed by the present Columbia River Highway No. 2 (Interstate 84) from the 1930s to the 1950s, leaving behind the old two-lane road. The road is now mostly owned and maintained by the state through the Oregon Department of Transportation as the Historic Columbia River Highway No. 100 (still partially marked as U.S. Route 30; see Oregon highways and routes) or the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail.

The original highway was promoted by lawyer and entrepreneur Sam Hill and engineer Samuel C. Lancaster, to be modeled after the great scenic roads of Europe. From the very beginning, the roadway was envisioned not just as means of traveling by the then popular Model T, but designed with an elegance that took full advantage of all the natural beauty along the route.

When the United States highway system was officially established in 1926, the highway became the part of U.S. Route 30. Since then, modern Interstate 84 has been built parallel to the highway between Portland and The Dalles, replacing it as the main travel route and resulting in the loss of some of the original sections of road.

Starting in June 2006, the Oregon Department of Transportation, using about $1.5 million in state and federal money, began restoring the Oneonta Tunnel to its 1920s appearance. The tunnel officially reopened March 21, 2009 for pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

The Eagle Creek Fire swept through the Gorge in September 2017, causing rockslides that closed the historic highway for a year. The highway remained closed between Bridal Veil and Ainsworth State Park until November 23, 2018 for restoration and reconstruction work."