America’s first scenic highway got swallowed by an interstate. Oregon is bringing it back.

It’s America’s first scenic road

Between 1913 and 1922, an engineer named Samuel Lancaster built a road through Oregon’s Columbia River Gorge with one goal: show off every waterfall, cliff and river view along the way.

He drew his inspiration from a scenic route along Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, and the result became the first planned scenic highway in the United States. People called it the “King of Roads.”

Then the interstate came, and most of it disappeared. What Oregon has done to bring it back is a story worth knowing.

The interstate buried it under rock and concrete

When Interstate 84 replaced the old highway in the 1950s and ’60s, whole sections of the road vanished. Tunnels got packed with rubble.

Bridges sat abandoned. Parts of the original route ended up buried beneath the new freeway.

Then in the 1980s, Oregon started pulling it all back. Today, nearly all of the original 73-mile route is open again for driving, biking or walking.

The car-free stretches make up the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, and the whole thing earned National Historic Landmark status in 2000.

The gorge changes climate in 80 miles

The Columbia River Gorge runs about 80 miles long and drops as deep as 4,000 feet. Congress gave it National Scenic Area status in 1986, covering 292,500 acres across Oregon and Washington.

On the Oregon side alone, you’ll pass more than 90 waterfalls.

The landscape shifts from thick rainforest in the west to dry grasslands in the east, all within a single drive. Fifteen wildflower species grow here and nowhere else on the planet.

Stand 733 feet above the river at Crown Point

Crown Point rises 733 feet above the Columbia River, and the view stretches in every direction. At the top, the Vista House has been welcoming travelers since 1918.

Architect Edgar Lazarus designed the octagonal stone building in Art Nouveau style, with marble floors, stained glass and a domed ceiling. Inside, stone panels carry the carved names of Oregon Trail settler families.

About one million people visit each year, and Crown Point also marks the start of the Waterfall Corridor, a stretch of highway that passes eight waterfalls.

Oregon’s tallest waterfall pulls two million visitors a year

Multnomah Falls drops 620 feet over basalt cliffs that hold more than 400,000 years of geologic history. A paved trail takes you to the Benson Footbridge, which crosses 105 feet above the lower cascade.

If you want more, a steeper trail with switchbacks climbs to an observation deck at the top. More than two million people come here every year, making it the most visited natural site in the Pacific Northwest.

From late May through early September, you’ll need a timed-use permit if you arrive by car.

Bike a car-free path past Bonneville Dam

The Bonneville segment runs 5.5 paved, car-free miles from John B. Yeon State Scenic Corridor to Cascade Locks.

Along the way, the trail crosses to the north side of I-84 near Tooth Rock and passes views of Bonneville Dam and the Columbia River.

You’ll cross the Moffett Creek Bridge, one of the longest three-hinged concrete flat arch bridges in the country when it went up in 1915. Near Eagle Creek, a 40-foot staircase has grooves for bike wheels.

The whole stretch works for wheelchair users too.

Watch 10-foot sturgeon through the glass at Bonneville

Bonneville Dam sits about 40 miles east of Portland along the trail route. The government built it during the Great Depression as a New Deal project and finished it in 1938.

Two visitor centers are open daily with free admission, and both have exhibits plus an underwater window where you can watch fish swim past at eye level.

Next door, Oregon’s largest and oldest fish hatchery has been running since 1909. You can see rainbow trout, white sturgeon over 10 feet long, and salmon returning to spawn each fall.

About one million visitors come through every year.

Walk through tunnels with 1921 graffiti on the walls

The Twin Tunnels segment runs 4.5 miles between Hood River and Mosier, with trailheads at both ends.

Two restored tunnels have open windows cut into the rock, and you can look straight down at the Columbia River far below.

Workers who cleared the rubble in the 1990s found graffiti from 1921, left by drivers who got stuck inside during a snowstorm. The trail also crosses two climate zones.

You start in shady fir forest near Hood River and finish in dry terrain with ponderosa pines near Mosier.

The new Mitchell Point Tunnel has five river-view windows

The newest section of the State Trail opened on March 21, 2025.

The Mitchell Point Tunnel stretches 655 feet and has five arched windows that look out over the Columbia River, modeled after the original 1915 tunnel that road builders destroyed in 1966 to widen the interstate.

Construction on the new tunnel started in 2021 with federal funding. You can reach the 1.5-mile trail segment from I-84 Exit 58, but there are only 18 parking spaces.

The bike connection is still under construction, and the Viento link is currently for pedestrians only.

Drive the Rowena Loops and look for wildflowers

Rowena Crest sits at 747 feet above the Columbia River on the eastern stretch of the highway.

The drive up takes you through the Rowena Loops, a set of horseshoe curves that rank among the most photographed roads in Oregon.

From the overlook, you can see the river, rolling hills and flat plains stretching east toward The Dalles. Every spring, the Rowena Plateau fills with native wildflowers, including lupine and balsamroot.

If you want to stretch your legs, the 2.6-mile Plateau Trail or the more challenging four-mile McCall Point trail both start here. The viewpoint is free and open all year.

E-bikes welcome, electric scooters not so much

The State Trail is paved and open to hikers, bikers and wheelchair users. E-bikes can roll on the trail, but electric scooters and similar devices cannot.

Dogs are welcome as long as you keep them on a leash no longer than six feet. At the Mark O. Hatfield trailheads near the Twin Tunnels, you’ll pay a $3 day-use fee.

The Mitchell Point Tunnel only has 18 spots and is accessible from I-84 eastbound Exit 58.

Oregon’s transportation department continues work to close the remaining trail gaps, with construction on the final segments running through 2026.

Forty years of work to stitch one road back together

Oregon has spent nearly four decades piecing this trail back together one segment at a time.

The project has pulled together the state transportation department, Oregon State Parks, the U.S. Forest Service and community groups.

When finished, the trail will run as a continuous car-free route through the entire Columbia River Gorge, from Troutdale to The Dalles.

You can already experience most of it by combining the driving sections with the car-free trail segments. What started as a buried road is becoming one of the best ways to see the gorge on foot or on two wheels.

Hit the trail at Columbia River Highway State Trail, Oregon

You can pick up the State Trail at several points along I-84, about 30 miles east of Portland. Major trailheads sit near Cascade Locks, Hood River and Mosier, with exits clearly marked from the interstate.

The trail is open year-round, though winter weather and construction can close certain sections. A $3 day-use fee applies at the Mark O. Hatfield trailheads.

Check the Oregon State Parks and ODOT sites before you go for current conditions. Mix the car-free segments with the drivable stretches of the Historic Highway to get the full experience.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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