Rooster Rock Wagon Road Hike

Overview

The Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint at Chanticleer Point, just east of Corbett, is one of those mandatory stops when traveling the Historic Columbia River Highway (Highway 30) through the Gorge. The view here offers a sweeping panorama east past Beacon Rock. The site was once home to the Chanticleer Inn, built in 1912 but which burned down in 1930. In the 1950s, the Portland Women’s Forum, a group instrumental in the founding of the original Columbia River Gorge Commission, purchased the property and donated it to the state in 1963. Previous to the inn’s demise, travelers could detrain at Rooster Rock below and take a shuttle or walk the two miles up the hill via the old wagon road to enjoy a meal and the views at the inn. The road takes advantage of the gentler slopes in the large bowl between Chanticleer Point and Crown Point: most of this is in the Crown Point State Scenic Corridor. The old Rooster Rock Wagon Road, also known as the Chanticleer Point Road and Water Line Road, is still there, and you can hike it all the way down to the railroad tracks to get close to Mirror Lake below Crown Point’s basalt ramparts. (Don't cross the railroad, though; it is a private right-of-way.) Late fall and winter are the best times to hike here because there are added bonuses: the wagon road itself operated as a vehicle road until the late 1980s, when it was finally closed. Some traveled the road merely to dump large pieces of garbage, such as appliances and old cars, some of the latter perhaps chop shop victims. Similarly, once Highway 30 was constructed, Crown Point itself became a favored dumping off point, and the steep sword fern slopes below harbor a number of vehicle carcasses. Also in winter, you may be able to glimpse the fleets of tundra swans that hang out on Mirror Lake. It’s also worth noting that Oregon State Parks has on its agenda a plan to develop the wagon road as a trail between Rooster Rock and Chanticleer Point. Stop at the viewpoint which looks east to Crown Point, Larch Mountain, an

Trail Stats

Photos

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