Tooth Rock Loop Hike

Overview

When the original Columbia River Highway was designed by Samuel Lancaster and others it was decided to skirt Tooth Rock, which rose precipitously from the Columbia River, on a pair of viaducts. The construction of Bonneville Dam in the 1930s forced the relocation of the highway and the original route was abandoned in 1937 when a new tunnel was drilled through the rock. The old viaducts remained in place, largely forgotten for almost 60 years. In 1996 this portion of the old highway, now the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail (HCRHT), was refurbished as a hiking and bicycling path. The Eagle Creek Viaduct was repaired from rockfall damage and a new pedestrian bridge was built over the east portal of Tooth Rock Tunnel. These features are all part of one leg of this schizophrenic hike. Do the easy stroll on the old highway and come back the same way if you're not up for close encounters with post-fire rampant regrowth. BUT . . . If you want to go back even further in time, make this a loop using the route of the 1856 Tooth Rock Portage Road (a.k.a Kilborn's Portage Wagon Road or the Oregon Portage Road). Before the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire, the old portage road was a well-used shortcut that linked to trails for Wauna Viewpoint, Wauna Point, Dublin Lake, and Tanner Butte. The route has been abandoned since the fire, which scorched most of the 0.6 mile wagon road. Plants such as Scouler's willow, thimbleberry, elderberry, nettle, and fireweed have had time to grow thick on the road bed. There are also numerous downed trees to clamber over and under. Worst of all, everything is laced together with an unholy alliance of thorny vines, namely trailing blackberry, Armenian blackberry, and the bloodiest of all, blackcap raspberry, all sun lovers that flourish in disturbed areas when there’s no shady canopy. In addition, there's a liberal disposition of poison oak in the vicinity of Tooth Rock. So . . . to do the Tooth Rock Portage Road, and to make it easier for those who follow you, come prepared! Minimally, yo

Trail Stats

Photos

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